FT : Rob Terry ousted from Quindell

Rob Terry ousted from Quindell

Quindell has responded to months of turmoil by ejecting Rob Terry, its founder and chairman, in a dramatic attempt to restore investor confidence.
The insurance claims processor, which has lost over £2bn in market value since April, will announce Mr Terry’s departure on Tuesday morning, people familiar with the situation said. The founder will remain a paid consultant to Quindell.

David Currie, the former head of investment banking at Investec, and Quindell’s highest-profile independent director, will become interim executive chairman. He will begin the search for a full-time chairman.
Finance director Laurence Moorse will step down after the 2015 annual meeting and leave a year later, while independent director Steve Scott will leave immediately.
Both men had been involved in a controversial share deal, alongside Mr Terry, that saw them in effect sell shares while announcing they were buyers.
Mr Terry was unavailable for comment. Mr Moorse and Mr Scott could not be reached for comment.
Quindell’s board will restate its confidence that the company, which is seeking to reduce insurers’ costs in processing claims, and which has contracts for the rollout of black box technology in cars, has a strong business future.
It is the second time that Mr Terry has been ejected from an insurance company that he has founded. In 2003, he was forced from the board of Innovation Group, after that company suffered a similar share price plunge to Quindell.
Mr Currie, Quindell’s new interim chairman, was an adviser to Innovation Group.
Mr Terry founded Quindell as a leisure company, buying an 18-hole golf course in Hampshire and investing in golf simulators. He transformed it into an insurance claims processor, legal services and telematics provider, which joined London’s junior market Aim via a reverse takeover in 2011.
He had wooed retail investors and large institutional clients such as M&G and Investec with the promise of building a leading insurance technology company that could one day join the FTSE 100.
However, he became a lightning rod for many attacks, as shortsellers pored over related-party transactions involving Quindell and other companies in which he was a director.
Quindell was denied permission to seek a main London listing by regulators this year.

>>> US Close Dow +0,07% S&P+0,06% NAsdaq-0,37% Russell -0,71%

Closing Market Summary: Countercyclical Sectors Pace Slim Advance

The stock market began the new trading week on an unassuming note. The S&P 500 (+0.1%) added just over a point while the Nasdaq (-0.4%) and Russell 2000 (-0.8%) underperformed throughout the session.

The benchmark index started under modest pressure, but was able to finish near its best level of day with help from countercyclical sectors. News from overseas contributed to the early weakness as Japan's preliminary GDP report for Q3 revealed the second consecutive decline (-0.4%; expected 0.5%), meaning the country is now in recession. The news gave an overnight boost to the yen, but the currency was back to unchanged against the dollar (116.20) by the start of the U.S. session. The yen weakened a bit during the session, sending the dollar/yen pair to 116.50.

Although the S&P 500 started in the red, the index was back near its flat line in the first hour with help from comments made by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. Mr. Draghi appeared in front of a European parliamentary committee and provided another reminder that the ECB stands ready to act if downside risks continue mounting.

The combination of Mr. Draghi's comments and the relative strength in countercyclical sectors kept the S&P 500 from dipping too far into the red. However, the index never climbed too far above its flat line either with participants reluctant to take on additional risk after an 11.2% rally over the past month. Below-average participation spoke to the cautious posture as fewer than 675 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.

As mentioned earlier, countercyclical sectors displayed strength with consumer staples (+0.6%), health care (+0.5%), and utilities (+1.3%) registering solid gains while the telecom services sector (-0.2%) underperformed.

The staples sector rallied behind Tyson Foods (TSN 43.01, +2.35), which spiked 5.8% in reaction to a bottom-line beat. Elsewhere, health care was underpinned by news indicating Actavis (ACT 247.94, +4.17) agreed to acquire Allergan (AGN 209.20, +10.55) for $219/share in cash and stock. Biotechnology displayed intraday strength, but the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 288.84, +0.67) narrowed its gain to 0.2% by the close.

M&A activity was not isolated to the health care sector as Halliburton (HAL 49.23, -5.85) agreed to acquire Baker Hughes (BHI 65.23, +5.34) for $78.62/share, representing a 40.8% premium to BHI's price on October 10 before the initial offer was made. As for energy, the sector narrowed its loss to 0.4%, but still ended at the bottom of the leaderboard. Crude oil registered another decline, sliding 0.3% to $75.61/bbl.

The remaining growth-sensitive sectors settled closer to their flat lines, but the relative weakness among chipmakers kept the Nasdaq in the red throughout the session. The PHLX Semiconductor Index lost 0.5% while the technology sector shed 0.2%.

Treasuries ended near their lows with the 10-yr higher by a basis point at 2.33%.

Tomorrow, October PPI (consensus -0.2%) will be released at 8:30 ET while the NAHB Housing Market Index for November (consensus 55) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.
  • Nasdaq Composite +11.8% YTD 
  • S&P 500 +10.4% YTD 
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average +6.5% YTD 
  • Russell 2000 +0.1% YTD

>>> China Shanghai new home sales +25.9% w/w at 216.1K sqm; Avg new home prices

China Shanghai new home sales +25.9% w/w at 216.1K sqm; Avg new home prices +14.5% w/w at CNY30.2K/sqm - Uwin (update) 

- Researcher: "New home transactions rebounded notably after the announcement of the new criteria (of 'normal' homes), a latest government move to help more buyers qualify for preferential policies... We expect buyers sentiment to continue to rise over the coming months which will trim local new housing inventory at a faster rate."

--> China Finance Ministry said to be evaluating 2nd home restrictions in Beijing

(TEL) Gotham Casts a Long Shadow Over Quindell-->RTR : CEO to Quit tomorrow

RTRS - QUINDELL PLC QPP.L IS POISED TO ANNOUNCE ON TUESDAY, NOV 18 THAT CHAIRMAN ROB TERRY WILL LEAVE T.HE BOARD IMMEDIATELY
Gotham Casts a Long Shadow Over Quindell
2014-11-17 20:36:29.216 GMT


Ben Martin
Nov. 17 (Telegraph) -- Quindell's share price has never
recovered since the attack by the US short-seller
Gotham City Research, the American short-seller named after
Batman’s home city, may be a villain in the eyes of Rob Terry,
the founder of Quindell.
But in the light of this month’s events, the US firm, which
published scathing allegations about the insurance claims group,
may well be viewed as a hero by those investors who followed its
advice seven months ago and sold shares in the Aim-listed
company.
Quindell stock has plunged 90.5pc since April, when Gotham
launched its attack on the Hampshire-based company. The High
Court later ruled in Quindell’s favourin a libel case against
Gotham after the US firm failed to provide a defence. The shares
slumped 19pc alone on Monday after Quindell revealed Canaccord
Genuity had resigned as its joint broker.
Given that Canaccord handed in its notice on October 21,
news of the resignation shocked investors, as it suggested Mr
Terry knew of Canaccord’s exit when he controversially sold
shares to raise money earlier this month. The resignation of
Canaccord is the latest in a string of setbacks that have knocked
Quindell’s share price in November.
Last Monday, Quindell was forced to correct an earlier
statement that suggested Mr Terry and two other directors had
taken out a loan, secured on their Quindell stakes, with US firm
Equities First Holdings to raise funds to purchase Quindell
shares. Rather than a loan, the three directors had actually
entered into a sale and repurchase agreement, meaning that the
trio had effectively sold shares to EFH and promised to buy them
back in two years time, Quindell admitted.
The share price plunged, a fall exacerbated by news on
Thursday thatFidelity had almost halved its stake in the company.
The collapse in the stock has prompted calls for an investigation
into Quindell, once a darling of Aim. “No one should be putting
money into this stock until there has been a full review,” said
Lorne Daniel, an analyst at finnCap. “I think it needs the
regulators to step in at this stage.”
It was only in February that enthusiastic investors had sent
Quindell shares to a record high of 660p. On Monday, the stock
closed at 55½p, its worst level since December 2011, which was a
pivotal year for Quindell.
In May 2011, Mr Terry reversed Quindell, which had started
life as a Hampshire golf and country club, into an Aim-listed
shell called Mission Capital. At the time of the Mission deal,
Quindell had already been transformed into a diversified
outsourcing company that described itself as having “expertise in
technology, telecoms, utilities, leisure and retail, which the
directors believe has significant potential for growth”.
And grow it did, predominantly through a spate of
acquisitions that involved Quindell either buying whole companies
or stakes in firms. By this February, Quindell’s market value had
swelled to more than £2bn and the group had become a sprawling
range of businesses, including telematics — the black boxes
insurers use to track drivers’ habits — and pursuing industrial
hearing loss cases.
But some institutional investors were worried about
Quindell’s cash generation. They were also wary of its rapid
growth, says one fund manager who did not invest in Quindell.
The prolific issuance of shares to fund deals would have put
off some investors due to the complex nature of the acquisitions
and the time fund managers needed to spend “understanding what’s
going on underneath the bonnet”, he said.
Many private investors, however, were undeterred. A steady
stream of stock exchange filings announcing contract wins and
acquisitions only served to stoke demand for the shares.
That all came to a juddering halt in April, when
short-seller Gotham published its 74-page dossier on Quindell
that wiped more than £900m off the company’s market cap in a
single day.
The shares have never recovered. In June, the stock was
knocked a further 20pc after Quindell disclosed that its
long-awaited move to a premium listing of the stock exchange had
been blocked by regulators because of its significant growth in
the preceding thee years. In a further blow, the RAC pulled out
of its telematics joint venture in September.
The agreement between EFH and Mr Terry, which has caused the
latest share price fall, is likely to continue to cast a shadow
over Quindell.
Under the arrangement, margin calls are triggeredif the
three-day moving average of Quindell’s shares is at 70p or below.
To satisfy the calls, Mr Terry and the two other directors either
have to provide cash or transfer more shares to EFH. If the slump
continues, the hordes of private investors who offloaded shares
on Monday will not be the only ones selling. Mr Terry could be
forced into reducing his remaining stake, too.

-0- Nov/17/2014 20:36 GMT

(BFW) Quindell Said Set to Announce Chair, FD to Step Down: Sky

Quindell Said Set to Announce Chair, FD to Step Down: Sky
2014-11-17 20:40:37.771 GMT


By Clementine Fletcher
Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Quindell to announce 11/18 Chairman
Rob Terry to leave board immediately; finance director Laurence
Moorse to leave after next year’s AGM, Sky reports, without
saying where it got the information
* Steve Scott, non-exec director, to step down
* David Currie, ex-Investec, to replace Terry on temporary
basis
* Quindell spokesman declined to comment to Sky; no board
members could be reached
* NOTE: 11/12: Quindell May Be Target of Formal FCA
Investigation: Daily Mail



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Clementine Fletcher

Recode.net : Snapchat to Let You Send Money to Friends, Thanks to Square

Snapchat to Let You Send Money to Friends, Thanks to Square

Snapchat unveiled Snapcash on Monday, a new payments feature that allows users to send and receive money from friends through the app’s private messaging service, CEO Evan Spiegel told Re/code.

The new tool is powered by payments company Square, which operates its own similar service called Square Cash that allows people to send and receive money through its Cash app or email.

With Snapcash, users simply type out the dollar amount they’d like to send as part of any private message — for example, “here’s $5 for lunch.” The app recognizes the “$5” text and a green payments button illuminates next to the keyboard. Users can then tap that button to activate the payment, which is completed once the message has been sent.

chat_view

As Snapchat’s partner, Square will be responsible for storing all user bank and debit card information, Spiegel says, meaning none of the personal financial information from Snapchat users will reside on Snapchat servers. When a user signs up for Snapcash, they’ll be creating a Square Cash account at the same time and agreeing to Square’s terms of service, according to Square spokesperson.

This may be the greatest benefit of the partnership for Square, which will (in theory) collect payment data from a slew of new users. It’s likely not the only benefit, however. Square’s logo will appear within the app when a user is introduced to Snapcash for the first time. And while both companies declined to comment on the terms of the deal, it’s likely that Snapchat is paying Square a small fee for each transaction it processes.

Despite the update, it’s unclear if payments will be a core part of Snapchat’s business moving forward. (Snapchat just rolled out its first advertisement so the business strategy is still very much in the air.) Spiegel says that Snapchat doesn’t intend to compete on a payments front with services like Venmo or PayPal, and certainly not against partner Square. Instead, he sees Snapcash as an update that simply benefits his users.

Of course, Snapchat will offer competition if Snapcash expands. Mobile payments is growing into a big business, and Snapchat has a number of avenues it can explore moving forward. At launch, Snapcash is only available for U.S. users 18 and over, and payments must be made using a Visa or Mastercard debit card. Spiegel wouldn’t share where the product is going, but it’s likely Snapchat will expand beyond those constraints as it learns how people are using the service.

Snapchat doesn’t experiment with updates using small test groups, so Snapcash has only been used internally to date.

The idea for Snapcash came in May of 2013 when Square CEO Jack Dorsey sent Spiegel $25 via email while testing out Square Cash. (Square Cash launched publicly last October.) The duo had stayed close after being introduced by Peter Fenton, a Twitter board member and general partner at Benchmark Capital, and Dorsey wanted to show off the product.

When he received the email, Spiegel was blown away and responded immediately. “Okay this is actually genius,” he wrote.

Spiegel was more than just impressed. He wanted to build something similar for Snapchat, and he wanted Jack to help in the process.

“That to me, when I look back over the last couple years, was the most fun and exciting product [I’ve seen],” Spiegel says now. “I really thought that was cool. I wasn’t expecting that from email.”

>>> Japan PM Abe to confirm 18-month delay for sales tax hike and announce plans

Japan PM Abe to confirm 18-month delay for sales tax hike and announce plans to call a general election of lower house later today - Nikkei 
- Plans to make a "cool-headed" analysis of the tax question and warn about the risks of deflation in the context of higher sales tax.
- Prior to announcing decision, will consult with Fin Min Aso and other cabinet members.
- Postponing the increase would require new legislation.

(BFW) *ALTICE PRICE RANGE EU45-45.50, COVERED THROUGHOUT, TERMS SHOW

BFW 11/17 18:43 *ALTICE PRICE RANGE EU45-45.50, COVERED THROUGHOUT, TERMS SHOW
Altice Price Range EU45-45.50, Covered Throughout: Terms
2014-11-17 18:46:58.787 GMT


By Andrea Snyder
Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Books close 7pm U.K. time, terms
show.
* NOTE: Earlier, Carlyle, Cinven to Sell 5.5m Altice Shrs in
Bookbuild {NSN NF70QE6JIJVH<Go>}


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(BFW) Cepsa Has No Intention of Making Offer for Salamander

BN 11/17 18:34 *CEPSA, STRATEGIC ENERGY (GLOBAL) COMMENT ON TALKS W/ SALAMANDER
BN 11/17 18:33 *CEPSA, STRATEGIC ENERGY (GLOBAL): NO INTENTION OF MAKING OFFER
BN 11/17 18:33 *CEPSA, STRATEGIC ENERGY (GLOBAL) NO INTENTION OF MAKING OFFER
BFW 11/17 18:33 *CEPSA DECIDES AGAINST MAKING OFFER FOR SALAMANDER
BN 11/17 18:33 *COMPANIA ESP S.A.U RECENTLY HELD TALKS W/ SALAMANDER ENERGY
BN 11/17 18:31 *COMPANIA ESP S.A.U OFFER TALKS ENDED
Cepsa Has No Intention of Making Offer for Salamander
2014-11-17 18:39:04.644 GMT


By James Ludden
Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Parties recently held talks.
* Cepsa and partner SEG now not allowed to announce offer or
possible offer for Salamander for 6 months
* Salamander first revealed talks Oct. 27; current enterprise
value GBP522m
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