Whitbread sells Costa Coffee to Coca-Cola for £3.9bn. Whitbread (WTB) signalled it was planning to demerge Costa earlier in the year. But the FTSE 100 company said the deal was at a substantial premium to what it would otherwise have managed to drum up.
Vodafone wins final approval for Indian merger. Vodafone Group (VOD) has won final approval for its plan to defend itself from a brutal price war in India after a merger with rival operator Idea cleared the final regulatory hurdle.
Watchdog provisionally clears merger of Npower and SSE (SSE). The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) dismissed fears that reducing the sector’s Big Six suppliers to five would dampen rising competition in the market.
The Government has been attacked by a mysterious group of former Ladbrokes Coral shareholders, which claim delayed reforms to Fixed Odds Betting Terminal (FOBT) stakes have left them £700m out of pocket. Ladbrokes Coral was acquired by GVC Holdings (GVC) in March, creating a £5.3bn bookmaking powerhouse. The deal received regulatory sign-off before the Government finalised its decision on minimum FOBT stakes in May.
Watchstone swings to loss as it tops up coffers for Quindell-era legal battle. Insurance group Watchstone Group (WTG) is still struggling to distance itself from its past as the company increases its provisions for Quindell-era legal costs to £4.3m.
HSS Hire Group (HSS) shares surge as turnaround effort gains momentum. The company, which hires out tools and equipment to trade customers and home improvement enthusasists, posted a 75% rise in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to £29.9m, helping to narrow pre-tax losses to £7.1m from £30.1m in the 26 weeks to June 30.
Hays (HAS) hails ‘landmark year’ on overseas growth amid ‘tough’ UK market. Alistair Cox, the chief executive of Hays, said it was a “landmark year” and pointed to the company’s performance and prospects for growth outside of the UK.
Questor: where to get high yields with strong dividend growth – and pay a discounted price. Questor says: buy Lowland Investment Co (LWI) and Schroder Income Growth Fund (SCF)
