US medical devices manufacturer Boston Scientific is seeking to buy British pharmaceutical firm BTG (BTG) for £3.3bn in cash. Boston Scientific has offered a price of 840p per share, a premium of 36.6% to BTG’s Monday closing price of 615p. It represents a 51% premium to BTG’s 90-day average share price for the period ending Nov 19. BTG said it planned to recommend the deal to its shareholders as it considers the terms of the acquisition to be “fair and reasonable”. Shares in the FTSE 250 company rose jumped 34% to 824.50p on the back of the news.
Restaurant Group (RTN) takeover of Wagamama has been dealt a huge blow after its second-biggest investor said it would oppose the £559m deal. Columbia Threadneedle, a near-8% shareholder, warned the acquisition “throws up too many red flags” and said it would vote against the proposal at a general meeting next week. The statement by the fund management titan threatened to overshadow a recommendation by leading proxy adviser Glass Lewis to support the deal. Glass Lewis did, however, say it was “ somewhat concerned that the proposed purchase price appears on the high side”.
The boss of easyJet (EZJ) has issued a Darwinian call, saying larger airlines are poised to prosper as weaker rivals “disappear”. With airlines facing rising costs over the traditionally lean winter months, Johan Lundgren warned weaker airlines “are heading into difficult times”. Mr Lundgren, who took over as easyJet chief executive a year ago, said Brexit had led to “no drop in demand” in bookings next year. His comments came as annual pre-tax profits rose 15.6% to £445m, in line with City expectations.
Canadian TV and film group Entertainment One Limited (ETO) has suffered a £57m blow to its bottom line as DVD sales decline amid what it called “ongoing evolution” in the industry. The FTSE 250 firm, which is behind the hit cartoon Peppa Pig, swung to a £40.1m pre-tax loss in the six months to Sept 30, compared to a £2.3m profit a year ago, as it impaired some of its film distribution assets and spent money restructuring the business. Revenue fell almost 2% over the period to £404.9m as growth in its family division was offset by a 7% decline in its film and television arm.
The London-listed company owned by industrial tycoon Sanjeev Gupta has sold a stake in its ‘green’ power project to major infrastructure investor Equitix. Shares in SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited (SAE) jumped 20% after it unveiled the deal to sell 25% of the Uskmouth power plant in Wales for £32.9m in cash. The deal values the coal conversion project at £131.5m, more than twice the company’s market cap. Simec, a subsidiary of Mr Gupta’s £10bn GFG Alliance, is undertaking a major two-year green overhaul of the plant that could eventually value Uskmouth at almost £300m.
A surge in PPI compensation claims driven by an Arnold Schwarzenegger advert and increased activity among claims companies have dragged Virgin Money owner CYBG (CYBG) to a loss. CYBG, Britain’s sixth biggest bank, fell to a £145m loss for the year to September after swallowing a £352m hit for Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) costs. The company said the City watchdog’s advert featuring the robotic head of the Terminator star urging people to claim for compensation was partly to blame, as claims management companies also ramped up their efforts to cash in before the August 2019 deadline to log complaints.
Compass Group (CPG) has begun stockpiling food and put in place plans to help European workers stay in the UK ahead of the country’s exit from the European Union. Dominic Blakemore, chief executive, said the company, which is the world’s biggest catering firm, had drawn up contingency plans to make sure that it could continue supplying its clients with meals in the event of problems importing goods from Europe. He said Compass was making “sensible increases to our inventories” which would happen “gradually over time”, with trigger points between now and Brexit day on March 29, if the prospect of a no-deal becomes more likely.
Pension Protection Fund raises concerns over Johnston Press collapse. The decision to put the newspaper publisher Johnston Press (JPR) into administration two days before it was due to make a monthly top-up payment into its underfunded defined benefit pension scheme faces scrutiny from regulators. The Pension Protection Fund (PPF), the lifeboat that is due to assume responsibility for the scheme following the collapse and pre-packaged sale of Johnston Press to lenders on Saturday, said it had “concerns” about the process and was in talks with the pensions watchdog. The Johnston Press board, led by chairman Camilla Rhodes, met on Friday evening following the end of a formal sale process launched in October.
Satellite deal cements UK space industry success. European aerospace giants Airbus and Eutelsat will sink millions into building satellite parts in Britain in a major vote of confidence for the booming space industry. The companies have struck a deal to manufacture and assemble components for two new satellites in the UK, securing investment of up to €40m (£36m) per year. Airbus’s plants in Portsmouth and Stevenage will build the parts for Eutelsat before they are sent to Toulouse for final assembly. Eutelsat chief executive Rodolphe Belmer shrugged off concerns that a no-deal Brexit would paralyse the manufacturing sector, saying that “the British space industry will remain one of the front-runners in Europe”.
WH Smith (SMWH) among the British businesses campaigning for mental health first aid in the workplace. Britain’s biggest businesses are backing a major mental health campaign that seeks to ensure workplaces are required to make provisions for mental as well as physical first aid. The campaign, led by social enterprise Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England, and signed by a consortium of high profile businesses, is asking the government to prioritise its manifesto pledge to amend the Health and Safety regulations so all employers make mental health first aid mandatory. Among the signatories is Stephen Clarke, chief executive of WHSmith, which has been at the forefront of promoting access to first aid for both mental and physical health.
Stobart investor accused of ‘dereliction of duty’. Star fund manager Neil Woodford has been accused of “dereliction of duty” after refusing to meet Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) chairman Iain Ferguson and backing a campaign for him to be ousted. The asset manager, one of Stobart’s biggest investors, faced scrutiny in the High Court as a bitter court case between the FTSE 250 company and its former chief executive moved into a second week. Mr Woodford denied allegations during cross-examination by Stobart’s legal team. He insisted he had been forced to pick sides in a boardroom battle between former chief executive Andrew Tinkler and Mr Ferguson earlier this year.
Mod Resources to list in London with Botswana copper project. A mining company is to announce a listing on the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) tomorrow as it looks to put a copper project in Botswana into production. Mod Resources, which is currently traded on the Australian Stock Exchange, hopes to complete its entry onto the main market of the LSE by next week. The exploration company will not be raising capital in the listing, which could give it market value of around £50m. Julian Hanna, managing director, said the move was intended to make the London market “become aware of the amazing asset we have in Botswana”.
BHP Billiton settles multi-million dollar row with Australian taxman. will pay A$529m (£300m) to settle a long-running dispute with the Australian Tax Office over profits that were routed offshore through its Singapore sales office. The deal, which covers back taxes from the years 2003 to 2018, means the FTSE 100 miner – the biggest in the world by revenue – does not have to admit tax avoidance. In addition, BHP’s Australian arm will take full ownership of the Singapore office to ensure that all future profits will be “fully subject to Australian tax”. The division had been 42% owned by BHP Billiton plc, the London wing of the dual-listed company.
George Soros places £20m bet against Aston Martin. Billionaire financier George Soros has placed a £20m bet that the share price of Aston Martin Holdings (AML) will struggle to recover following its atrocious stock market debut. Mr Soros, the legendary Hungarian-American investor who “broke the Bank of England”, has shorted the James Bond carmaker’s shares after they shed a quarter of their value. Short-sellers have rushed to bet against the company as 2018’s most hotly anticipated initial public offering in London. Over 12% of Aston Martin’s shares are in the hands of short-sellers looking to profit from a share price plunge, according to S3 Partners data.
Ashtead catches property market chill. Cooling property markets on both sides of the Atlantic dragged equipment rental giant Ashtead Group (AHT) to a 14-month low and extended the sharp slide in UK housebuilders. The first drop in UK asking prices since 2011 reignited fears of a spluttering market to send Persimmon (PSN), Britain’s second biggest housebuilder, tumbling to a 17-month low. Rightmove (RMV) data indicated that house prices slipped back 1.7% month-on-month in November amid rising Brexit uncertainty. The slump stopped housebuilding stocks from staging a recovery after falling sharply on fears that the political turmoil in Westminster will paralyse the property market. Barratt Developments (BDEV) sank a further 11.1p to 491.9p, worsening a 9.9% plunge.
Questor: battered by the Brexit blues, OneSavings Bank (OSB) now offers compelling contrarian value
