Monday 19 December, 5:00 PM GMT (Thomson Financial): European markets
ended the trading session mixed, with the downside provided by the oil &
gas sector as crude oil futures retreated. Meanwhile, the healthcare
sector bucked the trend with a U.S. court patent decision in favour of
Pfizer's Lipitor drug.
Corporate news was dominated by M&A activity as Nestle acquired Delta Ice
Cream, while Honeywell bought U.K. group First Technology. BAA signed an
agreement to acquire control of Budapest Airport, while The Carphone
Warehouse acquired the Onetel Group and Tele2's U.K. and Ireland fixed
telephony operations. Elsewhere, Unilever decided to retain and strengthen
its dual structure as part of its final stage review of its corporate
governance and structure, while Converium reported a third quarter net
loss of US$6.9 million, impacted by the U.S. hurricanes and European
floods.
Finally, Bank of Italy Governor Antonio Fazio resigned, following
accusations he favoured domestic banks over foreign rivals in two takeover
cases.
London's FTSE-100 Index was up 8.20 points or 0.15% to 5,539.80, while
Paris's CAC-40 Index was down by 9.55 points or 0.20% to 4,694.86.
Frankfurt's DAX Index was down by 3.48 points or 0.07% to 5,350.18 and
Milan's S&P MIB Index was up by 61.0 points or 0.17% to 35,347.0. The
pan-European blue chip Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index was down by 6.08 points or
0.18% to 3,337.61.
* Healthcare stocks traded 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 were both valid and were both
infringed by a generic manufacturer's product, therefore protecting
Lipitor's exclusivity until June 2011.
* Nestle 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 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 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 rose 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 signed an agreement to acquire control of Budapest Airport
(equivalent to 75%, minus 1 share), 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 said the German
construction group had filed a lawsuit against the Hungarian authorities'
decision to award the concession for Budapest airport to BAA.
* The Carphone Warehouse 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 also
announced the acquisition of Tele2's UK and Ireland fixed telephony
operations to Carphone Warehouse for 8.5 million pounds.
* Novartis said it was 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 noted the announcement made by Berna Biotech of the
request for due diligence information received from a third party. Crucell
reminded shareholders that its offer for Berna was the only offer that had
been made so far.
* Consumer goods company Unilever 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 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 were 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
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SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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