The bidder behind the £2.5billion takeover of Inmarsat (ISAT) has pledged to keep its key operations in Britain. In a legally-binding agreement with the Government, private equity group Connect promised to protect the satellite firm’s base in London and maintain its engineering expertise. The pledge will be seen as an attempt to woo ministers as they prepare to weigh in on the takeover. Competition officials referred the deal to Digital, Culture and Media Secretary Jeremy Wright earlier this week over public interest issues, thought to be a reference to Inmarsat’s sensitive work for the UK and American militaries. Connect – a consortium which includes UK-based Apax Partners, US-based Warburg Pincus and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board – said the undertakings to the Government are not related to the separate probe being conducted by the Competition and Markets Authority.
Stonegate – the company behind Slug and Lettuce, Walkabout and Yates – is on the verge of snapping up Britain’s biggest pub company, EI Group (EIG), for £1.28billion. The deal means TDR Capital, Stonegate’s private equity backers, will add 4,000 pubs and properties to its portfolio and become the county’s biggest pub operator. Stonegate has plumped for a bid of 285p a share for Ei, previously known as Enterprise Inns, which is 38.5% higher than the latter’s closing price on Wednesday, and 26.8% above its highest closing price over the last decade. A year ago, Ei shares were hovering at around the £1.57 mark. The offer values Ei at £2.96billion including debt, which is 11.4 times its underlying earnings for 2018. According to its 2018 annual report, Ei’s net debt stands at £2billion. The all-cash deal, which will see yet another London-listed firm snapped up by a private equity house, will be put to a vote of Ei shareholders but is unlikely to face any opposition, with the board recommending the deal.
Boku, Inc (DI) Reg S (BOKU) expects revenues to jump more than a third in the first six months of 2019. The business said that monthly active users rose by 48%, to 15.3m, between January and June. Boku, which is based in San-Francisco, lets users make payments through their mobiles. It then charges them via their phone bills.
easyJet (EZJ) has triumphed in the latest round of the battle of the budget airlines. It has poached a chief operating officer, Peter Bellew, from the same role at Ryanair Holdings (RYA) – a veritable coup for the Luton-based carrier. The 54-year-old is highly regarded in airline circles for helping Ryanair recover from its disastrous 2017-18 winter, when a timetabling bungle meant the firm had to cancel around 2,000 flights. Bellew worked for Ryanair for nine years, then left for Malaysia Airlines where he was chief executive, before returning to the Irish carrier in December 2017 when it was in its tight spot. EasyJet’s revenue rose by 11% to £1.8billion between April and June, while passenger numbers increased by 8%.
After the success of Greggs (GRG) vegan sausage roll and its almost baker’s dozen of profit upgrades, it might at first seem surprising that Peel Hunt has downgraded the stock rating from ‘hold’ to ‘reduce’. Peel Hunt analysts said its half-year results ‘will be magnificent’ on July 30 and the bakery chain will probably raise profit forecasts once again. But they are of the view that the market is already well aware this is coming. They have urged investors to take profits here because the shares are ‘priced for perfection’ and might soon start to tumble.
Mexico-focused precious metals miner Fresnillo (FRES) was by far the biggest faller, sliding 9.1%, or 81.6p, to 813.4p, after brokers at Macquarie kept an ‘underperform’ rating on its stock. They said they are unconvinced by a turnaround push at the firm, which lowered its gold and silver production guidance on Wednesday.
Shares in mattress company Eve Sleep PLC (EVE) have lost some of their bounce in another blow for troubled fund manager Neil Woodford. Revenue at the AIM-listed firm slipped by 8% in the first half of the year to £12.9million. Shares fell 14.2%, or 1.25p, to 7.55p, wiping more than £1million off Woodford’s 31.2% stake. Woodford, whose struggling Equity Income fund is still suspended after running out of ready cash to repay departing savers last month, was an early investor in Eve before its stock market listing in 2017.
Reach Plc (RCH), the publisher behind the Mirror, Express and Star newspapers is in takeover talks with the owner of The i and a string of regional titles. Shares fell 1.5%, or 1.2p, at 79.8p, after it said it is looking at assets held by JPI Media but cautioned there is no guarantee a deal will be struck. JPI put itself up for sale earlier this year after falling into administration in 2018.
