Japanese make £250m swoop for London Pride brewer Fuller’s. One of Britain’s oldest brewers is set to be taken over by a Japanese beer giant after being skewered by the burgeoning craft brewing sector. Fuller Smith & Turner (FSTA), famous for its pints of London Pride, has struck a £250m deal to sell its entire beer business to Asahi, the owner of Peroni, Grolsch and Estrella. The brewer has been making beer in Chiswick, west London, for centuries with its heritage dating back to the late 17th century. Real ale campaigners called it a “very sad day” for the sector. Chief executive Simon Emeny warned “there will be some redundancies” among its 600 brewing staff.
Mastercard crashes Visa play for Earthport (EPO) with £233m bid. Mastercard has made a £233m offer for struggling payments minnow Earthport in a bid that scuppers rival Visa’s move for the business. Shares in Earthport soared 29% to 35.9p on Friday after it emerged that Mastercard had trumped Visa’s £200m offer. Visa had hired Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs to advise it on its move and announced its bid last month. Earthport is now urging shareholders to instead vote in favour of a takeover by Mastercard, which at 33p a share is 342% higher than Earthport’s closing price of 7.45p before Visa’s deal was announced.
Barclays banker feared being ‘rumbled’ when sealing deal with Qatar, court hears. Barclays (BARC) bankers allegedly lay a “misleading audit trail” when sealing a deal with Qatar during the financial crisis to avoid being “rumbled” and ending up in jail. In a phone call from 2008 discussing disclosures related to the deal, the bank’s former divisional head Richard Boath was heard telling ex-wealth boss Tom Kalaris there was a risk of being “rumbled” and people saying “well that was b*llshit, [..] this is just a fee in the backdoor”. Mr Kalaris, who is on trial alongside Mr Boath, later responded: “This is one of these things where you know, if you go down, the whole place goes down with you, right?”
Rentokil told to sell contracts to seal merger. Rentokil Initial (RTO), one of the country’s biggest suppliers of soap and hand dryers for public toilets, has been told to sell a number of contracts to secure its merger with Cannon Hygiene, after the competition watchdog warned the deal could lead to higher prices. The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) said it must sell off all of its contracts with national and multinational regional customers that Cannon Hygiene previously served to tie up the deal. The watchdog warned that merger could result in “higher prices or a worst deal for customers”.
Irn Bru maker Barr (A.G.) (BAG) fears more regulation in wake of sugar tax. The maker of Irn Bru has warned on further regulatory invention in the soft drinks industry and Brexit uncertainty despite predicting higher full-year revenues. AG Barr, which also makes Rubicon, Stathmore and Funkin, said the sugar tax that came into force in April last year was affecting sales with margins also under pressure. “Further regulatory intervention is on the horizon” and consumer habits were changing, the Scottish soft drink manufacturer said. Last year AG Barr overhauled its range of drinks to reduce sugar content and changed the recipe for its Irn Bru range.
Indivior wins latest legal skirmish in battle to defend drug from generic rivals. Pharmaceutical company Indivior (INDV) has won a victory in its fight against generic competition to its key opioid addiction treatment after a US court issued a restraining order preventing a copycat drug from entering the market. Indivior has been locked in a number of long-running court battles to defend its patent for Suboxone, a once-daily oral treatment for opioid addiction that dissolves under the tongue. This latest skirmish involves Alvogen Pine Brook, a pharmaceutical company that wants to launch a generic version of Suboxone onto the US market before Indivior’s patent expires.
Vodafone ‘pauses’ use of Huawei kit in core networks amid espionage concerns. Vodafone Group (VOD) will pause installation of hardware created by Chinese technology business Huawei in its core networks, the company’s chief executive said on Friday. The decision by Vodafone places more pressure on Huawei, which has seen its hardware blocked by several phone networks around the world in recent months following growing concern over the business’ closeness to the Chinese government. Nick Read, Vodafone’s chief executive, said during the business’ earning call on Friday that Vodafone was communicating with security agencies in the UK, but said that he chose to pause the installation of new hardware in Vodafone’s core network due to “general noise” about the subject. The “noise level is at an unhealthy level across Europe,” Mr Read said of the ongoing debate about the Chinese business. The debate around Huawei risks becoming a “tailspin into more emotion rather than facts,” he said. Vodafone will continue to purchase Huawei technology for its 4G and 5G networks, but will rely on competitors including Nokia and Ericsson in its core network, Mr Read said. The chief executive warned that a ban on Huawei technology would significantly delay the launch of 5G networks.
Bonmarché stops short of another profit warning despite festive slump. Bonmarche Holdings (BON) shop sales fell heavily and online growth slowed over Christmas but the fashion retailer for the over-50s escaped issuing another profit warning, much to the relief of worried investors. Shares in Bonmarché spiked by as much as 12% to 41.7p after the company said its third quarter remained “in line with its revised expectations”. Last month the retailer shocked the City by saying it would make a £4m full-year loss rather than £5m of profits, blaming Brexit uncertainty and “extremely poor” Black Friday sales.
Vodafone revenues fall as it struggles in key markets. Vodafone Group (VOD) has reported a 6.8% fall in turnover to €10.9bn (£9.42bn), narrowly missing expectations, for the last three months. The FTSE 100 telecoms giant blamed reduced prices and a “challenging macroeconomic environment” in South Africa, while its European business remained under pressure as it continued to decline. Performance in key markets such as Spain and Italy was particularly tough during the quarter, while its services revenue dropped 3.9% to €9.7bn. The world’s second-largest mobile phone operator added that revenues were also hindered by the sale of its Qatari business, currency exchange rates and the adoption of new accounting standards.
Barclays (BARC) was ‘dead’ without help of Qatari money, jury told. Barclays’ bosses were so desperate for cash at the height of the financial crisis that they felt Qatari investors had the bank “by the balls” as they were “basically dead” without the money, a jury has been told. Opening the second day of a major trial into four ex-Barclays executives, prosecutors from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said the defendants kept extra commission paid to Qatar in return for £4bn in financial support under wraps to avoid creating an image of “desperation and panic” at the bank during the crash.
BT secures deal to sell directly to Chinese customers as trade tensions simmer. BT Group (BT.A) has become the first international company to secure a licence to sell its services directly to Chinese customers, representing a potential thawing of relations between the UK and China. The telecoms company received a nationwide licence from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that will allow it to directly sell to customers in China and bill them in the Chinese Yuan. While BT already operates in China, this will be the first time it can directly contract its business customers. BT global services chief executive Bas Burger put the deal down to “cooperation between the governments of China and the UK” and said it would allow BT to “significantly simplify the process of delivery connectivity”.
Second shareholder attacks £3.3bn RPC takeover deal. Plastic packaging maker RPC Group (RPC) £3.3bn sale to private equity house Apollo Management faces mounting opposition after another shareholder came out against it. Craig Yeaman of Royal London Asset Management, which holds a £45m stake in RPC, said he was “very surprised and somewhat disappointed” its board had agreed to back the offer “as we believe this materially underestimates the future prospects of the [company]”. Mr Yeaman added: “While it is unlikely another bidder will emerge, it should not be discounted out of hand given the low valuation of the agreed bid.”
Restaurant Group sales suffer despite Wagamama boost. Fewer people going to the movies has taken its toll on the owner of fast casual chains including Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito. Restaurant Group (RTN) blamed weaker cinema attendance in December for fewer customers at some of its venues on retail parks. That contributed to a worse than expected 2% slip in like-for-like sales for 2018 despite strong trading at its concessions, which are mostly at airports, and its pubs since the World Cup last summer. The FTSE 250 company, which operates 650 sites across the UK, opened a record 21 pubs and 21 concessions last year and completed the takeover of Wagamama on Christmas Eve.
Fever-Tree fizzes again as US push gathers pace. Fevertree Drinks (FEVR) defied its critics by “comfortably” beating market expectations as a bid to dominate across the Atlantic began bearing fruit. The maker of upmarket tonic waters said sales rose 39% last year to £236m, narrowly beating analyst expectations of £234m. Sales in the UK leapt 52%. US revenue swelled by a fifth, bolstered by a exclusive deal with Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, North America’s largest wine and spirits distribution company. The agreement was signed in the second half of 2018 and Fever-Tree and provides “an excellent platform” to the comparatively untapped premium mixers market.
British Airways owner bails out of Norwegian. The owner of British Airways has walked away from a possible takeover of Norwegian Air and will dump a stake worth tens of millions of pounds in the debt laden low-cost carrier. International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) said it “does not intend to make an offer” in a short stock market announcement on Thursday. It will sell its near-4% shareholding in Norwegian “in due course”, IAG said. Norwegian chief executive Bjørn Kise said its strategy remain unchanged: “The company’s goal is to continue building a sustainable business to the benefit of its customers, employees and shareholders.” Shares in the carrier plunged 17% in Oslo, while IAG shares rose 1.7% higher in London.
NHS landlords PHP and MedicX strike £1.3bn merger. Two of the biggest NHS landlords will join forces in a “transformational” £1.3bn all-share deal as they look to cash in on rising spending on primary care. Primary Health Properties (PHP), a FTSE 250 firm, and MedicX Fund Ltd. (MXF) own a total of almost 500 properties, including GP surgeries, pharmacies and dentists’ offices worth a combined £2.3bn. Healthcare property has become highly prized as investors seek the safety of long-term income that is guaranteed by the NHS. Investment in the sector hit £1.3bn in 2017, according to Knight Frank – almost 90% above the 10-year average. Harry Hyman, PHP’s managing director, said: “It’s a very simple business model, very low risk and very dependable.”
