>>> Schlumberger in auction procees for oilfield tools rental business Thomas To

Schlumberger in auction procees for oilfield tools rental business Thomas Tools; PPHB advising 

Schlumberger Ltd (EPA:SLB) is running an auction process for Thomas Tools, its oilfield tools rental business based in New Iberia, Louisiana, according to a newswire report.

Reuters, citing a person familiar with the situation, reported that oilfield service boutique PPHB is serving as sellside advisor.

Thomas Tools generates EBITDA in the area of USD 80m, and could command a 7.5x multiple, Reuters reported. Private equity is among the potential bidders, according to the article.

Thomas Tools was founded in 1961, and supplies oilfield rental tools, tubulars, and surface equipment. The business was originally part of Smith International, which was acquired by Schlumberger in 2010.

Newswire Round-up

>>> Exor willing to dilute stake in Fiat Chrysler as part of merger with another

Exor willing to dilute stake in Fiat Chrysler as part of merger with another car maker
Exor, the holding company of the Italian Agnelli family, would be willing to dilute its stake in Fiat Chrysler as part of a strategic merger with another car group, Italian language daily Milano Finanza reported. The item cited Exor chairman John Elkann who made his comments in an interview with US magazine Business Week.

The item cited Elkann as saying that such a merger could take place in the next five to 10 years.

The item also cited comments made by Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne in the same interview who said that consolidation in the car sector would lead to a new number one and that Fiat Chrysler is ready to take part in such a merger process.

The report also cited Marchionne as saying that he would step down as CEO of Fiat Chrysler after 2018.

Fiat has a market cap of EUR 8.81bn.


Source Milano Finanza daily edition

>>> Tieto could be a target for Indian IT companies; merger with Evry also a pos

Tieto could be a target for Indian IT companies; merger with Evry also a possibility

Tieto, the Finnish IT services company, could make an interesting target for Indian IT companies or merger with Evry could be a possibility, according to Kauppalehti.

In its unsourced analysis, the Finnish-language piece wrote that the Indian outsourcers have been expanding in Finland. Tieto could make an interesting target because of its customers.

The company has years of experience in large Finnish IT projects with banks and governmental organisations. It said that Tieto could also be sold in parts and especially its software business could be of interest and it could have synergies with the Indian TCS for instance.

Tieto could also separate its product development services unit but this may not be of interest to buyers because of its poor performance.

The Norwegian IT house Evry is also for sale, and Tieto and Evry could jointly form a large Nordic IT house. The Finnish state is the second largest owner of Tieto with the main owner being the Swedish Cevian Capital, run by the Swedish Christer Gardell who is known for his skilled strategies.

Gardell is unlikely to give up his shares for a low price however. Besides, selling Tieto could be politically difficult because Indian outsourcers do not have the best of reputations in Finland.


Source Kauppalehti

>>> Tui Travel shares down on concerns that weak trading could derail merger wit

Tui Travel shares down on concerns that weak trading could derail merger with Tui 

Tui Travel shares fell 3.9% yesterday, 8 October on talk that weak trading might derail the UK-based travel company’s merger with Tui AG, the Financial Times reported. The newspaper's market report section did not cite a source for the speculation.

Tui Travel’s trading weakness is due to the outbreak of the Ebola virus, the report said.

The item noted that Tui Travel's proposed merger with German parent company Tui AG will be subject to a vote scheduled in the final week of this month.

A market report in The Daily Telegraph also mentioned concerns that the Ebola outbreak might have an impact on the merger with Tui AG. The newspaper did not cite a source for the speculation.

Tui Travel’s share price closed 15p down at 367p in London yesterday, giving the company a market capitalisation of GBP 4.46bn (EUR 5.66bn). 


Source Financial Times, Daily Telegraph

>>> What to look at today - 9th of October 2014

US Market closed higher, moved happened after FOMC minutes, mkt started on weak note with Crude but the minutes acknowledged that growth concerns overseas could have an impact on the U.S. through a strengthening dollar, which would lead to a decline in inflation expectations. This was viewed as an indication that the Fed would not rush to raise the fed funds rate, but instead maintain its accommodative policy stance. Accordingly, the prospects of continued easy-money policy resulted in a broad-based rally with high-beta groups leading the way. the telecom services sector (+0.1%) edged into the green just before the close, while consumer staples (+1.4%), health care (+2.5%), and utilities (+2.2%) posted stronger gains. volume were above average @ 900mil shares...VIX @15,09 -12,44%...After Hours : RT +19.3%, EXAR +13.7%, DRWI +5.4%, AA +2.2%, KFX-20.6%, ARCW -17.0%, GPS -7.5% following earnings/guidance...Alcoa earnings marked the unofficial start of the Q3 reporting period with a positive note...In China, the PBoC announced a drain of CNY20B in 14-day repos for the day but a net injection of CNY26B for the week - the largest in 6 weeks. Vice Fin Min Zhu expressed concern over the "quality of economic growth", noting it was less important to meet a hard GDP target. A report from China State Council indicated it would regulate local govt more strictly against fiscal risks...In Japan, BOJ Gov Kuroda maintained the central bank will do additional monetary easing if economy shows significant signs of deviating from path to 2%...Nikkei -0.43% Habg Seng +1.02% Shanghai +0.02%

Eur$ 1.2741 S&P +0.04% EuroStoxx +1.10% FTSE +0.87% DAX +0.83% SMI +1.11%

Macro
- Europe Has ‘Big Problem’ of Slow Growth, U.S. Aide Atkinson Says {NSN ND56L36K50Y4 <go>}
- Most of German Weakness Caused by Russia Sanctions, Weber Says
- Italy Govt Wins Confidence Vote on Plan to Change Labor Market

Keep an eye on :
- AIR FP : Airbus to Merge Its Aerolia and Sogerma Units, Echos Says
- BNP FP : BNP May Integrate Securities Services, Investment Bank: Echos
- BSLN SW : To announce further subgroup and health economic analyses of isavuconazole phase 3 studies will be presented at IDWeek conference
- BMW GY : BMW Hires Ferrari’s Former Chief Engineer: Reuters
- CGG FP : CGG 3Q Vessel Production Rate 92% vs 94, Availability 92% vs 89%
- CO FP : Casino in Purchasing Pact With Intermarche, Le Figaro Says
- DL NA : Delta Lloyd Ends Sale Process of Its Belgian Banking Business
- EDF FP : French Ex Energy Min Batho Worked on Plan to Renationalize EDF
- EXACT NA : Exact Agrees to Takeover by Apax-Advised Funds at EU32/Share
- GLEN LN : in HK 333.10
- GXI GY : Gerresheimer Sees 21% Adjusted Ebitda Margin 2016-2018
- ML FP : Michelin CEO Says May Buy Budget Tire Brand in Asia: Reuters
- MMT FP : M6 Renews Movie Accord With Walt Disney, Le Figaro Says
- RIO LN : Rio: Continues to Witness High Demand for Its Iron Ore Products
- SZU GY : Suedzucker 2Q Oper. Profit Drops 73%; Confirms FY Forecast
- TIT IM : Mediobanca Won’t Re-Enter Telecom Italia Shareholding: Sole

>>> Brokers Upgrade & Downgrades - 9th of October 2014

>>> Up
*ALPHA BANK RAISED TO BUY VS NEUTRAL AT CITI
*ALPHA BANK, NBG RAISED TO BUY VS NEUTRAL AT BOFAML
*ANTOFAGASTA RAISED TO HOLD VS REDUCE AT NUMIS
*BMW RAISED TO OVERWEIGHT VS NEUTRAL AT JPMORGAN
*DUNELM GROUP RAISED TO OVERWEIGHT VS NEUTRAL AT JPMORGAN
*DS SMITH RAISED TO BUY AT VERTICAL RESEARCH
*EDENRED RAISED TO HOLD VS SELL AT DEUTSCHE BANK
*FIRST QUANTUM MINERALS RAISED TO BUY VS HOLD AT NUMIS
*OUTOTEC RAISED TO HOLD AT NORDEA
*PETRA DIAMONDS RAISED TO BUY VS ADD AT NUMIS
*PETROPAVLOVSK RAISED TO REDUCE VS SELL AT NUMIS
*RANDGOLD RESOURCES RAISED TO BUY VS ADD AT NUMIS
*RED ELECTRICA RAISED TO NEUTRAL AT HSBC
*WAERTSILAE RAISED TO NEUTRAL VS SELL AT GOLDMAN

>>> Down
*CEZ CUT TO NEUTRAL VS OVERWEIGHT AT JPMORGAN
*GERRESHEIMER CUT TO NEUTRAL VS OVERWEIGHT AT JPMORGAN
*K+S CUT TO SELL VS NEUTRAL AT CITI
*MAN SE CUT TO UNDERPERFORM AT BOFAML
*RENAULT CUT TO NEUTRAL VS OVERWEIGHT AT JPMORGAN
*VODAFONE CUT TO REDUCE VS NEUTRAL AT NOMURA

>>> PT Changes


>>> Initiation
*BAVARIAN NORDIC RATED NEW BUY AT CITI
*CORONATION RATED NEW EQUALWEIGHT AT BARCLAYS
*EUROBANK RATED NEW NEUTRAL AT CITI
*GREEN DRAGON GAS RATED NEW BUY AT CANTOR, PT 952P
*INNATE PHARMA RATED NEW BUY AT CITI
*INVESTEC LTD RATED NEW OVERWEIGHT AT BARCLAYS

>>> Call
>> Stock
*ANADOLU EFES REMOVED FROM UBS LEAST PREFERRED LIST
*BIDVEST ADDED TO UBS MOST PREFERRED LIST
*EMS-CHEMIE, WACKER CHEMIE REMOVED FROM UBS MOST PREFERRED LIST
*GEBERIT ADDED TO GOLDMAN CONVICTION BUY LIST; STAYS BUY
*IMPERIAL ADDED TO UBS LEAST PREFERRED LIST
*SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC REMOVED FROM GOLDMAN CONVICTION BUY LIST
*SIEMENS ADDED TO GOLDMAN CONVICTION BUY LIST; STAYS BUY
*SIKA ADDED TO UBS MOST PREFERRED LIST

(BFW) French Ex Energy Min Batho Worked on Plan to Renationalize EDF

BN 10/09 05:06 *FRENCH EX ENERGY MIN BATHO WORKED ON PLAN TO RENATIONALIZE EDF
BN 10/09 05:06 *FRENCH EX ENERGY MINISTER BATHO COMMENTS IN BOOK
French Ex Energy Min Batho Worked on Plan to Renationalize EDF
2014-10-09 05:14:51.325 GMT


By Tara Patel
Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Delphine Batho, who was fired as
environment and energy minister in July 2013, said she worked on
a plan to renationalize the country’s nuclear operator EDF.
* Batho comments in her book “Insoumise” or “The Intractable”
to go on sale Oct. 15
* The idea of retaking control of EDF was quashed by President
Francois Hollande and former Prime Minister Jean-Marc
Ayrault, Batho writes
* A spokeswoman for EDF declined to comment.

Link to Company News:{EDF FP <Equity> CN <GO>}

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

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
David Whitehouse at +33-1-5365-5059 or
dwhitehouse1@bloomberg.net

>>> Gartner says worldwide PC shipments in Q3 declined 0.5%

Gartner says worldwide PC shipments in Q3 declined 0.5%

* Worldwide PC shipments reached 79.4 million units in the third quarter of 2014, a 0.5 percent decline from the third quarter of last year, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. * "Growth in the mature markets was offset by a decline in shipments in emerging markets, similar to what was seen in the second quarter of 2014," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. "Positive results in Western Europe and North America can be a sign of gradual recovery for the PC industry. * Lenovo extended its position as the worldwide leader in PC shipments, as it accounted for 19.8 percent of the market in the third quarter of 2014 * In the U.S. market, PC shipments totaled 16.6 million units in the third quarter of 2014, a 4.2 percent increase from the same period last year. This was the third quarter in a row with positive shipment growth.