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Commission
clears takeover bids for the LSE
London: The Competition Commission has given its
approval for a formal takeover bid of the London Stock
Exchange by European bourse operator Euronext.
Ending
a seven-month enquiry into takeover plans by Euronext
and Deutsche Boerse, the Competition Commission said both
companies must take steps to reinforce the independence
of and not obstruct access to the LSE's clearing-house
activities.
Euronext,
which analysts see as the frontrunner, can now move closer
to formalising a bid, but faces a potential obstacle in
the price it may have too pay for LSE, currently valued
at around 1.5 billion pounds.
Bourses
are under pressure to merge to cut costs as pressure on
fees continues and as a single European Union market in
financial services emerges.
The
operator of the Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon
bourses, and of London's Euronext.Liffe derivatives exchange,
has yet to name a price, although sources familiar with
the situation have said the LSE board will only accept
an offer above 600 pence a share.
Deutsche
Boerse has said it might re-enter the race if Euronext
makes an offer. On Tuesday, the German company declined
to comment on whether the commission's findings would
spur it into action.
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Barrick
Gold's bid to become world's biggest gold producer
Toronto/London:
The consolidation of the global mining industry accelerated
yesterday when Toronto-based Barrick Gold launched an
unsolicited US$9.2bn cash-and-stock bid for Placer Dome,
its Canadian rival.
A deal would make Barrick the world's biggest gold producer.
However, Placer is widely expected to seek improved terms
for a deal by looking for a white knight.
Placer, based in Vancouver, has for some time been considered
a takeover target. A sharp rise in operating costs has
more than offset the recent jump in the gold price, leading
to a drop in earnings and a lower share price. Placer's
third-quarter earnings shrank 77 per cent.
The combined company would produce 8.3-8.4 million ounces
of gold and 370 million pounds of copper a year. A merger
would benefit from synergies between the companies' mines
and exploration properties. Cost savings are estimated
at US$240mn a year.
The deal would give Barrick its first foothold in South
Africa, where Placer has a 50 per cent stake in the South
Deep mine.
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UBS
Q3 profits ride on the back of Asian and Mideast oil wealth
Geneva: UBS, the largest European bank, has reported
a record third-quarter profit on Tuesday, reflecting the
fact that banks with large wealth-management businesses
are starting to benefit from a boom in oil-related income
in the Middle East and Asia.
UBS said net profit in the third quarter rose 71 percent
to 2.77 billion Swiss francs, or US$2.15bn. The bank,
which is the largest wealth manager in the world, added
31.1 billion francs in new money from private clients,
with much of that growth coming from emerging markets.
Soaring global oil prices have created tens of billions
of dollars in new wealth in Arab states and Asian countries
with large crude oil production like Indonesia. Analysts
say much of this new wealth is being placed with non-American
banks because of concerns over political tensions between
Washington and the Arab world.
Places like Singapore and Dubai, where a large portion
of Middle East oil money is invested, are growing in importance
as traditional offshore centers like Switzerland lose
their luster. Tighter taxation rules, like those imposed
recently by the European Union, have made it harder to
avoid taxes in offshore havens like Switzerland, making
centers in emerging markets more attractive.
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Imperial
Tobacco says UK Government's smoking policy to have minimal
effect
London: Imperial Tobacco, the world's fourth-biggest
tobacco company posted an 11 per cent rise in annual profits
and announced it would spend up to £450mn on buying
back shares in the absence of major acquisitions.
The
UK-based group, with leading brands such as Lambert &
Butler, Richmond and Davidoff cigarettes, said volumes
grew 1.5 per cent over the year after a strong second-half
performance outweighed a first-half drop. It reported
pre-tax profits of £1.1bn for the year to 30 September,
near the top end of analysts' forecasts.
Gareth
Davis, chief executive of the firm, deplored government
plans to introduce smoking bans in offices, restaurants
and pubs serving food in England and Wales by the summer
of 2007. Even so, he predicted confidently: "It is
clear that smokers will continue to smoke. There may be
an initial dip in consumption but this diminishes over
time."
Davis
pointed to Ireland, where cigarette consumption fell by
5 per cent after a ban was introduced but volumes are
now perking up again, he said.
In
Britain, which accounts for 37 per cent of group profits,
Imperial held on to its 44.5 per cent slice of a market
which declined by 4 per cent to 51 billion cigarettes.
In Germany, which makes up nearly one-fifth of group earnings,
operating profit was up 24 per cent despite three tobacco
tax increases in the past 18 months.
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