On FT Alphaville this morning,
- Finance is the brain of the market economy and, like the brains of individual human beings, it can shift in an instant from greed to fear; now the financial brain has become active, global and self-confident – is it creating huge dangers for the world economy? asks the FT’s Martin Wolf in his Wednesday column.
- In one ominous sign for the private equity sector, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that investors issued a resounding ‘No’ to a leveraged-buyout debt offering on Tuesday, leaving banks unexpectedly holding more than $3bn and raising concerns about the changing economics of the takeover boom.
- The betes noires of US inward investment, China (see CNOOC/Unocal) and Dubai (see DP World furore), are in talks about cooperating their state investment agencies.
- Delayed opening for Northern Rock on the London market on Wednesday. After a profits warnings, and when a formal quotation finally kicked in, the bank was immediately marked down 10 per cent.
On FT.com this morning,
- German TV broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media said on Wednesday it bought rival SBS Broadcasting for €3.3bn ($4.4bn). The combination of ProSiebenSat.1 and SBS, both majority-owned by private equity firms KKR and Permira, will create a pan-European rival to RTL Group, owned by German media group Bertelsmann.
- Housebuilders George Wimpey and Taylor Woodrow on Wednesday said ahead of their £5bn merger next week that the US market remained gloomy and the UK was set to weaken. In trading statements ahead of the merger, set to close next week, Wimpey said its US order book was down 41 per cent year-on-year while Taylor Woodrow reported a 45 per cent decline.
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