Financial News

By Michele Sinner LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Arcelor's (CELR.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) board will meet on Sunday to decide on a response to Mittal Steel's (ISPA.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) surprise hostile bid, a board member told Reuters on Saturday, adding he expected the group to reject the offer. Mittal, the world's biggest steel maker, made an unsolicited bid of $23 billion for Arcelor  ...

Otherwise, trying to resolve a takeover tussle by offering to take out the rival bidder as well as the target will forever be known as "doing a Pendragon". Or, taking the name of the company's chief executive Trevor Finn, "doing a Finn".We're talking motor dealers here. Pendragon, the UK's biggest, put an offer in for the No 3 Reg Vardy. Then the No 8 Lookers trumped it.The City waited with bated  ...

Car dealers Lookers and Reg Vardy have rebuffed a three-way merger proposal from rival Pendragon. Pendragon had hoped to end a bidding war for Vardy by pressing ahead with its offer for the firm - and merging with rival bidder Lookers. The firm said it had made two approaches to Lookers after offering £450m for Vardy last month. In a further twist to the saga, Vardy has approved a £492m offer tabled 10 days ago by Lookers. In a statement Lookers said it was rejecting Pendragon's la ...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks ended higher Friday, wrapping up a solid week of gains for the market after strong earnings reports from Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Caterpillar and others helped the fourth-quarter earnings season rebound from a shaky start. The market also received support from a gross domestic product report showing the U.S. economy slowing more than expected in the ...

Livedoor shares on Friday rose for the first time since the Japanese internet services group was raided by prosecutors on January 16, soaring 23 per cent on hopes of a possible takeover. // The share rise came as Fuji TV, Livedoor’s second- biggest shareholder, said executives had met Livedoor’s new president. That triggered speculation that the TV broadcaster might consider buying Livedoor. Fu ...

Wall Street shrugged off concerns about the pace of economic growth on Friday as the improved flow of corporate earnings drove US equity markets sharply higher. // The week had produced robust quarterly figures from Caterpillar, the heavy machinery group, United Technologies, the aerospace and industrial concern, and jet maker Lockheed Martin, which helped ease concerns about profit growth at US  ...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks gained ground in late-day trading Friday in a week where investors have had better news on earnings, with Microsoft and Procter & Gamble the latest blue-chip companies to post strong results. Data showing the U.S. economy slowed more than expected in the fourth quarter also raised hopes among some investors that the Federal Reserve may end its string of ...

| NYSE says it is ready to consider further mergersBy Peter Thal Larsen, Banking Editor, in Davos Published: January 27 2006 19:42 | Last updated: January 27 2006 19:42The chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange, John Thain, on Friday indicated it wanted to play “a leadership role” in the consolidation of the world’s stock exchanges and would be ready to consider further mergers before the end of this year. // In a clear signal of the NYSE’s ambitions, Mr Thain said its merger with Arc ...

Merger and acquisition activity and speculation sent the FTSE 100 soaring to a 4½-year high on Friday. // The M&A market, quiet in the opening few weeks of the year, sprang to life after the battle for P&O turned up a notch with another bid and Pendragon announced plans for a three-way merger in the car dealership market. Plans by Mittal Steel to create the world’s largest steel group h ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Car dealer Lookers (LOOK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) rejected a proposed merger from Pendragon (PDG.L: Quote, Profile, Research) involving the two companies and rival Reg Vardy (VDY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) on Friday, saying it fundamentally undervalued its prospects. Earlier on Friday, the largest car dealer, Pendragon, proposed resolving a bid battle for Vardy by pres ...