Financial News

By Lina Saigol, European M&A Correspondent Published: October 31 2005 18:45 | Last updated: October 31 2005 19:23Four British companies with a combined market capitalisation of £23.3bn ($41bn) on Monday received takeover approaches in a flurry of activity unmatched since the height of the dotcom boom in 2000. The bids drove the FTSE 100 index to its best one-day performance in two and a half years, up 2 per cent to 5317.3, as Telefónica, Spain's largest telephone company, agreed to buy O2,  ...

Lauren Mills, Daily Mail1 November 2005 ANYONE hoping for a quiet first day back at work yesterday, after last week's half-term break, was sorely disappointed. Takeover fever gripped the City, sparking a frenetic day's trading. OTHER STORIES Market report: Tuesday 15.00 Smaller companies report: Monday close How to buy into top funds Sunday newspaper share tips Taxman set to target Ai ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - AOL founder Steve Case on Monday said he has resigned from the board of Time Warner Inc. (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , ending a storied chapter in the history of the world's largest media company. Case, who stepped down as chairman in 2003, was one of the original architects of the merger of AOL and Time Warner, which helped erase more than $200 billion in sha ...

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Spain's Telefonica SA on Monday agreed to buy British mobile-phone operator O2 for $31.5 billion, continuing a wave of consolidation in the European telecommunications industry. document.write('');   MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS Telefonica to buy O2 for $31.5 billion Novartis lifts offer to $5.1 billion for rest of Chiron Ports operator P&O surges on t ...

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- A Halloween edition of M&A Monday boosted U.S. stock market futures on Monday, with most of the treats served up by overseas companies looking to expand.   MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS Telefonica to buy O2 for $31.5 billion Novartis lifts offer to $5.1 billion for rest of Chiron Ports operator P&O surges on takeover bid Japan expected to ease U. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Spanish telecom provider Telefonica agreed Monday to buy mobile phone company O2 PLC for £17.7 billion ($31.6 billion), sparking hopes of a bidding battle for one of the sector's hottest takeover targets. Financially-powerful Telefonica, the world's fifth-largest telecom firm by market value, said it would pay 200 pence per share in cash -- a 22 percent premium to O2's closing share price Friday -- sending the UK-based company's shares surging 24 percent  ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Susquehanna Media Co., the nation's largest closely held radio operator by revenue, has agreed to sell its radio assets to a group led by Cumulus Media Inc. for $1.2 billion, Cumulus announced Monday. Susquehanna also agreed to sell its cable assets to Comcast Corp. (Research), Cumulus said. That deal is valued at about $750 million, the Wall Street Journal repo ...

U.S.: Billions needed to fight bird flu Government is stepping up spending as fears about new pandemic grow; Roche, Sanofi seen as winners. (full story) For more on the avian virus • EBay halts bird flu drug auction • Drugmakers meet with Bush, offer help NEW YORK (Reuters) - Drug maker Novartis has agreed to buy the remaining stake in U.S vaccine maker Chiron Corp. for $5.1 billion, or $600 million more tha ...

By Kirstin Ridley and Sonya Dowsett LONDON/MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica agreed on Monday to buy mobile group O2 Plc for 17.7 billion pounds, sparking hopes of a bidding battle for one of the sector's hottest takeover targets. Financially-powerful Telefonica, the world's fifth-largest telecoms firm by market value, said it would pay 200 pence per share in cash -- a 22 perc ...

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- Spain's Telefonica SA on Monday agreed to buy British mobile phone operator O2 for $31.5 billion, continuing a wave of consolidation in the European telecommunications industry. Telefonica (TEF) said it was paying 17.7 billion pounds, or 200 pence a share in cash, to gain a foothold in the U.K. and Germany. The offer price represents a 22% premium to O2's closing price of ...