>>> Pfizer still interested in AstraZeneca; could be interested in Actavis, othe

Pfizer still interested in AstraZeneca; could be interested in Actavis, other targets 

Pfizer is not throwing in the towel on a takeover to slice its tax rate as well as acquire a pipeline of medications, though the possible cost of buying AstraZeneca is increasing, according to a newswire report.

Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Pfizer is considering other potential targets, such as Actavis Plc, while it can take initial steps next week on a renewed bid for AstraZeneca, based in London, the article reported. Pfizer abandoned its effort to purchase the London drugmaker for USD 116bn on 26 May, the article reported. The board of AstraZeneca turned down Pfizer's offers, regarding them as not high enough, Bloomberg reported.

Actavis, based in Dublin, has yearly sales of USD 8.677bn, according to Business OneSource.

The sources said Pfizer executives prefer to arrive at a deal to acquire AstraZeneca, and that US-based Pfizer is unlikely to move toward an alternative target in the near future, the article reported.

Confidence in AstraZeneca's experimental drug pipeline could embolden its board to seek a higher price, Helvea SA's Odile Rundquist told Bloomberg.

Rules in the United Kingdom require that hopeful acquirers who abandon bids must usually wait six months prior to offering a renewed approach, which would put the end of Pfizer's waiting period at 26 November, the article reported. After three months, though, a target can ask a bidder to re-enter discussions, which is seen as unlikely in this case, considering the earlier rejections from AstraZeneca, the article reported. Bloomberg reported that in May, AstraZeneca told Pfizer an offer would need to be GBP 58.85 per share; the final proposal from Pfizer was GBP 55 per share.

A Reuters report said that AstaZeneca shares have gained over 7% this week amid speculation Pfizer could return following its failed GBP 71bn takeover bid in the spring. At the end of a longer piece about the possible tie-up, the newswire said analysts at Berenberg believe the US drug company could even target GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), AstraZeneca's larger UK competitor.

GSK has a market cap of GBP 68.9bn. AstaZeneca's stands at about GBP 54bn

NY Post : ‘Bud’-ding pot industry lights up a whole new economy

The budding pot industry is creating a tech boomlet.
Entrepreneurs David Bernstein and Vlad ‎Stelmak are two of the growing number of businesspeople to get a whiff of the possible profits as more than 20 states have now passed pot-friendly laws.
Their brainstorm? A website and app — WeedHire.com — devoted to helping people find jobs in the expanding marijuana industry.
The Fair Lawn, NJ, duo launched the site in May after seeing news footage of people waiting for hours to get into a marijuana job fair in Colorado.
“We were sitting together and we saw this story come up and we were just like, wow,” said Bernstein, who likes to call the dot-com boom surrounding the pot industry the “pot-com boom.”
The pair are hoping their site, which lists more than 250 jobs — including a photographer for WeedMaps and a lawyer for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Certification Center — will save their struggling business AnythingIT, a penny stock company that lost $1.3 million last year.
They aim to charge employers to post jobs, as well as to access users’ résumés and to conduct background checks on potential job candidates.
If WeedHire succeeds, the Garden State will benefit from added income tax revenue. That would be a bit ironic since Gov. Chris Christie stands as a vocal critic of legalizing pot and has even blasted the state’s medical marijuana program for its low enrollment, calling it a “front for legalization.”
The pot industry in the US is estimated to grow by 68 percent this year, to $2.57 billion. The industry could grow by another 700 percent over the next five years, to $10.2 billion, according to ArcView Group, which also connects investors to pot startups.
Taylor West, of the National Cannabis Industry Association, said business-to-business software makers have also benefited from the growth spurt, which has created demand for tracking software and point-of-service sales software.
“It’s important to keep track of the plants from seed to sale, and there are a couple different businesses that have popped up with products that help with that,” West said.
Hemp American Media Group, of Scottsdale, Ariz., started as a hobby with just one site in 2009, but now boasts 12 sites as the industry grows, co-founder Colby Ayres told The Post.
Hemp American launched a job-search site late last year called 420Careers.com, as well as a business for consulting on weed-related Web sites. This year the company launched MJbizwire, a press-release service devoted specifically to the pot industry.
Business is going so well that Hemp American is looking to raise $150,000 to hire some full-time developers to help them create “marijuana-related games” and mobile apps for their job site, Ayres said.
As more states legalized the drug, “we realized we can turn this into an actual company instead of a side gig,” Ayres added.

(Manager Magazin) Asklepios want to buy in large scale (google Transl.)

Good one billion euros will spend on acquisitions of sole shareholder of Asklepios Hospital Group. On the list of Bernard gr. Broer man, parts of the Rhön-Klinikum-group, the median group or hospitals in Leipzig.
Hamburg - The private hospital group Asklepios plans to purchase various hospital chains. As the manager magazine in its latest issue (release date: August 22). Reported sole shareholder Bernard gr Broer man wants to take over hospitals for at least one billion euros.
He is particularly interested in the remains of the Rhön-Klinikum Group, which still accounts for around one billion euros in sales after the sale of 40 houses at Fresenius. High on his list are next to the median group, a chain of rehabilitation hospitals with 500 million sales, as well as two hospitals in Leipzig with about 100 million euros in sales.
Even a home in the beautiful clinic with 640 million euros in sales and the two billion euro revenue strong Sana chain can imagine Asklepios. Since the clinic group was only moderately indebted, it could take around one billion euros of debt in the capital markets currently, cited the manager magazin senior bankers.

(BFW) Electrabel Says Premature to Draw Conclusions From Reactor Tests

Could be interesting to look to Buy GSZ Sell EDF

{GSZ FP Equity EDF FP Equity GRT D}

BN 08/21 12:51 *ELECTRABEL TO SPLIT UP TIHANGE-1'S 10-YEAR OVERHAUL
BN 08/21 12:50 *ELECTRABEL SAYS DOEL-3, TIHANGE-2 TESTS MAKING GOOD PROGRESS
BN 08/21 12:49 *ELECTRABEL SAYS PREMATURE TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS FROM NUCLEAR TEST
Electrabel Says Premature to Draw Conclusions From Reactor Tests
2014-08-21 12:56:41.720 GMT


By John Martens
Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- GDF Suez subsidiary repeats final
test results on Doel 3, Tihange 2 reactor vessels will be sent
to Belgian nuclear regulator in autumn, according to e-mail.
* Electrabel to split up 10-yr overhaul schedule of Tihange 1,
with 1st phase due Aug. 30 - Oct. 16 and 2nd phase due June
6 - July 31, 2015, to ensure availability in winter months
* NOTE: Yday: Belgian Doel 3, Tihange 2 May Be Offline Through
Winter: VRT: {NSN NALBN96JIJV0 <go>}
* NOTE: June 12: Electrabel Says Doel 3, Tihange 2 Tests to
Run Until Autumn: {NSN N72D4P6K50XU <go>}

Link to Company News:{GSZ 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:
John Martens at +32-2-285-4303 or
jmartens1@bloomberg.net

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: SMTC +6.8%, HRL +2%, NM +1.3%, ASM +0.5%, CACI +0.3%.

M&A news: ACT +1.9% (may be a possible takeover target following ending of Pfizer (PFE) and Asterzenca (AZN) takeover talks, according to reports), VMW +1.1% (announced the acquisition of CloudVolumes, a provider of real-time application delivery technology).

Select phrama/biotech related names showing strength: AZN +2.4% (rumored interest in ACT), EXAS +1.4%, SNY +1%, CELG +1%.

Select semi names showing strength: SMTC +6.8%, STM +1.7%, ASML +1.2%.

Other news: UNTK +8.8% (common stock to begin trading on the OTC), DGLY +8.1% (recent momentum body camera play), TKMR +4.6% (seeing early strength; NYTimes positive on experimental drug for ebola-like virus), AUXL +4.5% (announces positive data from Phase 2a study of CCH In patients with cellulite), BLRX +2.9% (announces receipt of Notice of Allowance from USPTO for a patent claiming the use of BL-7010), CPST +2.5% (still checking), HTZ +1.5% (following late move higher in Icahn stake news), PANW +1.3% (positive mention on Mad Money).

Analyst comments: PLAB +4.1% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham), AEO +1.2% (upgraded to Buy at Janney, upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey), ROSE +1.1% (upgraded to Accumulate from Hold at KLR Group), CRH +0.8% (upgraded to Mkt Perform from Underperform at Bernstein)