NY Post : DreamWorks Animation boss makes the wrong kind of headlines

Hollywood and Wall Street saw DreamWorks Animation boss Jeffrey Katzenberg make all the wrong kind of headlines last week.
The embarrassing collapse of merger talks with toy-maker Hasbro Nov. 20 sent DreamWorks’ stock down as much as 14 percent that morning. Just two months earlier, DWA had similarly failed merger talks in September with Japan telecom giant Softbank.
But Katzenberg is nothing if not intrepid. While the movie and finance worlds were still buzzing about the failed talks, the movie mogul got out in New York last week to promote DWA’s “Penguins of Madagascar.”
A party at the Bryant Park ice rink saw Katzenberg mingling with actors including Benedict Cumberbatch and Mr. 305, Pitbull.
But Katzenberg did not chat with press or get out on the rink, according to our spies. (We’ll save the thin-ice jokes.)
“Penguins” stars a bunch of accident-prone penguins who brave a vengeful squid named Dave. It opens on Nov. 26 and is distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Other VIPs who took their chances of staying upright on the ice included ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos and actress Debra Messing .

>>> Geveran Trading may have to make a mandatory offer for the remaining shares

Geveran Trading may have to make a mandatory offer for the remaining shares in Norwegian Property

Geveran Trading, the investment company controlled by Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen, may have to make a mandatory offer for all of Norwegian Property (Npro), according to Dagens Naeringsliv.

The Norwegian business daily reported, without citing any specific sources, that Geveran is said to have acquired a 4.7% stake in Npro for around NOK 250m (EUR 29.6m) on Friday, increasing its total stake from 32.87% to 37.54%.

The paper reported that this means that Geveran has surpassed the 33.3% limit which requires the shareholder to make an offer for the remaining shares.


Source Dagens Naeringsliv

>>> Norilsk Nickel could invest in Finnish Talvivaara - report (translated)

Norilsk Nickel could invest in Finnish Talvivaara 

The Russian mining company Norilsk Nickel could invest in the Finnish Talvivaara, according to Taloussanomat. The Finnish language piece wrote that acquiring the embattled mining company would bring positive publicity for the Russian company. It said that because Talvivaara has been supplying raw materials for the Russian company’s foundry in Harjavalta, acquiring Talvivaara would make sense.

The piece cited an analyst name Dmitri Kolomytsy from Morgan Stanley, who said that because of the Russian company’s interest in Harjavalta, it could be interested in investing in Talvivaara.

Norilsk Nickel has held Talvivaara shares before but has reduced its stake as the Russian company did not partake in the shares issue last year. Norilsk Nickel’s spokesperson refused to comment on the piece.
Taloussanomat

(BFW) Onex to Buy Carton Packaging Co. SIG Combibloc for Up to EU3.75b

watch Smurfit Kappa this morning {SKG ID Equity des<go>}
Onex to Buy Carton Packaging Co. SIG Combibloc for Up to EU3.75b
2014-11-24 06:35:25.211 GMT


By Jurjen van de Pol
Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- To pay EU3.575b at closing seen in
1Q 2015, as much as EU175m based on 2015-2016 financial
performance.

Link to Statement:{NSN NFJ6203V2800 <GO>}
Link to Company News:{OCX CN <Equity> CN <GO>}
Link to Company News:{86592Z NZ <Equity> CN <GO>}

For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: {FIRST<GO>}
First Word newswire: {NH BFW<GO>}

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jurjen van de Pol in Frankfurt at +49-69-9204-1104 or
jvandepol@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Ludden at +44-20-7673-2645 or
jludden@bloomberg.net

>>> What to look at this week end - 22nd & 23rd of Nov. 2014

Macro :
- EU Still Seeks Luxembourg Tax Rulings for 2010-13: Agence Europe
- Russia to Promote Free Trade Between EU, Customs Union: RIA
- Germany’s Gabriel Urges Utilities to Cut CO2 Emissions: Spiegel


Keep an eye on :
- AAL LN : Anglo Investing $100m in Platinum Cos. to Spark Demand: FT
- AV/ LN : Friends Life Says It's in Talks With Aviva on All-Share Merger
- BMW GY : Tesla in Talks w/ BMW on Cooperation, CEO Musk Tells Spiegel
- CU FP : Fosun in Talks With Brazil Investor to Raise Club Med Bid: FT
- CSGN VX : Credit Suisse May Announce Leadership Change Before Christmas:SZ
- DAI GY : Daimler, Hino Plan Fuel-Cell Bus Sales in Japan, Nikkei Says
- EDF FP : EDF Energy Gets U.K. Approval to Restart 3 Nuclear Reactors
- ELE SM : Soros Invests $200M in Endesa to Hold 1.5% Stake, Mundo Reports
- FCA IM : Chrysler Says Will Increase Speed of Repairs on Jeeps: Reuters
- FLG LN : Friends Life Founder to Get GBP160m in Aviva Deal: Sunday Times
- HAW GY : Hawesko shareholder Margaritoff says takeover offer by Meyer is too low; Schiemann may be willing to sell
- ISP IM : Intesa SanPaolo Considers Bid for RBS’s Coutts, FT Says
- LHA GY : Lufthansa German Market Share Increased, CEO Tells Sueddeutsche
- PTC PL : PT Portugal: Oi could devise workaround to PT veto to facilitate EUR 7.025bn sale to Altice
- PG US : Private Equity Firms May Bid for P&G’s Braun, Sunday Times Says
- RLIA SM : Hispania Offers 49 Euro Cents/Shr for Realia Business SA
- SAB LN : SABMiller Agrees Tie-Up With Brazilian Brewer: Sunday Telegraph
- SGO FP : St-Gobain Is Waiting for Best Conditions to Sell Verallia: CEO
- SAN FP : Actavis’s Teflaro, Sanofi’s Jevtana Get Generic Challengers: FDA
- SGL GY : SGL Sees ‘Breakthrough’ for Carbon Technology: Wirtschaftswoche
- TSLA SU : Paris Taxi Operators Studying Use of Tesla S, Figaro Reports
- TKA GY : ThyssenKrupp CEO Mulls Selling Submarine Division: Sueddeutsche
- TTPH US : Tetraphase up 18% in after Mkt after saying to explore sale after drawing takeover interest
- TIT IM : American Tower to Buy Tim Tower Assets in Brazil for $1.2b
- TIT IM : Telecom Italia Gets Board Backing to Explore Oi Deal in Brazil
- VOW GY : VW CEO May Leave in 2016 When Contract Expires: Wirtschaftswoche

FT : US oil imports from Opec at 30-year low

US oil imports from Opec at 30-year low

US imports of crude oil from Opec nations is at its lowest level in almost 30 years, underlining the impact of the shale revolution on global trade flows.
The lower dependence on imports from the cartel, which pumps a third of the world’s crude, comes amid advances in hydraulic fracturing that has propelled domestic US production to about 9m barrels a day – the highest level since the mid-1980s.

In August, Opec’s share of US crude oil imports dropped to 40 per cent – accounting for 2.9m b/d – the lowest since May 1985, according to Financial Times analysis of US Department of Energy data. At its 1976 peak it stood at about 88 per cent.
The decline in US appetite for foreign oil, alongside expanding eastern demand, has meant producers from the Middle East, west Africa and Latin America have turned towards Asia. But despite the shale boom reducing its oil-import dependency, the US remains the world’s second-largest net oil importer after China.
The impact of the shale boom on Opec members has varied, with African countries such as Algeria and Libya being hit the hardest while Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have remained fairly strong. “It has been Africa that has been severely squeezed,” said Paul Horsnell, an analyst at Standard Chartered.
Nigeria, which produces crude similar to the quality pumped out of North Dakota’s oilfields, has been the biggest victim of the US shale boom. Barrels stopped flowing altogether in July, having reached a 1979 peak of 1.37m b/d.

August imports from Saudi Arabia – Opec’s largest producer – stood at just under 12 per cent of the total, at 894,000 b/d. Analysts say these heavier crude imports have since increased. At its peak, the Gulf nation made up a third of total US imports.
Kuwaiti and Iraqi imports have accelerated while those from the UAE and Qatar have been at nominal levels for decades. Iranian imports are banned under sanctions.
Some analysts say the shale boom has threatened the dominance that Saudi Arabia and other Middle East producers have enjoyed for much of the past century. But Bassam Fattouh, director of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, said Opec retained a large influence in global markets. “It is difficult to envisage how a high-cost producer could squeeze a low-cost producer out of the market,” he said in a paper.
Others say Saudi Arabia is the only oil-producing nation with the capacity to increase its production significantly at short notice.
The International Energy Agency, the wealthy nations’ energy watchdog, said the world was still dependent on vast Middle Eastern oil reserves to meet future demand.

WSJ : Corporate Bonds: Not So Brave in the New World

Corporate Bonds: Not So Brave in the New World
Divergence Between U.S. and Europe Markets Should Give Stock Investors Pause

The bond-market sands are starting to shift.

That is particularly true in the U.S., where investment-grade corporate bonds, one of the long-standing beneficiaries of the financial crisis, have started to come under pressure. The gap between U.S. corporate bond yields and U.S. Treasurys now stands close to its widest this year, around 1.24 percentage points, according to Barclays indexes. Year-to-date returns have faded from above 8% in mid-October to closer to 6%.

That should give pause to investors in U.S. stocks, which have recovered from October’s turmoil to set highs for the year. It also poses questions about performance in Europe, where corporate bond spreads over haven government bonds are close to their tightest level for the year. Indeed, until late August, European and U.S. spreads had moved almost in lock step.

Companies are finding issuing new bonds in the U.S. a tougher proposition than just a few months ago. Issuance has been heavy, with mergers-and-acquisitions activity increasing bond supply. Bankers report that investors are becoming pickier, and as a result borrowers that are less well-known or are raising relatively small amounts are having to pay up to attract orders. Issuers looking to sell long-dated bonds have had to pay higher new-issue premiums of about 0.2 percentage point above market yields, Royal Bank of Scotland strategists note.

The clearest explanation: shifts in monetary policy. The Federal Reserve has wound down its bond purchases, while the European Central Bank is only just starting to expand its balance sheet again. European corporate bonds have benefited from speculation the ECB may buy paper in this market. U.S. investment-grade bonds face stiffer competition for investor attention with the Fed no longer printing money.

The corporate bond market also is grappling with a fundamental threat to credit quality: The declining oil price threatens the U.S. energy sector. That is mostly playing out in the high-yield market, in which energy companies are the largest industry grouping at 16% of market value, Deutsche Bank notes. But it is also filtering through to the investment-grade market, in which low yields provide little cushion against credit deterioration.

These factors help explain the divergence between European and U.S. bond markets, something that is good news for the ECB. It would have a headache if higher U.S. yields drove up borrowing costs in Europe. The gap between U.S. and European bond markets can persist and even widen on that basis.

The divergence with stocks is trickier to figure out. Some of it is down to bond-market factors such as heavy supply. It also perhaps recognizes that companies in the U.S. are more focused on activity that tends not to be such good news for bondholders such as M&A or share buybacks.

Still, stock investors may find it tougher to keep their nerve if U.S. corporate bond yields start rising in earnest.

(Recode.net) Investors: Damn Ubergate and Full Speed Ahead With Mega-Funding

Investors: Damn Ubergate and Full Speed Ahead With Mega-Funding Link to article {http://on.recode.net/1FgAQ1U}

Did last week’s online outrage hinder the ongoing Uber mega-funding round? Apparently not.

Investors still seem to be bullish on the ride-sharing company, despite the recent outcry about its trustworthiness and ethics, said multiple sources who have talked with the company during its ongoing pitches to raise a yet another enormous round of investment.

This is for one big reason: Uber is telling potential investors that it expects a gross revenue run rate of more than $4 billion for 2014. The gross run rate is on track to more than double in 2015, to some $10 billion, added those who have heard the pitch.

Uber itself keeps about 20 percent of that gross revenue, the total amount that it bills to customers, giving it about $1 billion or more in net revenue once costs are taken out.

As such, the discussed valuation for the latest round is apparently now at $30 billion, several sources said. We’d previously reported $25 billion, although even higher numbers had already been publicly floated.

This frenzy to invest in Uber comes after a very bad PR week for the startup. On Monday, BuzzFeed reported on top executive Emil Michael discussing an idea to smear critical journalists, particularly PandoDaily head Sarah Lacy. Since then — despite an escalating pile of think pieces, continuing fallout over privacy practices, and #deleteuber tweets — Michael has kept his job, and Uber has kept its course.

Whether the controversy will impact sales immediately is unclear. Some inside the company told Re/code they are concerned, but others do not think Michael’s mistake will have lasting impact.

Business Insider had a couple different Uber revenue stories this week, including one that mentioned the $10 billion run rate by the end of next year. The site also published some details about last year’s revenue. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said publicly in June that the company’s revenue had been doubling every six months.

Uber declined to comment on this story.