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’Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- LSE says income from its Italian clearing business up 225 per cent from a year ago — statement.
- Icap says expects to meet 2012 forecasts if markets stabilise — statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- China may probe BHP’s bid for Potash, China Business News reports – Via Reuters.
- Vivendi H1 sales up 6 per cent , adjusted net income up 4 per cent – statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Prudential requests temporary suspension of its shares, confirms AIA talks – statement.
- Resolution says not in talks to buy Prudential’s UK business – statement.
Comcast to take control of NBCU
Comcast has sealed an agreement to take control of NBC Universal from General Electric in a deal valuing the media property at $30bn and creating one of the largest US media companies. Comcast will pay about $6.5bn in cash and will own 51% of the combined venture and GE will own 49%.
Comcast bid values NBC JV at $37bn
Comcast’s long-awaited bid for control of NBC Universal will value the new joint venture with General Electric at an unexpectedly larger $37.25bn before debt, boosted by a higher valuation on the US cable group’s pay-TV stations,
No cash for Vivendi in NBC deal
Vivendi will not receive any cash upfront from General Electric for its stake in NBC Universal under a $5.8bn proposed deal agreed this week. GE will pay more than its original offer of about $5bn for the French media group’s 20% stake in NBCU but delay payments until at least late next year.
GE, Vivendi agree NBCU deal
General Electric has agreed to pay Vivendi $5.8bn for the French group’s 20% stake in NBC Universal, paving the way for the conglomerate’s planned sale of 51% of the US media group to Comcast. The valuation,
Comcast closes in on NBC stake
Comcast may seal a deal to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal from General Electric by next Monday, creating one of America’s largest media companies. The deal, which values NBC Universal at about $30bn,
Former Vivendi executives face trial
Jean-Marie Messier and Edgar Bronfman Jr, former executives at Vivendi, the French media group, have been ordered to stand trial by a Paris judge over allegations that include share price manipulation dating back eight years.
Vivendi mulls NBC Universal sale
French telecoms and media company Vivendi is considering selling its 20% stake in NBC Universal this year, reports the WSJ. However a final decision will not be made until at least mid-November and will depend on whether Vivendi can get a good price,
Comcast eyes NBC Universal stake
Comcast, the largest US cable network, is in talks with General Electric to buy a stake in NBC Universal, reports Bloomberg. Negotiations for Comcast to buy about a 50% NBC Universal stake have been ongoing and a deal would depend in part on Vivendi making a decision to sell its 20% holding,
Vivendi may decide to sell NBC stake
Vivendi, owner of the world’s largest music company, may decide at an Oct 14 board meeting to sell its stake in NBC Universal, reports Bloomberg. Vivendi may choose to sell the 20% stake because the unit is not performing as well as the company’s majority-owned operations,
CDS report: The tightening trend continues
Gavan Nolan of Markit wrote this CDS report
After a slow start, the European credit markets extended the tightening trend seen this week. The Markit iTraxx indices opened wider as stocks moved lower and investors took profits.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- NYSE Euronext announces plan to sell stake in NYSE Amex options market – statement.
- Merck KGaA aquires Suzhou Taizhu Technology for €28m – statement.
- Vivendi launches amicable €2bn tender offer for Brazil’s GVT – statement.
GLG loses Vivendi appeal
GLG Partners has lost an appeal against a €1.5m ($1.9m) fine by the French markets watchdog for insider trading in Vivendi shares, in a blow to the UK hedge fund group. The ruling came amid a French investigation of GLG’s trading in shares of Infogrames Entertainment,
Telefónica eyes joint Digital Plus bid
Telefónica of Spain and France’s Vivendi have held talks about a possible joint bid for Digital Plus, the satellite pay-TV business being sold by Spanish media group Prisa to reduce debt. Spain’s biggest telecoms company has emerged as a frontrunner in the sale process,
Vivendi ‘patient’ on Vodafone’s SFR stake
Vivendi, the French conglomerate, on Wednesday underlined its determination to secure full ownership of SFR, France’s second largest mobile phone operator by buying out Vodafone’s stake. Jean-Bernard Lévy,
Vivendi arm seeks Neuf Cegetel control
Vivendi’s SFR mobile phone subsidiary, the owner of 40.5% of Neuf Cegetel, is in negotiations to buy the remainder of France’s third-largest fixed-line phone company for about €5bn. The combination of SFR,
M&A bonanza: Dollar’s fall delivers takeover bargains
As the festive season arrives, it may not just be European consumers who flock to New York for goods at prices that seem like a steal back home. The weakening of the dollar and strengthening of the euro has also been a great gift for many eurozone companies,
Vivendi joins forces with Activision
Vivendi is set to take control of Activision of the US through an alliance that would create the world’s biggest video games publisher and bring their hit titles under one corporate roof. The French group,
Vivendi in talks over Dubai’s Oger Telecom
Vivendi is in talks to acquire 25%- 35% of Oger Telecom, a unit of Middle East conglomerate Saudi Oger, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter. The stake, which would make the French media and telecom group a key strategic partner in the company,
Universal Music, Bertelsmann unit, get EU approval
The European Commission cleared Vivendi’s Universal Music business to buy Bertelsmann’s music-publishing arm, with the condition that several song copyrights be sold off, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Vivendi eyes Vodafone’s SFR stake
French media and telecoms giant Vivendi is keen on buying the 44% held by Vodafone in French mobile firm SFR, according to an interview published in Thursday’s Le Figaro [via Reuters].
The remarks by Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy are the latest in a long-running tit-for-tat battle with the British mobile telco.
Private equity can’t keep its eyes off Vivendi
The first to set its sights on the French conglomerate was Sebastian Holdings, the fund of the Scandinavian activist investor Alexander Vik, and then it was the turn of KKR to show up in an altogether friendlier frame of mind,