(NY Post) AT&T’s DirecTV bid nearing approval

AT&T has reached a tentative deal with antitrust officials to help pave the way for its proposed $49 billion acquisition of DirecTV, The Post has learned.
The telecom giant has agreed to unspecified conditions in order to win approval from the Justice Department for the bid, sources said.
The DOJ, which issued a second request for information six weeks ago for more information, will likely sign off on the deal in next few months.
The Federal Communications Commission still has not ruled on the merger and is in the public-comment process.
If the DOJ and FCC are of the same mind, the merger may clear both agencies in the first quarter, a source said.
In May, AT&T announced the deal to buy the largest US satellite-TV company provider.
The move will allow AT&T to add DirecTV’s 20 million subscribers to its 5.7 million U-Verse TV service subscribers, which currently spans 22 states.
Critics of the planned merger believe the convergence of the few remaining telecom and cable giants will raise prices for consumers.
In July, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) wrote a letter to the Justice Department critical of the deal.
“If AT&T is permitted to acquire DirecTV, the combined entity will have enhanced power in virtually every corner of the telecommunications market — power that AT&T potentially could use to obtain an unfair advantage over consumers and competitors,” Franken wrote. “As such, I have some concerns about this deal.”
AT&T’s preliminary deal with regulators could also prove helpful to Comcast, which is seeking to gain approval to buy rival Time Warner Cable.
AT&T’s agreement could serve as a sort of road map for Comcast, helping it to navigate the regulatory waters and anticipate what conditions it is likely to face.
AT&T-DirecTV’s combined 26 million customers would be second only to Comcast and TWC, which if combined would boast 30 million.
AT&T and the DOJ declined comment.

(BFW) *VW STILL SEES UNCERTAINTY ON AUTO SECTOR ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

BN 08/26 08:35 *VW STILL SEES UNCERTAINTY ON AUTO SECTOR ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
BN 08/26 08:33 *VOLKSWAGEN GROUP 7-MO. GERMANY SALES RISE 6.7% TO 724,300 UNITS
BN 08/26 08:31 *VOLKSWAGEN GROUP 7-MO. SALES 5.78M UNITS
BN 08/26 08:31 *VOLKSWAGEN GROUP 7-MO. SALES RISE 6%
*VW STILL SEES UNCERTAINTY ON AUTO SECTOR ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
2014-08-26 08:38:02.479 GMT

--BENJAMIN DOW

-0- Aug/26/2014 08:38 GMT

FT : UK catapult centre works on vision of windowless aircraft

Imagine being on a flight where, in place of windows, screens lining the cabin project images of the sky outside. New technology that could help reduce the weight of an aircraft could soon see windowless planes take to the air.
Plastic display screens for use in aircraft cabins are one of several applications of printable electronics that are being developed at the Centre for Process Innovation in Sedgefield in northeast England, part of the government’s network of technology centres known as “catapults”.

By using conductive inks, printed electronics – technology that has long promised to enliven products from perfume bottles to food packaging – can incorporate electrical circuits in cardboard and plastic for just a few pence per unit. In pharmaceuticals, smart packaging could tell a patient when to take their medication, for example.
But it is the technology’s potential to help aircraft manufacturers create a windowless plane that is causing most excitement at the CPI for now. By replacing windows with an interactive plastic display screen, the weight of the aircraft would be reduced, helping to lower fuel costs.
“Getting weight out of a plane is a key [goal] for the industry,” says Tom Taylor, who is part of the management team at CPI.
While the windowless plane is not a new concept – freight aircraft and military jets tend not to have windows – commercial aircraft manufacturers have put off the idea until now because of concerns it would be unpopular with passengers.
One US aerospace company has announced plans, though. This year Spike Aerospace said it would include a windowless cabin in its Spike S-512 Supersonic Jet, which is due to launch in 2018.
Vik Kachoria, president of Spike Aerospace, believes the benefits of what he calls the “multiplex digital cabin” will help win over passengers. “They will soon be able to experience a wonderful panoramic view of the outside world,” he says.
However, he says the company plans to include several windows for emergency purposes, which passengers will be able to use for a “quick look” outside.

In the UK, the CPI has been working with companies to develop a UK supply chain for the technology that will benefit British manufacturing. It is also in talks with aircraft manufacturers about the technology. “You could see the first of these coming to market in three to four years,” Mr Taylor says.
Technological developments such these are the purpose of the UK’s network of catapults – technology and innovation centres that aim to develop research to the point where it can be turned into commercially successful projects. The UK has traditionally lagged behind European and US peers in this area.
They were launched by the UK government in 2011, and in March Vince Cable, the business secretary, commissioned a review of their progress from Hermann Hauser, co-founder of Acorn Computer, who proposed the centres in a report for the Labour government.
The government plans to create nine of them over five years with £1.4bn of public and private investment. So far, it has established seven, with two more – focused on energy systems and precision medicine – to open next year. They currently employ about 1,500 scientists and engineers.
Mr Cable has made no secret that he would like to see the network eventually rival overseas examples, such as Germany’s Fraunhofer Society, which was founded in 1949 and employs more than 22,000 people in 67 hubs. Its funding dwarfs that of the UK – the annual research budget is €2bn.
While the centres have been welcomed by industry, many believe they need significantly more funding if they are ever to rival overseas peers.
In a review of advanced manufacturing for the Labour party in June, Mike Wright, executive director of Jaguar Land Rover, warned that the government should not increase the numbers of catapults without increasing funding.
“We need to not spread the jam thinly but put even more resource, more focus and give them time to flourish,” Mr Wright told the Financial Times.

WWD : Rhône Capital to Add to Elizabeth Arden Stake

RHÔNE TO ADD TO ITS ELIZABETH ARDEN STAKE: Investment funds affiliated with Rhône Capital said Monday they plan to acquire an additional 6.4 million shares of Elizabeth Arden Inc., or 20 percent of the outstanding shares of common stock, at a cash purchase price of $17 a share via a tender offer that is expected to “occur promptly.” The investors on Aug. 19 acquired 50,000 shares of Arden’s Series A preferred stock and warrants to purchase nearly 2.5 million shares of the beauty firm’s common stock pursuant to a private placement. At the time, they stated their intention to increase their stake in the beauty firm.

Rhône and Arden have an agreement in place with standstill restrictions that cap the investment group’s stake at 30 percent of Arden. Under that agreement, Rhône also has the right to designate a member to Arden’s board, as well as add a second member under certain conditions. Shares of Arden ended Monday’s Nasdaq trading session unchanged at $16.92.

>>> ASOS +3.35% today - haven't seen any specific news except this article on e-

WWD : Report Finds E-commerce Draws Hedge Funds

Hedge funds are the new e-commerce investors.

A report from Nasdaq OMX by retail analyst Calvin Silver and technology analyst Michael Stiller called “Is E-Commerce the Growth Story It’s Widely Believed to Be?” views the e-commerce play as a story about disruption.

The conclusion is contrary to the initial thought that e-commerce would attract traditional growth investors.

Silver explained that the presumption of interest from growth investors was initially based on public company reports in the softlines sector in which executives spoke about “double-digit growth in the e-commerce channel versus overall revenue. There was a clear disparity there, with the notion that the e-commerce channel was going to be where future growth for the industry lay.”

He added that consumer spending data over the last 10 years showed that spending on apparel and footwear completely underperformed in comparison to general consumer spending patterns. “We wanted to find out whether or not the market was growing and whether [these companies] were reaching new clients. A lot of times the information was vague about what double-digit [growth] actually meant,” Silver said.

Stiller explained that what they found when analyzing the data was that the disruption was coming from the perspective of wallet share. “Where are you getting your sales from? Consumers can go into stores or go online. Retailers were stealing share from each other online,” rather than generally growing their overall businesses, he said.


As consumer shopping behavior began indicating a preference for free shipping or faster shipping methods, companies also saw margins erode. Conversion of online shopping carts to actual purchases also initiated some deleveraging of fixed assets, such as the need for fewer brick-and-mortar stores. More importantly, companies now have to figure out how to best integrate the physical presence with the online channel, as well as how to allocate a purchase when consumers go to a store to see a product but choose to buy online, the analysts said.

They found that companies that are either e-commerce pure plays or brick-and-mortar with an e-commerce component saw an increase in hedge fund concentration of 175 percent and 95 percent, respectively. Hedge fund ownership of firms lacking an e-commerce play was down 17 percent.

According to Stiller, there’s no incentive for the growth investor, who is looking for a longer-term investment with a typical three- to five-year time horizon, when “retailers are fighting for the same market share and are picking off from each other.”

In contrast, hedge funds can play the disruption angle because they’re looking for unique trading opportunities that they can move in and out of fairly quickly, Silver said. E-commerce plays into that tactic, he said, either because they can short a loser or make a bet based on a perceived opportunity for a pop in the stock price.

And while companies with an e-commerce or omnichannel strategy on average saw their share price appreciate 63 percent from 2010 to 2014, those that underperformed also open themselves up to activist attention and elevated short interest from hedge funds that may short the stock, the report said.

WWD : LVMH Said Eyeing Proenza Schouler Stake

PARIS — Could Proenza Schouler be the next buzzy young brand to end up in Bernard Arnault’s sprawling luxury empire?

According to market sources, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has held talks about acquiring a stake in the New York-based fashion house. It’s understood discussions involve the 40 percent stake of Proenza Schouler that Andrew Rosen, John Howard and other investors jointly acquired in 2011 from Valentino Fashion Group.

The likelihood of a deal could not immediately be learned. It is not clear whether the founding designers might be willing to cede their majority control in order to partner with the luxury goods giant.

A spokesman for LVMH had no comment, while a spokesman for Proenza Schouler did not respond to a request for comment.

LVMH and its competitors have recently stepped up the pace of investments in young designers. Last year, LVMH sealed deals for a 52 percent stake in footwear firm Nicholas Kirkwood and a 46 percent holding in London-based fashion house J.W. Anderson, whose designer, Jonathan Anderson, is also creative director of LVMH-owned leather goods house Loewe.

Meanwhile, rival Kering acquired stakes in London designer Christopher Kane and American designer firm Altuzarra, helmed by Joseph Altuzarra.

Proenza Schouler has certainly been on LVMH’s radar for some time. Last July, the Left Bank department store it controls, Le Bon Marché, opened a Proenza Schouler corner. And earlier this year, the retailer hosted a vast, ground-floor retrospective exhibit of 80 favorite looks of Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez.

“I love what they do. They have an amazing talent — just look at the fabrics,” Delphine Arnault, the daughter of LVMH chairman and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault, and executive vice president at Louis Vuitton, said at a cocktail party when the exhibit opened last February.

“We’ve been following their work for a while,” the executive said at the time, sidestepping questions about a possible business interest in the brand.

According to sources, McCollough and Hernandez were approached about designing Givenchy a decade ago — before that house settled on Riccardo Tisci in 2005. The current talks with Proenza Schouler, which one source characterized as being at an advanced stage, come at a time when the French group is putting a greater focus on the American market, having just named a new ceo for Marc Jacobs International, and plotting a new business strategy for Donna Karan International.

Proenza Schouler is seen as a scalable business with international resonance that could benefit from LVMH’s expertise in leather goods and global retailing.

According to sources, Rosen may be willing to give up the stake in Proenza to focus on the contemporary businesses Theory, Helmut Lang and J Brand, part of the Link Theory subsidiary of Japanese fashion giant Fast Retailing Co. Ltd.

While best known for its megaluxury properties, headlined by Vuitton and Fendi, LVMH has a history of investing in smaller brands, dating back to 1997 when it invested in Marc Jacobs’ business, and hired him as artistic director of Vuitton. LVMH also held talks in recent years with Rodarte about investing in the label founded by California sisters Laura and Kate Mulleavy in 2005, but never concluded a deal.

Hernandez and McCollough have been darlings of the New York fashion scene practically since launching the label based on their mothers’ maiden names in 2002 at age 23. Named CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year three times, the designers were also the first recipients of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2004.

The designers recently inked a license for swimwear, and made their first steps into retail, opening an uptown Manhattan boutique in 2012 and a flagship in the SoHo neighborhood last year.

(BN) Telefonica Board Said to Discuss Improving Bid for Vivendi’s GVT

Telefonica Board Said to Discuss Improving Bid for Vivendi’s GVT
2014-08-26 07:31:32.231 GMT


By Daniele Lepido and Rodrigo Orihuela
Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Telefonica SA’s board plans to
discuss boosting its offer for GVT to value Vivendi SA’s
Brazilian broadband unit at as much as 8 billion euros ($10.6
billion), according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The new bid could be presented before Vivendi’s board
gathers Aug. 28, and before Telecom Italia SpA puts forward a
formal rival bid, the person said, asking not to be identified
because the deliberations are confidential. Telefonica this
month offered 6.7 billion euros, mostly in cash, for GVT.
No final decision has been made, and Telefonica’s board
could decide to stick with its current offer, the person said.
A representative for Madrid-based Telefonica declined to
comment.

For Related News and Information:
Telefonica Offers $9 Billion for Vivendi Brazilian Unit GVT
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Telecom Italia Said to Prepare GVT Bid of Up to $9.4 Billion
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Goldman, Credit Suisse Said to Work With GVT on Sale Process
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Bloomberg Industries: BI TELC <GO>

To contact the reporters on this story:
Daniele Lepido in Milan at +39-02-8064-4266 or
dlepido1@bloomberg.net;
Rodrigo Orihuela in Madrid at +34-91-700-9647 or
rorihuela@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Kenneth Wong at +49-30-70010-6215 or
kwong11@bloomberg.net
Ville Heiskanen