Wednesday 28 December, 1:00 PM GMT (Thomson Financial): European markets
have come off their early lows and are trading slightly higher. In corporate
news, DaimlerChrysler has announced the sale of its Off-Highway activities to
EQT, while Cadbury Schweppes has announced the sale of its Holland House brand
of cooking wines. Elsewhere, news of a positive German GfK consumer survey is
also providing some support.
London's FTSE-100 Index has risen by 20.70 points or 0.37% to 5616.10,
while Paris's CAC-40 Index is barely changed, having added just 1.15 points or
0.02% to 4770.53. Frankfurt's DAX Index is up by 13.64 points or 0.25% to
5458.48 and Milan's S&P MIB Index is barely lower, by 2 points or 0.01% to
35,843. The pan-European blue chip Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index has added 6.85
points or 0.20% to 3364.72.
* DaimlerChrysler has announced the sale of its Off-Highway activities,
including diesel engine maker MTU Friedrichshafen to private equity
grouping EQT. The transaction has an enterprise value of 1.6 billion
euros and DaimlerChrysler expects a cash inflow of 1 billion euros,
which will boost its net income by 0.3 billion euros. The transaction is
expected to close in the first quarter of 2006.
* AstraZeneca remains in focus after signing an exclusive global license
and research collaboration agreement with Targacept for its TC-1734
compound to treat Alzheimer's disease. Under the terms of the agreement,
AstraZeneca will pay an initial US$10 million to Targacept and if
AstraZeneca decides to conduct Phase II clinical development, it will
pay a further US$20 million in milestone payments and US$26 million for
research.
* Rank group has announced the sale of its Deluxe Film unit to DX III
Holdings Corporation for some 430 million pounds in cash, on a debt and
cash free basis. At the same time, Rank said it was reviewing its
capital structure and dividend policy, the outcome of which will be
announced at the same time as its preliminary results in March.
* Meanwhile, shares in Cadbury Schweppes are higher after the company
announced the disposal of its non-core Holland House brand of cooking
wines to Mizkan Americas for US$37 million in cash.
* In economics news, the German GfK market research institute is
forecasting that its consumer climate indicator will rise to 3.8 in
January from a restated 3.4 in December, saying the propensity to make
large purchases rose strongly in December, becoming positive for the
first time in four years. However, the institute added that consumers
remained cautious about their private income expectations.
Olivier.Masson@Thomson.com; Thomson Financial
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