Saudi Aramco is set to unveil its record-breaking stock market flotation tomorrow after crown prince Mohammed bin Salman finally gave the green light for the listing. Advisers were today drumming up support from investors in last-minute meetings as the Saudi Arabian state-run oil producer closes in on a share sale that will make it the world’s most valuable publicly listed company. The kingdom is expected to launch the initial public offering (IPO) process tomorrow with trading set to begin in Riyadh in December, reports claimed.
Just Eat (JE.) has warned a digital services tax would cost it £7m a year and hammer the UK’s burgeoning tech industry, amid a fight for the delivery firm. It urged a rethink of Conservative plans for levy on online sales. The concerns are thought unlikely to deter suitors Prosus and Takeaway.com. Just Eat said that last year it generated around £386m of its revenue from the UK and paid corporation tax of £22.4m. The Tory plan for a 2% charge on sales by large internet firms would push this annual tax bill up by £7m, it said, slightly less than analyst forecasts.
The owner of the Daily Mail is on track to clinch a takeover of the i newspaper, in a move to consolidate the declining print market. Daily Mail and General Trust A (Non.V) (DMGT), the listed group wholly controlled by Jonathan Harmsworth, Viscount Rothermere, is understood to be likely to seal the deal with the i’s hedge fund owners in the coming days. Sources this weekend said an agreement was on the cards this week, but cautioned that the timetable of a sale process that has taken weeks longer than expected could yet slip again. The price of the title, part of the former Johnston Press stable that now trades as JPI Media, is expected to be a multiple of the £24m paid for it when it last changed hands in 2016.
Kier Group (KIE), one of the country’s biggest builders of schools, roads and railways faces a fight for survival this winter as heavy debts become the target of opportunistic hedge funds. The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that lenders are attempting to offload Kier loans to specialists in distressed debt at knockdown prices, in a signal they believe the risks to its future are rising. It is understood that the debt is being marketed for as little as 70p in the pound as lenders led by HSBC scramble to limit their losses in the event of another corporate failure in a sector that has endured a torrid few years.
Lord Waheed Alli sent out invitations to investors, analysts and journalists to attend a presentation about Koovs (KOOV) and then had to cancel. It was Oct 10. Eleven days later, a vital £6.5m funding injection from Kishore Biyani, a retail billionaire in India, collapsed. The Capital Markets Day was subsequently cancelled. Koovs has warned since that it has £3.3m in the bank until the end of the year to stay afloat. It will also pause spending cash on new stock and marketing, its biggest expense.
The US private equity firm that has swooped on Cobham (COB) is ready to guarantee that only Britons are put in charge of sensitive Government contracts in its campaign to win approval for the controversial £4bn takeover. Advent is understood to be willing to offer concessions to close the deal with Cobham – which has about 1,700 UK staff – as long as they “do not fundamentally” change the shape of the business. Defence experts this weekend said that ensuring UK nationals oversee sensitive deals involving Britain’s defence was one way to get a green light from Andrea Leadsom, the Business Secretary.
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) has reduced its communications team amid a cost-cutting drive to revive the company’s fortunes. The retailer quietly made at least nine people redundant after an overhaul of its communications team in July. The move follows a string of oustings and resignations, including finance chief Humphrey Singer and Gordon Mowat, clothing and home supply chain director. The chain expects another fall in sales for the six months to September when it updates the City on Wednesday. Clothing and home like-for-like sales, which exclude new shops, are expected to fall by 4.3%. Food should edge up by 0.3%, and profits of £176m are expected.
Questor: neither Woodford nor the election should rock M&G PLC (MNG), so buy for the 8% yield. Questor: demerged last month from the Pru, the newly independent fund manager has some reliable sources of income
