Bidders for Just Eat (JE.) have increased their offers as a deadline to secure a takeover of the food delivery giant edges closer. Prosus, which is owned by South African investment giant Naspers, said it was ramping up its all-cash offer from £5.1billion to £5.5billion, or 800p per share. It said the latest move was its ‘final’ offer, ahead of a cut-off point in January, by when it must garner support. But within minutes, rival Takeaway.com also announced an improved bid for Just Eat. Takeaway.com, which is based in the Netherlands, has proposed an all-share merger with Just Eat that is supported by the company’s board. And yesterday it attempted to sweeten the deal, offering Just Eat’s shareholders a bigger slice of the enlarged company – 57.5% instead of 52.1%. ‘This is our best and final offer,’ Takeaway.com added.
The chief executive and chief financial officer of Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) underperforming investment banking arm have stepped down, the bank announced today. In the first significant move announced since new RBS chief executive Alison Rose started, Chris Marks and Richard Place have quit as bosses of Natwest Markets. It comes after the division has underperformed recently, contributing to tipping taxpayer-backed RBS to a loss in the third quarter, with shareholders calling on the bank to scale it back. Marks has been replaced on an interim basis by Robert Begbie, RBS treasurer, and will stay until June, while Place has been replaced by Robert Horrocks, RBS treasury finance director and will stay until March. Meanwhile, the bank has launched an internal and external search for permanent replacements.
Plant Health Care (PHC) warned that revenue will miss forecasts this year after it was hit with last-minute disruptions. Bureaucratic problems in Brazil, where import licences have been held up, and a delay to a customer order mean its turnover will be around £5million this year. It made £6.1million in 2018. The firm, which makes biological products that agricultural groups can put on seeds and crops, was knocked by similar problems last year.
Two of NMC Health (NMC) top bosses have had £750million wiped off their fortunes this week as its shares have slumped. The Middle East-focused private hospital operator’s stock lost another 11% to close at 1536.5p last night. It has shed around 40% of its value – or £2.2billion – since outspoken US hedge fund Muddy Waters hit out at NMC on Tuesday, leaving it worth £3.21billion. Muddy Waters said it has taken a short position in the group – though it declined to say what size – and took aim at the company for allegedly understating its debt and querying its relationship with its auditor, EY. Last night NMC bit back following the Muddy Waters attack, claiming it is ‘false and misleading’. NMC said it has made all the disclosures it needs to and denied that there are any grey areas between the NMC and its auditor. NMC’s joint executive chairman and founder, Indian pharmacist Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, is the firm’s largest shareholder with a 19.2% stake.
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) had its rating cut from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’ by brokers at German bank Berenberg, sending its shares down 29.6p, to 948.2p. They warned the firm is making a ‘strategic error’ by moving away from its core business and chasing new areas such as cruise and hotel operations, which has ‘not delivered the growth it promised’. Berenberg think it’s becoming a riskier stock, though it could benefit from payments from Boeing over the grounded 737 Max aircraft.
Stock Spirits Group (STCK) edged up 1p, to 199p after activist investor Western Gate urged it to pay a special dividend of €0.1219 per share. Western Gate, which is its second largest investor with a 10% stake, is the private family office of Portuguese businessman Luis Amaral has made a number of interventions in the company and ousted its chief executive in 2016. Western Gate said the Eastern European group needed to return cash to ‘patient’ shareholders who have seen shares fall since it went public will need to wait several years before having cash returned to them otherwise.
British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) was in the red after BA nosedived in a closely watched passenger satisfaction survey. It was rated the second-worst airline for long-haul and short-haul flights, and was slammed for food, seat comfort and value for money in the Which? poll of 6,500 passengers. BA was top of the short-haul poll in 2015 and its decline comes at the end of a turbulent period for BA which has seen its first ever strikes, IT failures and data breaches.
