FTSE 100 Shire (SHP) – has entered into a merger agreement pursuant to which Shire will acquire all the outstanding shares of NPS Pharma for $46.00 per share in cash, for a total consideration of approximately $5.2 billion. FTSE 250 Unite Group (UTG) – has acquired a development site, subject to planning, in the centre…
The Markets The Office for National Statistics released fresh data showing a drop in UK construction and industrial output in November, with the drop in industrial production principally focused in the oil and gas industry. The ONS reported that construction sector output fell by 2% month-on-month in November, with the industrial sector down by 0.1%,…
by Dave Evans of binary.com This Friday, US Non Farm Payrolls came in above estimate estimates for the second month in a row, showing that over 200,000 new jobs had been added for the fourth month in a row. So why didn’t stock markets and the dollar rocket higher on the news? Certainly the terrible events…
We are pleased to announce that Merryn Somerset-Webb, editor in chief of MoneyWeek, has been confirmed as the latest headline speaker for Master Investor 2015. She joins the line up of big name speakers for the show, which will be held at the usual venue of the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, from 9am…
Continuing a recent run of speculative small caps that could be set to surprise on the upside in 2015, I would like to draw readers’ attention to a firm that could be set to transform the cancer treatment market. Now looks like an interesting time to be a shareholder of life sciences minnow Advanced Oncotherapy…
FTSE 100 Old Mutual (OML) – has taken a 23.3% stake in UAP Holdings Limited, an East and Central African financial services company with a presence in 6 countries, for KES 8.88 billion (USD 97.6 million). FTSE 250 Restaurant Group (RTN) – For the 52 weeks ending 28 December, total turnover was up 9.6% on…
The Markets Mortgage lender Halifax said that UK house prices rose by just under 8% in 2014, with the average home costing 14,600 pounds more than at the start of last year. Prices rose by a modest 0.3% in the last quarter, a considerable slowdown from the peak of 10.2% year-on-year cost increases seen in…
Can you imagine a world in which you use the euro to pay for your living expenses but you’re not allowed to hold the physical currency? Can you imagine a world in which you’re bound to the electronic transfer of funds and condemned to never see a cent of your paper wealth? Well, if not,…
FTSE 100 Tesco (TSCO) – like-for-like sales performance of (2.9)% in the 19 weeks ended 3rd January versus (5.4)% in Q2. Final dividend scrapped. British Land (BLND) – has sold a retail and office portfolio in an off-market deal to Legal & General Property for £219.6m, ahead of September book value. Marks & Spencer (MKS) –…
The Markets Eurozone prices dropped by 0.2% in December according to the latest estimates from Eurostat, a development that is likely to put further pressure on the European Central Bank to extend credit to the region and stimulate activity. The drop was driven by declines in the price of oil but “core” inflation, which excludes…
