Financial News

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The chief executive of the world's biggest steel maker Mittal Steel (ISPA.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) Lakshmi Mittal said he was really worried by a plan by Arcelor management to spoil his 19 billion euro takeover bid. "The management of Arcelor has an idea to make this transaction fail," Mittal told the Saturday edition of Belgian business daily L'Echo in an interview. "I am really worried about the obstacles that Arcelor's management and the Luxembourg Chamber of Comm ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Aviva (AV.L: Quote, Profile, Research) , the country's biggest insurer, has made a takeover approach to Prudential Plc (PRU.L: Quote, Profile, Research) that could value its smaller rival at 17 billion pounds, according to the Financial Times newspaper. Aviva was understood to have approached Prudential, the second-largest listed life insurer, on Thursday with an all-share offer thought to be pitched at about 700 pence per share, the newspaper said in an unsourced report on  ...

By Andrea Felsted, Insurance CorrespondentPublished: March 17 2006 23:05 | Last updated: March 17 2006 23:05Aviva, the UK's largest insurer, has made a takeover approach to Prudential that could value its smaller rival at £17bn. Aviva is understood to have approached Prudential on Thursday night with an all-share offer thought to be about 700p a share, valuing Prudential at £16.8bn.

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) - When Goldman Sachs reported record quarterly earnings for an investment bank this week, investors were more than just impressed. They faced having to rethink traditional valuations for brokerages altogether. Twenty years ago, when some of the biggest firms like Goldman (GS) , Lehman Bros (LEH) and Morgan Stanley (MS) were private partnerships, they primarily helped client ...

| French unrest ‘no repeat of May 1968’By Martin Arnold in ParisPublished: March 17 2006 19:51 | Last updated: March 17 2006 19:51The wave of demonstrations and riots sweeping France is the antithesis of the protests of May 1968, according to Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the leader of the upheavals of four decades ago. // Whereas the student movement of 1968 reflected a “positive vision”, the demonstrations over the French government’s attempt to reform labour contracts for young people reflect a deep m ...

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- St. Paul Travelers Cos. is discussing the possibility of a merger with European insurance heavyweight Zurich Financial Services, according to a media report Friday. The talks between St. Paul (STA) , of St. Paul, Minn., and Zurich Financialare preliminary and may go nowhere, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. The Journal report cited unnamed people  ...

By Matt Falloon LONDON (Reuters) - The top share index closed flat on Friday, having earlier breached 6,000 points for the first time in five years, as miners fell and bid activity thrust some stocks, such as Prudential (PRU.L: Quote, Profile, Research) , higher but weighed elsewhere. Support came from the insurance sector where investors flocked to stocks like Legal & General (LGEN.L: Quote, Profile, Research) to capitalise on strong corporate earnings and rampant takeover speculation. Shar ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Scottish Power (SPW.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday that MidAmerican Energy had received final regulatory approval for its purchase of the utility's PacifiCorp unit in the United States. MidAmerican, part of U.S. investor Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , is buying PacifiCorp for $9.4 billion (5.4 billion pounds). Analysts bel ...

By Matt Falloon LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 has almost doubled in value in three years, but how much longer will bid activity and high-flying commodities support its dizzy run? The FTSE 100 pierced the 6,000-point level on Friday, sustaining a rise from around 3,300 points in March 2003 which has gained momentum on rampant mergers and acquisitions activity and soaring oil and metals prices. Analysts are questioning whether there is enough gas to challenge record highs around 6,900 points ...

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- St. Paul Travelers Cos. is discussing the possibility of a merger with European insurance heavyweight Zurich Financial Services, according to a media report Friday. The talks between St. Paul (STA) , of St. Paul, Minn., and Zurich Financialare preliminary and may go nowhere, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. The Journal report cited unnamed people  ...