Financial News

LONDON (AFX) - UK small caps remained firm at midday, with contract news and the agreed bid for Baggeridge Brick underpinning sentiment, dealers said. The FTSE Small Cap index was 2.7 ahead at 3,379.1 by midday, while the FTSE 100 was 1.2 up at 5,897.8, off today's high of 5,915. Netb2b2 led the charge, adding 7 pence to 21-1/2 as the digital solutions group secured a new charity contract worth  ...

HONG KONG (Dow Jones) -- Australian retailer Coles Myer Ltd. gained nearly 12% Thursday after saying it had been approached regarding a possible takeover. Shares in Coles Myer (CMYRF) rose 12% to A$13.10 on the Australian Stock Exchange, after hitting an intraday all-time high of A$13.40. The country's second-largest retailer said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange that it "had  ...

PARIS (AFX) - Share prices were slightly lower in midday trading, but holding on to recent gains as the boost from fresh strength on Wall Street overnight, in particular for technology names, was offset by declines for index heavyweight Total. At 12.15 pm, the CAC-40 index was down 4.87 points at 5,132.44, on volume of 1.3 bln euro. On the Matif, August CAC-40 futures were trading off 2.5 points ...

By Siobhan Kennedy and Adam Pasick LONDON (Reuters) - A private-equity consortium is holding talks with UK cable company NTL (NTLI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) about a potential 10 billion pound takeover that would be Europe's biggest leveraged buyout, sources close to the deal said on Thursday. "It's just a question of NTL deciding whether or not they want to go ahead," one of the sources said. The group is being led by U.S. buyout firm Providence and includes fellow U.S. firms Kohlberg Kra ...

SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) - Retailer Coles Myer Ltd said in a statement that it has received an approach from parties wishing to discuss the possibility of a takeover of the company, but it declined to name the parties, saying only that it would consider any "bona fide" proposals put to it. There has been speculation that US retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc was considering an offer to buy Coles, af ...

VIENNA/LONDON (Reuters) - Austrian brick maker Wienerberger (WBSV.VI: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it planned to take over peer Baggeridge Brick (BGBK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) for 89.2 million pounds in cash, or 216 pence per share. From five UK sites, Baggeridge is the country's fourth biggest brick manufacturer, producing more 300 million a year. Both companies said that th ...

LONDON (Reuters) - A group of private equity firms has approached cable company NTL Inc. (NTLI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) over a 10 billion pound takeover bid, people close to the deal said, in what would be Europe's biggest ever leveraged buyout. "It's still in the early stages," one of the sources said of a potential deal, adding that executives at the buyout firms were having discussions with NTL's chief executive this week. "It's just a question of NTL deciding whether or not they want  ...

LONDON (AFX) - UK small caps opened firmer with the wider market, contract news and the agreed bid for Baggeridge Brick underpinning sentiment, dealers said. The FTSE Small Cap index was 0.7 ahead at 3,377.1 by 9.12 am, while the FTSE 100 was 12.5 up at 5,909.1. Netb2b2 led the way higher, adding 5 pence to 19-1/2 as the digital solutions group secured a new charity contract worth around 438,000 ...

LONDON (AFX) - A consortium of private equity investors could table a formal bid of around 20 bln usd for British cable television and broadband company NTL some time next week, according to a source close to the situation. A group of private equity firms, including Providence Equity Partners and the Blackstone Group, approached the NTL board over a possible bid at the start of August, the source ...

Asian stocks were mixed Thursday afternoon after tamer-than-expected U.S. inflation data lifted exporters including Nissan Motor and Samsung Electronics, but easing oil prices hurt energy stocks such as China's CNOOC and Japan's Inpex Holdings. Asian companies that rely on U.S. sales advanced on hopes that a slowdown in the rise of core consumer prices pointed to an improving American economy a ...