The £4.5bn takeover of satellite firm Inmarsat (ISAT) has won court approval after a group of hedge funds dropped their objections. The move to rubber-stamp the deal means that the company is days away from being delisted from the stock market. It follows an abandoned challenge to the takeover by billionaire Howard Marks’ Oaktree Capital and other hedge funds. The investors had been planning to intervene at a High Court hearing on Tuesday to sanction the scheme of arrangement for the Inmarsat takeover, one of the final steps in the process that is usually a formality.
Retailers enjoyed a reprieve from the high street gloom after Black Friday delivered record sales for a string of companies including John Lewis and Boohoo. The number of visitors to shopping destinations across the UK rose by 3.1% in the four days of sales from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, according to retail data company Springboard. It was the first time that footfall – a measure of shop visits – for Black Friday has increased since 2016. The bargain extravaganza helped John Lewis rack up a record week of sales as shoppers flocked to its stores to take advantage of its “Never Knowingly Undersold” price pledge where the firm matches discounts offered by any high street rival.
Delays to the release of blockbuster film Avatar 2 has triggered a sales slump at cinema chain Cineworld Group (CINE). Full-year revenue will be below what bosses hoped for despite the success of Disney smash hit Frozen 2, which has raked in a record £15.1m at UK cinemas on its opening weekend last month. Total revenue for Cineworld was 9.7% lower in the 11 months to Dec 1 than it had been a year earlier. Box office takings were 12.8% lower and retail sales fell by 7.4%. Cineworld complained about highly anticipated movies being pushed back to 2020, a gripe thought to be directed at thought to Avatar 2, the belated sequel to 2009’s groundbreaking 3D sci-fi fantasy.
Questor: there’s no doubt that Croda International (CRDA) is a quality stock, but does it deserve this pricey valuation? Questor share tip: a price-to-earnings ratio of 26 sits uneasily with a lack of growth in sales and profits so far this year
