Monday 19 December, 1:00 PM GMT (Thomson Financial): Overall, European
markets are trading slightly negative with rising pharmaceutical stocks on
the back of a U.S. court patent decision in favour of Pfizer's Lipitor
drug being countered by falling oil & gas stocks.
Corporate news continues to be dominated by M&A activity as Nestle
acquires of Delta Ice Cream, while Honeywell buys U.K. group First
Technology. BAA has signed an agreement to acquire control of Budapest
Airport, while The Carphone Warehouse has acquired the Onetel Group and
Tele2's U.K. and Ireland fixed telephony operations. Elsewhere, Unilever
has decided to retain and strengthen its dual structure as part of its
final stage review of its corporate governance and structure, while
Converium has reported a third quarter net loss of US$6.9 million,
impacted by the U.S. hurricanes and European floods.
London's FTSE-100 Index is up 6.80 points or 0.12% to 5,538.30, while
Paris's CAC-40 Index is down 2.99 points or 0.06% to 4,701.55. Frankfurt's
DAX Index is down 6.98 points or 0.13% to 5,346.68 and Milan's S&P MIB
Index is down 54.0 points or 0.15% to 35,228.0. The pan-European blue chip
Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index is down 5.74 points or 0.17% to 3,337.95.
* Healthcare stocks are trading higher after a U.S. Federal Court
determined that two of Pfizer's U.S. patents covering atorvastatin, the
active ingredient in its cholesterol Lipitor drug are both valid and are
both infringed by a generic manufacturer's product, therefore protecting
Lipitor's exclusivity until June 2011.
* Nestle has announced the acquisition of Delta Ice Cream for a total
enterprise value of about 240 million euros. With 2004 sales of 122
million euros and four production facilities, Delta Ice Cream is the
leading ice cream business in Greece as well as in Bulgaria, Macedonia,
Romania and Serbia and Montenegro.
* Honeywell has announced its acquisition of U.K. group First Technology,
with an offer of 275 pence per share, valuing the entire issued share
capital of First Technology at approximately 207 million pounds. This has
overshadowed the company's first half results with pre-tax profits of 11.4
million pounds compared to 6.8 million pounds in the same half last year.
Operating profits have risen to 13.4 million pounds from 9.9 million
pounds in the prior year, on revenues worth 75.1 million pounds versus
79.1 million pounds last year.
* BAA has signed an agreement to acquire control of Budapest Airport
(equivalent to 75%, minus 1 share), of Budapest Airport plus a 75-year
asset management contract for a total cash consideration of 1.255 billion
pounds. The transaction is expected to be completed by 23 December 2005
and does not require the approval of BAA shareholders or competition
authorities. Meanwhile, a spokesman for rival bidder Hochtief says the
German construction group has filed a lawsuit against the Hungarian
authorities' decision to award the concession for Budapest airport to BAA.
* The Carphone Warehouse has acquired the Onetel Group of companies from
Centrica, for an initial cash consideration of 132.0 million pounds.
Onetel is one of the largest alternative telecoms providers in the UK,
providing landline calls, line rental, dial-up, broadband and mobile
services to residential and small business customers. The company has also
announced the acquisition of Tele2's UK and Ireland fixed telephony
operations to Carphone Warehouse for 8.5 million pounds.
* Novartis said it is exploring the benefits of acquiring the Swiss
vaccines company Berna Biotech and combining its operations with those of
Chiron, a U.S. vaccines company that Novartis is currently in the process
of acquiring. Crucell has noted the announcement made by Berna Biotech of
the request for due diligence information received from a third party.
Crucell has reminded shareholders that its offer for Berna is the only
offer that has been made so far.
* Consumer goods company Unilever has decided to retain and strengthen its
dual structure as part of its final stage review of its corporate
governance and structure. Its proposed changes are designed to provide
additional and important balance sheet and capital structure flexibility
and will further improve elements of their corporate governance.
* Converium has reported a third quarter net loss of US$6.9 million,
impacted by the U.S. hurricanes and European floods in the amount of
US$74.2 million and costs of US$9.5 million associated with its
organisational and operational restructuring. No year earlier results have
been provided for a comparison in light of forthcoming restatements
undertaken following recent investigations by regulators and governmental
authorities.
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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