Comcast grabs Sky (SKY) with £30bn bid. Disney and Fox defeated in blind auction for control of broadcaster. The owner of NBC Universal was declared the victor at 7.07pm after the third round of a winner-takes-all auction against a combination of 21st Century Fox and Disney. The rare process, policed by the Takeover Panel, drew to a close seven months of competition for ownership of the pay-TV pioneer, which has 23m subscribers and an archive of shows such as as Babylon Berlin. Comcast won with a final bid of £17.28 a share, versus a Fox bid of £15.67 a share for the 61% of Sky it did not already own.
Loans tycoon James Benamor pulls plug on Bestival. The company behind Bestival, the annual music event that attracts tens of thousands of people, is facing collapse as a sub-prime loans tycoon from Bournemouth threatens to put it into administration. James Benamor, a self-confessed former petty criminal who became a billionaire through the listing of Amigo Holdings (AMGO) in July, has filed notices at the High Court of his intention to appoint administrators to Bestival Group, Bestival Ltd and Camp Bestival.
AstraZeneca (AZN) boss Pascal Soriot warns of EU border delays. The chief executive of Astra Zeneca has warned of widespread shortages of medicines if Britain fails to agree a customs deal with the European Union. The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals giant, which makes drugs such as the cholesterol-lowering Crestor, has already increased its stocks in the UK by 20%. However, with a complex supply chain that involves manufacturing components of medicines across Europe, any friction at the border could cause severe delays, Pascal Soriot said.
BT Group (BT.A) lines up Worldpay Group (WPG) boss Philip Jansen as new chief. Philip Jansen, who steered the technology giant on to the stock market before sealing a £22bn merger with American rival Vantiv, is understood to be BT’s preferred candidate to take over from Gavin Patterson, who is due to step down this year. Sources said Jansen had not been formally appointed, but that it was “his job to turn down”. The potential move, first reported by Sky News, could be announced soon.
The billionaire Mike Ashley has blamed “greedy” landlords for the imminent closure of three House of Fraser stores. Ashley, who bought the chain out of administration last month for £90m, had promised to keep open four-fifths of the 59 stores. Today he will announce that 15 sites previously earmarked for closure are to remain open. However, he will also name and shame three landlords he claims have refused to agree to new rental terms. House of Fraser’s stores in Edinburgh, owned by Parabola Hope Street; Hull, owned by Redefine Paragon Square Hull; and Swindon, owned by FI Real Estate Management; are now set to close. “I am disappointed that, in my opinion, a small number of greedy landlords still refuse to be reasonable,” the tracksuit tycoon said.
Angry message for Card Factory boss Geoff Cooper. Card Factory (CARD) chairman Geoff Cooper is under pressure from investors over the chain’s poor performance ahead of the company’s first-half results next week. Disgruntled shareholders are said to be losing patience after a string of profit warnings and weak sales.
Irn-Bru maker AG Barr hopes for sweet future. Irn-Bru maker Barr (A.G.) (BAG) is hoping to show investors that Scots have not lost the taste for the fizzy orange drink now that it contains a lower sugar content. The Glasgow-based drinks manufacturer is due to announce half-year profits on Tuesday, when it will reveal how a low-calorie version of the drink has performed. There was initial outrage on social media when the recipe was changed.
The consortium that runs Britain’s nuclear weapons factory paid itself £70m of dividends last year despite huge delays and cost overruns on a key project. AWE Management paid the dividends to its shareholders — the giants Serco Group (SRP), Jacobs and Lockheed Martin — which have a long-term contract to run the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). AWE, which develops and builds the nuclear warheads that arm the navy’s Trident submarine fleet, came under fire from the government’s spending watchdog in May. The National Audit Office said an upgrade to AWE’s warhead assembly facility in Berkshire was six years late and costs had spiralled from £734m in 2011 to £1.8bn.
Unilever (ULVR) flight to Holland could trigger the exit of other British-listed companies with a dual corporate structure, a leading shareholder has said. The consumer goods giant behind brands such as Marmite plans to relocate its headquarters to Rotterdam, abandoning its 88-year-old dual governance structure. However, a top-10 shareholder said its move could “set a precedent”. “It’s being watched closely by other players,” he said. “You’ve got Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) and with dual structures. You could lose Shell. There’s a consequential precedent that would be uncomfortable.” Four big shareholders have already come out against Unilever’s plans, which will see it kicked out of the FTSE 100 index on nationality grounds. Passive funds and many active managers would be forced to sell the shares. Unilever believes a simpler structure will provide more flexibility for acquisitions. It needs the approval of 75% of shareholders, and a majority of voting shareholders by number. Unilever said it was confident of securing support from the “vast majority” of investors, who will cast votes on October 25 and 26.
Cranswick brings home the bacon. Pigs’ ears, trotters and intestines: these so-called fifth-quarter cuts of meat are popular in China — and for Hull food producer Cranswick (CWK) they are proving to be lucrative business. Its shares have served up quality cuts for shareholders. Anyone who bought in 2011 would have more than quadrupled their money thanks to its acquisitions and investment in facilities. If geopolitical events continue to fall in Cranswick’s favour — something analysts at Peel Hunt say could have “material consequences” — there could still be significant upside in the long term. One to watch — hotdog in hand.
A leading investor in the Japanese pharmaceuticals giant Takeda is “sceptical” of the planned $62bn (£47bn) takeover of Shire Plc (SHP). The top-10 shareholder claimed the combined value of the two companies was less than each on its own. He said news of Takeda’s approach for Shire had come as a “surprise” and cast doubt on its ability to cut costs and improve shareholder returns.The remarks come after a member of the founding Takeda family said the deal would have “disastrous” consequences for the business, and risked distancing it from its corporate philosophy of “Takeda-ism”, which holds that profit comes from making people happy.
