 | The £2.6 billion takeover of Inmarsat (ISAT) has received the green light after a group of hedge funds that had been objecting to the deal for the British satellite communications company dropped their opposition at the last minute. The funds, which include Oaktree Capital Management, the Los Angeles-based firm co-founded by Howard Marks, 73, the billionaire investor, had been planning to challenge the takeover in the High Court yesterday, but hours before the hearing began they announced that they had surrendered. Their decision came after the consortium buying Inmarsat, which includes Warburg Pincus and Apax Partners, the private equity firms, warned that it would scrap the takeover if the court favoured the hedge funds. |
 | Centamin (DI) (CEY) has rebuffed a £1.5 billion takeover proposal from a larger Canadian rival.Centamin, which owns the Sukari mine in Egypt, said that the possible all-share offer from Endeavour Mining Corporation did not reflect the contribution it would make to the merged company and that it was “better positioned to deliver shareholder returns than the combined entity”. Endeavour, which is backed by one of Egypt’s richest men, said that it had gone public with the proposal to try to encourage engagement with Centamin after private approaches seeking talks had been rejected. |
 | Cineworld Group (CINE) has blamed the delay in releasing blockbusters including Wonder Woman 1984 for a slowdown in takings. The news prompted big swings in the company’s stock — the most-shorted in the FTSE 250 index, with 18% of Cineworld’s share capital out on loan. Yesterday’s statement that full-year trading would be only “slightly below management’s expectations” initially sent its shares up 13¾p to 219¾p. Yet the shares closed down 8p at 198p. They have fallen by 24% over the past 12 months amid scepticism over the company’s investment in the American market. |
| Goldman Sachs is advising clients to stop buying Aston Martin Holdings (AML) shares, a year after it helped to float the luxury carmaker on the London Stock Exchange. Goldman was one of a group of advisers that shared £12.9 million fees for their work during the initial public offering last October. Aston has endured a miserable year as a listed company, during which its shares have lost almost three-quarters of their value. The stock fell 22½p to 505p, as Goldman cut its recommendation to “neutral” from “buy”. It also cut its price target to 520p from 620p. Aston Martin is based in Warwickshire and is the London Stock Exchange’s only quoted carmaker. | |
| The value of foreign investment into the UK outstripped British investment abroad for only the second time on record last year, as the Americans piled in to the country and the Europeans withdrew. Figures on the UK’s net investment position revealed a £112 billion deficit, the largest recorded in history, the Office for National Statistics said. The data suggests that the UK remains an attractive destination for foreign companies and that the weak pound has made foreign investment increasingly expensive for domestic firms. | |
 | Playtech (PTEC) a company that has been hit by investor revolts over executive pay is proposing a new bonus scheme that could hand its boss shares worth more than £30 million. Playtech said yesterday that it would hold a shareholder meeting on December 19 to seek approval for a long-term incentive award it has designed for Mor Weizer, its chief executive since 2007. The scheme is for nil-cost options over 1.9 million Playtech shares linked with the performance over five years of the company’s share price. If Playtech’s price reaches the bonus plan’s cap of £16, Mr Weizer, 44, would be handed shares worth £30.4 million. |
 | The chief executive of Glencore (GLEN) has suggested that he could step down next year, declaring that he does not want to be “an old guy running this company”. Ivan Glasenberg, 62, previously had indicated his plans to retire between the ages of 65 and 67 from the commodities group he has run since 2002. Yesterday he said that Glencore was working to get a new generation of senior managers in place “as early as possible in the new year” and that as soon as one of them was ready to succeed him, he would stand down. This “could happen soon”, he said, adding: “No exact time, but as soon as I believe they’re ready, I will move aside.” |
 | Ferguson (FERG) has warned of a “challenging” market for plumbing repairs and maintenance in Britain as it prepares to demerge its UK division from the rest of the business. The plumbing materials group makes 90% of its annual group profits and four fifths of its annual revenues in North America. Valued on the stock market at £15 billion, it operates under the Wolseley brand in Britain, with 550-plus branches and 5,000 employees. In September Ferguson announced plans to demerge its British business and to list it separately as part of efforts to focus more on the United States. |
 | The Dutch food delivery group seeking a merger with Just Eat (JE.) yesterday accused a rival bidder of scaremongering in a bid to persuade shareholders to accept a “low-ball” cash offer. Takeaway.com said that Naspers, the South African technology investor, was making contradictory assertions about Just Eat’s future investment requirements and the level of risk faced by investors retaining their holdings. Prosus, the Naspers subsidiary bidding for Just Eat, has made a £4.9 billion cash offer worth 710p-a-share that has been rebuffed. Amsterdam-listed Takeaway.com’s recommended all-paper offer was worth 688p at last night’s close. |
 | Unilever (ULVR), the maker of Dove soap and Marmite, is replacing the head of its North American division as part of a reshuffle of its top team. Unilever said yesterday that Amanda Sourry, 56, president of Unilever North America, would retire after more than 30 years with the business to pursue new opportunities. She will be replaced by Fabian Garcia, a former boss of Revlon, the cosmetics group. In addition Conny Braams, 54, executive vice-president of Unilever’s middle Europe division, has been appointed to a new expanded role of chief digital and marketing officer. Unilever has been searching for a replacement to Keith Weed, 58, the advertising veteran, for more than a year. |
| A music investor has bought the rights to a catalogue of nearly 300 songs written by Fraser T Smith. The songwriter, 48, has written for the biggest pop stars. He co-wrote and produced Adele’s hit Set Fire to the Rain from her bestselling album 21 and has composed tunes for Craig David, Sam Smith and Stormzy. Hipgnosis Songs Fund (SONG) will now receive his share of the royalties from those tracks. Hipgnosis is run by Merck Mercuriadis, a music industry veteran. The fund has invested more than £400 million and holds interests in 8,000 songs, including hits by Eurythmics, Diana Ross and Justin Bieber. |
| Donald Trump announced on Monday that he will restore tariffs, effective immediately, on all steel and aluminum shipped into the United States from Brazil and Argentina. In a surprise move, Trump accused the two countries of devaluing their currencies and hurting US farmers. All the US stock markets fell on fears of rising trade tensions. “Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies. which is not good for our farmers,” Trump said in a tweet. The announcement came as a symbolic slap in the face for Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, who has positioned himself as Trump’s closest ally in the Americas. Bolsonaro told Brazil’s Rádio Itatiaia: “I’m going to call him so that he doesn’t penalize us … Our economy basically comes from commodities, it’s what we’ve got. I hope that he understands and that he doesn’t penalize us with this, and I’m almost certain he’ll listen to us.” | |
 | The struggling fashion chain Ted Baker (TED) has warned that it overestimated the value of its stock and appointed a law firm to carry out a comprehensive review. The retailer, which has a new finance director, estimates that the value of the inventory held on its balance sheet has been overstated by £20m to £25m, based on preliminary analysis. The error relates to previous years and will have no effect on its financial position this year. Ted Baker has called in the London law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to investigate further, and will also be appointing independent accountants. They will report to a subcommittee, chaired by its independent director Sharon Baylay. |
 | Ocado Group (OCDO) launches £500m bond to fund robotic warehouses. Online retailer has struck series of deal with overseas groups including Kroger |
| Lex – Ted Baker (TED): skeletons key. High inventory levels may indicate that a retailer has lost its grip on what consumers want |
 | Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) sets up China joint venture. Publisher among small group of western peers with foothold in strictly censored market |
| Ted Baker (TED) calls in lawyers after inventory overvaluation. Retailer to launch independent review after stock value was overstated by up to £25m |
 | Activist fund set to double stake in banknote maker De La Rue (DLAR). Crystal Amber’s move shows sign of confidence in struggling UK group |
 | The battle for control of Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL) has pitted the son of its founder against his former brother-in-law. William Stobart, son of 90-year-old Eddie, is backing a £55m rescue deal launched by secretive private equity firm Dbay Advisors to save the troubled haulier. But Andrew Tinkler, who was the firm’s chief executive until 2014, wants to be reinstated as boss and lead his own £80m deal to bring the lorry firm back from the brink of collapse. The pair, who were previously married to sisters but have both since divorced, locked horns yesterday as the battle turned increasingly acrimonious. Tinkler, 56, talked down Dbay’s plans as ‘hypocritical’ and said his own offer for Eddie Stobart was ‘materially better on multiple fronts’ for the company’s shareholders and other stakeholders. In a sign of the increasingly bitter rivalry between himself and 58-year-old Stobart, he also reported Dbay to the Takeover Panel in an attempt to prevent the firm – which is Eddie Stobart’s biggest shareholder – voting on its own rescue bid. Dbay, which if successful is planning to reinstate William Stobart as executive chairman, hit back, claiming Tinkler had been ‘unable or unwilling to submit any concrete workable alternative so far’. |
 | The BT Group (BT.A) chief executive’s £8m pay package could be slashed in a major overhaul. The amount 52-year-old Philip Jansen can receive at the telecoms group is dictated by a 2017 regime that includes performance-related share payouts. But this could be replaced with a restricted shares scheme that pays out less, a company spokesman confirmed. At the moment Jansen’s annual package can reach a maximum of £8.3m. This includes a £1.1m salary, an annual bonus of up to 240% of that, an incentive share plan (ISP) bonus worth up to 400% and pension contributions worth 15%. Based on his salary, which was fixed for five years on his appointment in February, the ISP figure is capped at £4.4m. It is paid in shares, with the total based on three years’ performance, and they must be held for a further two years after they have vested. |
| Shares in Ted Baker (TED) have tumbled to their lowest in a decade after the fashion brand said it had overstated the value of its inventory and called in independent lawyers and accountants to investigate the issue. Ted Baker, which warned on profits again in October and ousted its founder Ray Kelvin after improper behaviour earlier this year, said it was likely to have overstated its inventory by £20-25million, but insisted it will have cash to cushion the impact. ‘Discovering that the value of inventory on its balance sheet has been overstated suggests that the business hasn’t got a grip on its numbers which is a bit worrying considering that new chief executive Lindsay Page used to be the finance director,’ said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. ‘Amid all the chaos around inappropriate behaviour from its founder Ray Kelvin and the subsequent profit warnings around margin pressures, tough competition and weak consumer spending, it now appears that Ted Baker has found another banana to slip up on.’ |
| One of Just Eat’s leading investors has said it will only consider a hostile bid for the food delivery business if the offer is raised by nearly £1.5 billion. Cat Rock Capital claimed Prosus ‘cannot justify’ its offer of 710p per share for Just Eat (JE.) and that it would refuse to settle for less than 925p, an increase that would take the value of the proposed takeover from £4.85 billion to £6.32 billion. Cat Rock issued the warning in an open letter to other shareholders yesterday, in which it also underlined its continued support for a proposed merger of Just Eat with Dutch rival Takeaway that is backed by Just Eat’s board. Prosus has urged shareholders to reject the merger and claims it could result in a lack of investment needed to fight off competitors in the fast-growing food delivery sector. |
| Ocado Group (OCDO) surprised the City today with an announcement that it is looking to raise £500million via a convertible bond offering. The logistics and tech firm better known in the UK as an online supermarket only last week announced it struck a deal with a Japanese supermarket Aeon. Ocado said the proceeds of the bond issue would be used to fund the construction of new robotic warehouses. Bondholders will receive between 0.75% and 1.25% interest per year and are set to be paid in full in 2025. ‘The net proceeds of the issue of the bonds will be used to fund capital expenditure in relation to Ocado Solutions’ commitments and general corporate purposes,’ Ocado said. |
 | Sirius Minerals (SXX) shares slid despite an upbeat broker note from house broker Shore Capital. In an analysis of Sirius’s latest restructuring plan, Shore said the company could get by with raising £310m, rather than the previously mooted £460m, to finish its fertiliser mine under the North York Moors. |
| The Trump administration has threatened to slap 100% tariffs on up to $2.4bn (£1.9bn) of French goods in retaliation to the country’s digital tax against US tech companies. The US trade representative (USTR) said on Monday night, after completing an investigation, it found the French digital services tax unfairly discriminated against American technology companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. Sparkling wine and cheese – including Roquefort, Edam and Gruyere – are on the list of goods that could be targeted as soon as mid-January, as well as handbags, porcelain, yoghurt and other French products. | |
| Ocado’s aggressive expansion of its robots and software business has split the City after it announced another £500m fundraising to fuel growth. The firm has launched a bond sale to pay for building automated warehouses, which it has sold to supermarket chains worldwide as they fight off the likes of Amazon. This £500m debt issue spooked traders, sending shares down to 1214p, as analysts disagreed over whether Ocado Group (OCDO) would have been better off relying on cash from shareholders instead. The company tapped investors for £143.2m last year. Bruno Monteyne, of Bernstein, said: “As a shareholder you would not want that investment program to be funded by equity. |
| Former Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL) boss Andrew Tinkler has launched a stinging attack on the troubled trucking company’s biggest investor, calling it a “hypocrite” and blaming it for a strategy that has taken the firm to the brink. Mr Tinkler hit out at a rescue deal led by Isle of Man-based investor DBay Advisors, backed by Eddie Stobart’s board, which is due to be put to a shareholder vote on Friday. Late last week the company warned it would run out of cash if investors snubbed the DBay approach. Shares have been suspended since August, when the firm uncovered a major error in its accounts. Mr Tinkler has lodged a rival offer though investment vehicle TVFB and provided further details on Monday. |
 | has been stung by a major shareholder revolt over plans to hike its bosses’ bonuses. The firm suffered a rebellion by more than 30% of shareholders over the proposals, which will allow chief executive Greg Fitzgerald to earn up to £4.1m a year if he hits targets. Bovis is planning to hike the maximum payable under its bonus scheme, claiming it is becoming more complex due to a takeover of rival Galliford Try (GFRD) residential business. Around 31% of voters opposed the business’s new long-term incentive policy at a shareholder meeting, and 34% voted against Bovis’s overall pay policy. |
 | A hedge fund tycoon who is the biggest backer of Metro Bank (MTRO) has sold down a chunk of his stake in the troubled lender after a bruising year. Billionaire Steve Cohen has offloaded 3.8 million Metro shares for about £7m, according to regulatory filings published days after it emerged that Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal had snapped up a big stake in the bank worth almost £15m. The shares sold by Mr Cohen – an investor whose company was once accused of insider trading – were worth an estimated £152.7m when the bank’s shares peaked last March. |
| A key backer of Just Eat (JE.) merger with Dutch peer Takeaway.com has said it will switch sides to backing hostile suitor Prosus for a £1.5bn sweetener. Cat Rock Capital Management, a major investor in both Just Eat and Takeaway.com, said it was “deeply disappointed” with Prosus’s unsolicited 710p-a-share approach and more money is needed. It wants the offer hiked to 925p per share, valuing the business at £6.5bn. Just Eat and Takeaway.com agreed to merge in July after a campaign led by Connecticut-based activist Cat Rock, which claimed a tie-up was essential to secuure the British firm’s future. |
| Fashion firm Ted Baker (TED) has been forced to reveal a £25m accounting blunder – piling fresh pressure on bosses of the troubled business. Shares in the retailer dropped as much as 13% to a ten-year low after bosses said it had over-calculated the value of stock on its books. Ted Baker has now called in a magic circle law firm and independent accountants to investigate amid calls for an overhaul of its accounting practices. The company’s auditor KPMG could also come in for criticism following a string of scandals at other companies whose books it vets. Analysts at Liberum, Ted Baker house broker, described the development as “less than ideal”. |
| The fashion retailer Ted Baker (TED) is at the centre of an accounting scandal after the company discovered that the inventory valuation on its balance sheet had been overstated by between £20 million and £25 million. It has appointed the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to undertake a comprehensive review and will also appoint independent auditors. KPMG has audited Ted Baker’s accounts since 2000. The discovery comes a month after the arrival of Rachel Osborne, 54, the former chief financial officer at Debenhams. She took over as finance chief at Ted Baker from Charles Anderson, 49, who left to join Mulberry after 17 years at the company. |
| The chairman of Amigo Holdings (AMGO), Britain’s biggest guarantor loans provider, and one of its top executives have sold shares worth more than £1.6 million in the troubled company despite a slump in its stock price. Yesterday Amigo Holdings disclosed that Stephan Wilcke, its chairman, had offloaded 1.8 million shares, equivalent to 15% of his stake in the business, in sales worth £1.15 million to cover a personal tax liability. Naynesh Patel, chief analytics officer, has also sold stock worth about £460,000 for the same purpose. The disposals, which took place after Amigo reported half-year results last week, come as the lender’s shares languish near their all-time low. | |
| Ocado Group (OCDO) is raising £500 million to help pay for dozens of robot-powered warehouses around the world. The online grocer and technology licensing group is to issue bonds that will turn into equity if its stock climbs by between 40% and 45%. The convertible bond will mature in six years’ time and pays a coupon of between 0.75% and 1.25%. Shares in Ocado fell more than 7% on the back of the fundraising, reversing some of the gains from Friday when it signed an agreement with Japan’s largest supermarket chain. |
| A shareholder revolt over executive pay broke out at despite the housebuilder winning significant backing for its £1.1 billion takeover of Galliford Try (GFRD) residential business. More than 30% of shareholders at yesterday’s annual meeting voted against approving both the directors’ remuneration policy and the long-term incentive plan. Directors will be entitled to collect long-term share bonuses of up to 200% of their salary, compared with 150% previously. They will also be eligible to receive cash bonuses of up to 150% of their salary, compared with 100%. Greg Fitzgerald, the chief executive, earned £2.2 million last year, of which £666,000 was base salary. |
 | CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings (CITY) has run into problems in its most advanced project. City Fibre, one of the leading players in efforts to upgrade the broadband network to faster full-fibre, is under scrutiny by Milton Keynes council after it faced a high level of complaints and inspections over “poor practice”. A document from the council’s scrutiny management committee last month shows the project has been given a “red warning”, noting that “as well as a reputational risk there is a financial risk to [the council] to fix poor quality workmanship issues in the future”. |
| The consortium that has agreed a £2.6 billion takeover of Inmarsat (ISAT) has warned that it will abandon the deal if the High Court allows a group of hedge funds to reopen negotiations. The bidders refused to raise their recommended offer for the British satellite operator before a court hearing today unless a counter-offer emerged. They ruled out extending the completion date, which is next Tuesday. The statement raises the temperature in the battle over Inmarsat. In May, shareholders voted to sell the London-based company to a consortium that included the buyout firms Warburg Pincus and Apax Partners and two Canadian investment funds. The two-day hearing, which begins today, was supposed to rubberstamp the deal. |
 | Hurricane Energy (HUR) lost more than a fifth of its value after a promising well west of the Shetland Islands flowed at a lower rate than hoped. The company said that the Warwick West well, which it drilled as part of a partnership with Spirit Energy, flowed at a rate equivalent to 1,300 barrels of oil per day. Analysts at Berenberg said that was too low to be commercially attractive and suggested further drilling would be needed in the area. Hurricane is exploring in fractured basement rock formations that lie below where oil has typically been found. There are estimated to be up to 2.6 billion barrels contained in the licences it has interests in. |
| Saudi Arabia is planning to use its position at the head of the Opec oil cartel to buoy global oil prices before the $25bn stock market debut of its state-owned oil giant. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is due to meet its oil market allies this week to agree the cartel’s oil production policy for 2020. The world’s largest oil-producing countries are expected to maintain a tight rein on their oil output in an effort to keep global prices from tumbling below $65 a barrel. As Opec’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia is expected to use its position to push other members to tighten their compliance with the group’s agreed oil production limits, while cutting its own output even further than it needs to. The oil-rich kingdom hopes that if it keeps a lid on oil production next year the long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) of Saudi Aramco may fetch a good price on its market debut in the next two weeks. On Sunday, Iraq’s oil minister, Thamer Ghadhban, told reporters in Baghdad that Opec and allies outside the cartel, known as Opec+, would consider cutting supply further by about 400,000 barrels a day to 1.6m. |
| Activist fund set to double stake in banknote maker De La Rue (DLAR). Crystal Amber’s move shows sign of confidence in struggle UK group |
 | Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) searches for growth in digital start-ups. Lender looks for improved efficiency and hopes launch of Bó will see off app-based rivals |
| BT Group (BT.A) plans to end performance-related bonuses. Executives including chief Philip Jansen would receive smaller guaranteed payout |
| owner Mike Ashley has settled a US legal dispute – just one day after a New York court called on him to give evidence under international law. Judge Andrew Borrok, of the New York Supreme Court, issued the request to the Queen’s Bench of the High Court in London for ‘compelling oral evidence for use at trial’ from Ashley. The evidence related to Ashley’s role in his disputed deal to acquire the $100 million (£77 million) US retail chain Eastern Outfitters. Papers allege the deal was done in haste ‘with limited due diligence over a two-day period’ in 2017. Vestis, which sold the company’s $17 million debt to Ashley, handing him control, said Sports Direct still owed it an additional sum. | |
| is bracing for an investor backlash over plans to hand bonuses to bosses of up to 200% of their salary. Shareholders will have the chance to vote on the proposal today as they meet to decide on the housebuilder’s £1 billion takeover of the residential arm of construction firm Galliford Try (GFRD). The acquisition will make Bovis Britain’s fourth-largest housebuilder, potentially producing up to 12,000 homes a year. If the takeover and pay scheme is approved, bosses would be able to earn long-term performance share bonuses of up to 200% of their salary – up from 150% previously – as well as cash bonuses of up to 150% of their salary – up from 100%. |
| De La Rue (DLAR) has come under fire for paying its former boss nearly £5 million. Martin Sutherland received £4.8 million in pay for running the company since 2014 before stepping down in May after the first of three profit warnings which have pushed the company close to collapse. The crisis at the company follows the loss last year of a key £400 million contract to manufacture Britain’s new blue post-Brexit passports, which will now be made by Franco-Dutch rival Gemalto. On Tuesday, De La Rue warned that it could go bust if its turnaround plan fails. The company said there was a ‘material uncertainty that casts significant doubt on the group’s ability to operate as a going concern’. The announcement caused the shares to dive 20 per cent. Up to 2,500 jobs are at risk. |
| Goldman Sachs is betting on a “Boris boom” and a surge of foreign fund flows into Britain if the election delivers a clear outcome, propelling faster economic growth through the early 2020s than in the struggling eurozone. The US investment bank expects a “Brexit Breakthrough” and a catch-up surge in undervalued UK assets as one of its top seven trade ideas for 2020, advising clients to take the plunge on sterling and beaten-down equities in the domestic sector. “We have identified more than $150bn (£116bn) of UK inflows that could be unlocked by some progress towards Brexit resolution. The upcoming election will reset the Parliamentary arithmetic and potentially clear the way,” it said. | |
| The Vienna meetings of the Opec oil cartel can be uncompromising affairs. At the end of the two-day gatherings at the secretariat’s Helferstorferstrasse headquarters comes a ritual alarmingly known as the “gang-bang”. When the doors are flung open at the end, hordes of analysts, consultants and journalists flood the room in a pell-mell dash to extract intelligence from the oil ministers. |
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