Financial News

European shares were mostly higher Friday as strong results from BNP Paribas and British Airways and an improved bid for steel maker Arcelor helped balance fears the cycle of rising U.S. interest rates may not be over. The German DAX 30 indexadded 0.1% at 5,671, the French CAC 40 indexrose 0.5% at 4,943 and the U.K. FTSE 100 indexwas down slightly at 5,670. The pan-European Stoxx 600 indexcl ...

European shares steadied on Friday after a difficult week as the Paris bourse was lifted by bid speculation in Arcelor and Euronext. // Arcelor rose 8.9 per cent to €34.84, yesterday after Mittal Steel raised its offer by a third, trumping Arcelor’s own announcement that it was to buy back its own shares at a premium to the market price. Mittal lifted the total value of its bid by €6bn to €24bn  ...

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. (NDAQ.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it raised its stake in the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L: Quote, Profile, Research) to 25.1 percent, making it more difficult for a rival bidder to come in. Nasdaq, which dropped a 2.4 billion pound takeover offer for the LSE in March after being rebuffed by the exchange, said it had bought another 2.22 million shares at 1,235.5 pence each for about 27.4 million pounds, raising its stake from ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. (NDAQ.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday that it had raised its stake in the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L: Quote, Profile, Research) to 25.1 percent from 24.1 percent previously. Nasdaq said it paid an average price of 1,235.5 pence an LSE share for its latest purchase of around 2.22 million shares at a cost of around 27.4 million pounds. Shares in the LSE were up 0.5 percent at 1,242 pence after the announcement. The latest purchase stre ...

Blackstone has navigated potential conflicts between its M&A advisory and private equity businesses with aplomb. In part, this reflects the asymmetrical buildup of the two activities. While the buyout side is huge; the advisory side is discreet and focused on mid-cap work. But the advisory business is getting a boost with the recruitment of former Morgan Stanley European M&A boss John Stud ...

Mittal Steel has sharply raised its offer for French rival Arcelor, valuing the firm at 25.8bn euros, an increase of 34% on its earlier 21bn-euro bid. Mittal Steel promised to make changes to its corporate governance, over which Arcelor had previously voiced concerns. Arcelor's management has rejected the planned deal ever since it was first mooted on 26 January. Mittal's offer includes one of its shares plus 11.10 euros in cash for every Arcelor share. "We have today announced a materially ...

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's number one steelmaker Mittal (MT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (ISPA.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) will issue a statement on Friday regarding a sweetened offer for rival Arcelor (CELR.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) , a source familiar with the matter said. Earlier, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources, that Mittal plans to raise its bid for Arcelor by 3 billion euros (2 billion pounds). Shares in both stocks were suspended on Friday. Arcelor, the  ...

Mittal Steel Co Chairman and CEO Lakshmi MittalTHE world's biggest steel company, Mittal Steel, formally launched its £12.67 billion bid to take over rival Arcelor. The group, majority-owned by Britain's richest man Lakshmi Mittal, said the offer had already opened to Arcelor shareholders in Luxembourg, France and Belgium. Spain and the United States are set to follow imminently. The planned merger would create a steel giant capable of producing more than 100 million tonnes of steel a year, wi ...

Richard BakerHEALTH and beauty chain Boots posted annual profits slightly ahead of expectations in the run-up to its merger with Alliance UniChem. Boots said profits for the year were £401m, down 9.8 per cent compared with last year and just ahead of City forecasts of £400.6m. Part of the reason for the downturn is the absence of two months trading from its Strepsils healthcare business BHI, which it sold for £1.9bn. Revenue from Boots The Chemists lifted 1.7 per cent in difficult trading cond ...

US oil firm Occidental Petroleum will seek damages of $1bn (£529m) in a claim against the Ecuadorean government over the seizure of its assets. This week Ecuadorean oil officials ended Occidental Petroleum's operating contract after a long-running dispute, and are now in control of operations. In reaction the US cancelled free trade negotiations with Ecuador. The US oil firm has also sacked 300 local employees in Ecuador and is to move out its foreign staff. Assets wrangle Occidental w ...