Monday 9 January, 10:15 AM GMT (Thomson Financial): European markets have
opened higher, led by the automobiles and the technology sectors. This
week investors await the opening of the U.S. fourth quarter earnings
season, the latest U.S. producer price inflation, and interest rate
decisions from both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.
In the meantime, M&A activity dominates this morning's thinking as Adecco
acquires the Paulmann family's 29% stake in the German-listed DIS for
54.50 euros per share while launching a tender offer for the remaining
shares at the same price. Meanwhile, TDC is still recommending its
shareholders accept an offer from the Nordic Telephone Company despite the
rejection from one of its major shareholders, while Dofasco has
unanimously recommended that its shareholders accept a revised offer from
ThyssenKrupp. Elsewhere, Royal Philips Electronics and Arima Devices have
agreed a share purchase agreement to transfer Philips' optical pick-up
business unit to Arima Devices.
London's FTSE-100 Index is up by 14.40 points or 0.25% to 5746.20, while
Paris's CAC-40 Index has added 12.15 points or 0.25% to 4879.30. Frankfurt
's DAX Index has risen by 11.86 points or 0.21% to 5548.18 and Milan's S&P
MIB Index has climbed by 38 points or 0.10% to 36,403. The pan-European
blue chip Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index has gained 15.30 points or 0.45% to
3449.72.
* Swiss recruitment group Adecco has purchased the Paulmann family's 29%
stake in the German-listed DIS for 54.50 euros per share. At the same
time, the company has announced its intention to launch a voluntary public
tender offer for the remaining shares at the same price.
* Danish telecommunications operator TDC says it still recommends that its
shareholders accept a 382 Danish kroner share offer from fund-owned Nordic
Telephone Company, despite the rejection from major shareholder, the ATP
pension fund. Denmark's biggest pension fund has a 5.51% stake in TDC and
does not consider the current offer sufficiently attractive compared with
alternative initiatives already proposed by TDC management.
* Royal Philips Electronics and Arima Devices have agreed a share purchase
agreement to transfer Philips' optical pick-up (OPU) business unit to
Arima Devices. Philips will take an approximate 14% share in Arima Devices
at the completion of the deal. The OPU business unit produces optical pick
up units for DVD recorders and PC DVD drives and is part of Philips
Optical Storage. No financial details have been disclosed.
* Accountancy software group Sage has agreed to acquire Verus Financial
Management from Financial Technology Ventures and its other shareholders,
for an enterprise value of approximately 184 million pounds. Verus is a
merchant services business specialising in credit card and cheque
processing for small and medium-sized businesses based in the U.S.
* Synthes has received an "approvable letter" from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) regarding its ProDisc-L Total Disc Replacement
pre-market approval application (PMA). The FDA has determined that the
device is safe and effective for use in treating Degenerative Disc Disease
in the lumbar spine at a single level.
* Dofasco says its board of directors has unanimously recommended that its
shareholders accept the revised ThyssenKrupp offer of January 3, 2006, at
an offer price of 63 Canadian dollars per common share, and tender their
shares to the offer prior to the expiry date of January 25, 2006. The
board further recommended that its shareholders reject the Arcelor offer
announced December 23, 2005. Rival Arcelor is now under pressure to raise
its bid.
* Low-cost airline carrier easyJet has announced December passenger
numbers totalling 2.372 million, up 11.1% year-on-year, with a load factor
of 80.5%, down 0.2 percentage points. On a rolling 12-month basis,
passenger numbers amounted to 30.301 million, up 17.8% year-on-year, with
total revenues coming to 1.381 billion pounds, up 20.5% year-on-year.
* According to a report in the Financial Times Deutschland,
DaimlerChrysler has given a mandate to a leading investment bank to take
soundings regarding the diversification of its struggling Smart brand.
* According to the Swiss weekly Sonntagszeitung, Novartis has completed
its due diligence on Serono and remains interested in snapping up its
smaller peer.
Simon.Tse@Thomson.com; Thomson Financial
This is Thomson Financial Corporate Services Europe Market Commentary.
The information herein is believed to be true and accurate. If you have
any questions please e-mail James Sang at james.sang@tfn.com. For more
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SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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