Wednesday 28 December, 5:00 PM GMT (Thomson Financial): European markets
ended the day mixed after a quiet day's trade. Corporate news was light, but
of note, DaimlerChrysler announced the sale of its Off-Highway activities,
including diesel engine maker MTU Friedrichshafen to a private equity
grouping, while Cadbury Schweppes sold its Holland House brand of cooking
wines.
London's FTSE-100 Index rose by 27.40 points or 0.49% to 5622.80, while
Paris's CAC-40 Index fell by 12.45 points or 0.26% to 4756.93. Frankfurt's DAX
Index inched up by 2.31 points or 0.04% to 5447.15 and Milan's S&P MIB Index
crept up by 21 points or 0.06% to 35,866. The pan-European blue chip Dow Jones
Stoxx 50 Index weakened by 7.46 points or 0.22% to 3350.41.
* DaimlerChrysler 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 was 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.
* Meanwhile, shares in Cadbury Schweppes rose 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. Later, Cadbury Schweppes said
it had lifted its stake in Kent to 95% after agreeing to buy Tahincioglu
Holdings' 30% holding in the firm for some 55 million pounds.
* Rank group 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.
* In economics news, the German GfK market research institute forecast
that its consumer climate indicator would rise to 3.8 in January from a
restated 3.4 in December, saying the propensity to make large purchases
had risen 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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