(BFW) France Reaches Deal With Bouygues for Up to 20% of Alstom

BFW 06/22 18:15 France Reaches Deal With Bouygues for Up to 20% of Alstom
 BN 06/22 18:08 *FRANCE REACHES DEAL WITH BOUYGUES FOR UP TO 20% OF ALSTOM
MORE: France Reaches Deal With Bouygues for Up to 20% of Alstom
2014-06-22 18:17:32.377 GMT


By Andrea Snyder
     June 22 (Bloomberg) -- At end of 20 months, for 8 trading
days, a maximum of 15% of of Alstom will be able to be acquired
at the market price with a standard discount.
  * French government to exercise 20% of the voting rights in
    Alstom, will name 2 members to Alstom’s board
  * NOTE: Earlier, GE Poised to Win Alstom Bid as France Said to
    Near Accord {NSN N7KFEN6VDKI4<Go>}

Link to statement: {NSN N7L12T3V2800<Go>}
Link to Company News:{7011 JP <Equity> CN <GO>}
Link to Company News:{ALO FP <Equity> CN <GO>}
Link to Company News:{EN FP <Equity> CN <GO>}
Link to Company News:{GE US <Equity> CN <GO>}
Link to Company News:{SIE GR <Equity> CN <GO>}

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To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andrea Snyder at +1-202-624-1831 or
asnyder5@bloomberg.net

FT : Juncker’s triumph would be revolutionary for the EU

Juncker’s triumph would be revolutionary for the EU

Revolution is a strong word. But if, as looks likely, EU leaders bow to the European Parliament’s will this week and pick Jean-Claude Juncker to be the next European Commission president, it will represent a shift of power to the legislature at the expense of the other EU lawmaking institutions – the commission and the bloc’s 28 national governments.
More quickly than their opponents thought possible, the political parties that control parliament are forcing government leaders, for the first time in the EU’s 56-year history, to endorse a presidential candidate they themselves have not chosen. True, the precedent set will not be as stunning as the 1964 legal case, Costa v Enel, which established the supremacy of the EU over national law. But it is substantial and possibly irreversible.

An attachment to legal procedure runs deep in EU traditions. This redistribution of power will occur without the sanction of an inter-governmental treaty, such as the Maastricht and Lisbon accords of 1992 and 2009. It will be a political reality nonetheless. Two consequences will surely flow from it.
First, as a heavy political defeat for David Cameron, the UK prime minister, it will push Britain closer to the EU exit door. It will increase the likelihood of an in-out referendum in which pro-EU forces risk being on the back foot.
Not only will Mr Cameron have failed to block Mr Juncker’s appointment, the European parliament will also become more powerful just when British influence there will be at its lowest ebb. Such are the fruits of the success in last month’s EU elections of the anti-EU UK Independence party – and the self-exclusion of Mr Cameron’s Conservatives from the legislature’s largest group, the centre-right European People’s party.
Come a referendum, many British voters will have a mental picture of a strange, Strasbourg-based parliament that shapes laws for the UK but in which the British voice struggles to be heard.
Second, the parliament’s triumph will damage the commission’s authority by making it more subservient to the EU legislature. It will politicise a body supposed to consist of commissioners who, working with their non-partisan civil service, represent the general EU interest rather than their home nations.
Even on a good day, the salty smell of politics wafts through the commission’s corridors. But Mr Juncker’s appointment will put the commission in uncharted territory. No president has been in such thrall as he will be to the parliament’s dominant political parties. The Commission’s role as an impartial regulator of business competition, fiscal rules and much more will be in question from day one.

David Cameron is under pressure from all sides and faces a delicate balancing act in attempting to renegotiate an acceptable UK membership settlement with the EU
Likewise, the political parties will seek to capture the 27 commissioners who will serve Mr Juncker. Before taking office, every would-be commissioner must undergo a confirmation hearing, akin to a grilling by the US Senate. The EU legislature bared its teeth in 2004 by forcing the withdrawal of Rocco Buttiglione, an Italian candidate. In 2010 it skewered Bulgaria’s Rumiana Jeleva. This time, the political parties are trying – with what success remains to be seen – to influence the choice of commissioner made by each national capital even before Mr Juncker toasts his appointment.
It will not stop there. During the parliament’s five-year term, parties that support closer EU integration and command a majority in the assembly will maximise their input into the laws that the commission, under EU treaty rules, has the main responsibility of drawing up.
The assembly itself cannot propose laws. But the parties can and will exert influence through the powerful legislative committees that scrutinise the commission’s activity – and through less formal political contacts with individual commissioners.
The parliament’s power grab should not surprise EU governments, least of all London. Under the banner of democracy, elected assemblies have done this for the past 400 years of European history, nowhere more famously than in 17th-century England.
Are some governments regretting the way events are unfolding? Yes. But it was national governments which, over the past two decades, increased the parliament’s powers in one EU treaty after another. Now they are reaping the whirlwind.

(ZH) China Builds World's Most Powerful Nuclear Reactor; Regulators "Overwhelmed

China Builds World's Most Powerful Nuclear Reactor; Regulators "Overwhelmed"

We are sure this will end well. Just as China took the 'if we build it (on free credit), they will come' growth model to extremes in real estate; it appears their ambitions in nuclear energy production are just as grandiose. However, just as they lost control of the real estate market, Bloomberg reports China is moving quickly to become the first country to operate the world’s most powerful atomic reactor even as France’s nuclear regulator says communication and cooperation on safety measures with its Chinese counterparts are lacking. France has a lot riding on a smooth roll out of China’s European Pressurized Reactors (EPRs) as it is home to Areva, which developed the next-gen reactor, and utility EdF, which oversees the project. French regulators, speaking in parliament, warned, "the Chinese safety authorities lack means. They are overwhelmed."

Not what you want to hear as the nation embarks on the biggest nuclear energy facility creation ever, "if too many nuclear power projects are started too quickly, it could jeopardize the healthy, long-term development of nuclear power..." and the Chinese (just ask the Japanese).


As Bloomberg reports, China is moving quickly to become the first country to operate the world’s most powerful atomic reactor even as France’s nuclear regulator says communication and cooperation on safety measures with its Chinese counterparts are lacking.

Chinese builders are entering the final construction stages for two state-of-the-art European Pressurized Reactors. Each will produce about twice as much electricity as the average reactor worldwide.
The French are in charge... kinda...

France has a lot riding on a smooth roll out of China’s EPRs. The country is home to Areva SA (AREVA), which developed the next-generation reactor, and utility Electricite de France SA, which oversees the project. The two companies, controlled by the French state, need a safe, trouble-free debut in China to ensure a future for their biggest new product in a generation. And French authorities have not hidden their concerns.
And are not happy...

“Unfortunately, collaboration isn’t at a level we would wish it to be” with China, Jamet said. “One of the explanations for the difficulties in our relations is that the Chinese safety authorities lack means. They are overwhelmed.”
...
“the state of conservation” of large components like pumps and steam generators at Taishan “was not at an adequate level” and was “far” from the standards of the two other EPR plants,
China is rushing...

Some 28 reactors of various models are currently under construction in China. That’s more building than any other nation on the planet, and the country hasn’t reported a serious nuclear accident in the 22 years it has operated nuclear plants for commercial use.
“If the current momentum of development continues, if too many nuclear power projects are started too quickly, it could jeopardize the healthy, long-term development of nuclear power,” Fan Bi, a deputy director at the State Council Research Office, wrote in an article for Outlook Magazine, published by the official Xinhua news agency, two months before the Fukushima disaster.
China General, the country’s biggest atomic operator is forging ahead with EDF. It will begin critical tests on the most advanced of the 1,650-megawatt Taishan EPRs before start-up in 2015
But the Chinese nuclear regulator is a "total black box"

The Chinese regulator’s website contains relatively little information about safety issues. The most recent post on Taishan is a 2009 report on the start of cement work at the reactor referring to “problems left over from early-stage construction.” It said all current work was up to standards, without elaborating. In total just nine posts on the website mention Taishan, and many are blank apart from the title.
Critics of China’s nuclear safety regime, including Albert Lai, chairman of The Professional Commons, a Hong Kong think tank, says that lack of information risks eroding confidence in safety controls in what’s set to be a 14-fold increase of atomic capacity by 2030.
“The workings of China’s atomic safety authority are a ‘‘total black box,’’ said Lai. ‘‘China has no transparency whatsoever."
And even the Chinese are nervous...

And in a rare public comment about safety concerns, China’s own State Council Research Office three years ago warned that the development of the country’s power plants may be accelerating too quickly.
We are sure this will all end well...

WWD : Dov Charney Plans Counterpunch

Dov Charney Plans Counterpunch

When Dov Charney arrived at American Apparel Inc.'s annual meeting Wednesday, he was given a choice: resign as chairman, president and chief executive officer in return for a cushy consulting gig or be disnissed, according to a source familiar with the situation.


He chose the latter.

Now, Charney is planning to swing back — possibly with legal action that could come Monday in Los Angeles.

"They pushed him out the door with their right hand and dragged [or attempted to drag] him back in with the left hand," the source said. "Dov Charney is not going quietly into the night. There's going to be a lot more happening on Monday."

RELATED STORY: Assessing the Post-Dov Charney American Apparel >>

Charney declined to comment when reached by WWD.

His departure led to something of a tabloid spectacle over the weekend, complete with nude photos of Charney and a full retelling of the company's woes. That amounts to a no-doubt expected headache for the board, which is now led by cochairmen Allan Mayer, a pr executive and expert in crisis communications, and David Danziger, an accountant. Given the coverage of Charney's impending dismissal, Mayer is going to need all his crisis management skills since the coverage has been a brand's worst nightmare.

American Apparel is known as much for its racy advertising as its brightly colored basics. The salacious marketing approach — featuring young, female employees in provocative poses — reflects the personality of Charney, who is vocal about his easy-loving lifestyle and has been sued repeatedly for sexual harassment by employees.

After the 10-hour closed-door meeting in New York on Wednesday, the board said it replaced Charney as chairman and planned to terminate him as president and ceo for cause in 30 days, citing “an ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct.”

Last week, a person close to the company described the ouster as “a culmination of many events” and said Charney had dispatched certain litigation without the board’s knowledge, providing the “straw that broke the camel’s back.”

The source familiar with Charney's take said, "It's all old news, the acts which they're complaining about, the salacious stuff, is stuff they knew about when they reupped him as ceo."

The board is also said to have accused Charney of other misdeeds, such as booking airline flights for his parents using company money. But the source noted that the former ceo's mother worked with the company, flew coach and stayed at Charney's house.

And there are reports that the former ceo had a hand in releasing naked photographs of former employee who was suing him.

Charney's departure leaves the company in a precarious position.

American Apparel said the management change might have triggered a default under its credit agreements and that it could go bankrupt without a waiver from its lender.

It is also has to navigate these waters while looking for a new ceo. Executive vice president and chief financial officer John Luttrell was given the reins as interim ceo.

Last week, the source close the company said: “The goal is to get a new management team in and run this business. The goal isn’t to sell the company, but obviously in these types of situations you have to examine all of your options.”

That examination might well open the door for acquirers have shown interest in American Apparel in the past, but have been reluctant to work with the very colorful Charney.

Would-be buyers are believed to be taking a second look at the company with financial players seen as mostly likely candidates for a takeover.

A buyout from a private equity or financial player could radically change the complexion of American Apparel, which produces its looks at a factory in LA.

"Our core business—designing, manufacturing, and selling American-made branded apparel—is strong and continues to demonstrate great potential for growth, both in the U.S. and abroad," said Luttrell when he became interim ceo.

He underscored that American Apparel would remain committed to its sweatshop-free, Made in USA manufacturing philosophy.

What's no known is if a new buyer would stick to that philosophy as they look to boost profits.
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FT : Asos hopes for quick return after blaze

Asos hopes to resume trading as early as Monday as it counts the cost of a fire at its main distribution centre in South Yorkshire.
The online retailer was forced to shut its website after the blaze in Barnsley on Friday night.

South Yorkshire Police said they were treating the fire as deliberate and have launched a criminal inquiry.
Asos, which issued a severe profit warning three weeks ago, is expected to make a statement to the stock exchange on Monday.
People close to the situation refused to put a figure on the impact. However, they indicated that it was “not hugely material”.
There was no structural damage to the warehouse, they said, and the amount of stock damaged in the blaze was still being quantified.
When Asos’s then only warehouse was damaged by the explosion and fire at the Buncefield oil depot in Hertfordshire in 2005, the company made a £5.5m insurance claim. The site remained shut for a month then, with Asos’s shares suspended for several weeks.
The Asos website remained closed on Sunday after the Barnsley blaze, although it advised visitors that it hoped to be trading again “in the next day or so”.
The company was co-operating with the police investigation into the cause of the fire, people close to the situation said.
The blaze started at about 10pm on Friday night. At its height, the fire was tackled by crews from 10 fire engines and took more than 60 firefighters to bring under control. About 500 workers were evacuated.
The incident comes at a delicate time for Asos. Earlier this month, it said that pre-tax profit this year would be about 30 per cent lower than expected, after it suffered a “triple whammy of the perfect storm on profit”. It blamed the warning on a strong pound and heavy discounting.
But some rivals and analysts suggest there are fundamental changes in the online market, with bricks and mortar retailers becoming more assertive in their web operations, whereas previously Asos had a free rein.
In March, shares in Asos fell 20 per cent after the company reported slowing UK sales growth, lower than expected margins and increased losses from a push into China.
Nick Bubb, the independent retail analyst, said: “You would think it can’t possibly be as bad as the Buncefield disaster, and late-June isn’t the busiest time of the year.
“But back in 2005, Asos was quite small and the online industry was then in its infancy. Asos now has many more competitors and customer expectations on order delivery are much higher.”
Mr Bubb added: “The best-case scenario is that the business is quickly back in action, via temporary facilities nearby, and that the insurance companies settle up to cover the direct costs of the disruption.
“The worst-case scenario is that customer confidence is affected for a longer period of time and that the suspicion of arson delays the insurance companies’ response.”

FT : Shire bolsters defences against AbbVie

Shire bolsters defences against AbbVie

Shire will on Monday step up its defence against a £27bn takeover approach by AbbVie amid a growing sense of siege surrounding Britain’s healthcare sector.
The UK-listed drugmaker is the third FTSE 100 healthcare company to be targeted by a US rival so far this year after AstraZeneca fought off Pfizer and Smith & Nephew attracted tentative interest from Stryker.

All three are now rushing to bolster defences against further potential bids, as cash-rich American companies hunt for overseas assets to help them escape high US corporate tax obligations.
Of the four pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers among Britain’s 100 biggest listed companies, GlaxoSmithKline is the only one whose independence has not so far been called into question.
While Shire is much smaller and less important to the UK economy than AstraZeneca or GSK, its takeover would nonetheless highlight concern over Britain’s failure to translate its strong science base into a deeper stock of globally competitive medical companies.
If sold to AbbVie or another predator, Shire would follow promising UK biotech companies such as Celltech, Powderject and Amersham that have been bought by bigger foreign groups in the past 15 years.
However, while Shire was founded in Basingstoke, southern England, in 1986 and has been listed in London since 1996, it will not be able to call on UK political support of the kind that helped AstraZeneca head off Pfizer.
The company shifted its headquarters to Dublin in 2008 to take advantage of Ireland’s low corporate tax rate and has moved its research and development to the US, leaving less than 500 mostly administrative employees in the UK.
Instead of nationalistic arguments, Shire will make a hard financial case for independence when Flemming Ornskov, chief executive, holds a conference call with investors on Monday to explain the company’s stance.
He will highlight Shire’s status as one of the fastest-growing companies in the pharmaceuticals sector to argue that AbbVie’s £46.11 per share cash and stock proposal falls well short of what would be required to bring the board to the negotiating table.
The offer represented a 23 per cent premium over Shire’s share price the day before news of AbbeVie’s interest became public on Friday, although the stock is up 60 per cent since takeover speculation intensified in April.
AbbVie plans to spell out its rationale for a takeover to its shareholders this week, while many analysts expect the US company to return with a higher bid. The company is attracted not only by the potential to move its tax domicile out of the US but also by its need to reduce dependence on its Humira rheumatoid arthritis drug.
Shire has increased sales at an average compound rate of 11.6 per cent since 2008 and earnings by 14.7 per cent and the pace has picked up since Danish-born Mr Ornskov took over a year ago.
Telling investors there is more growth ahead, he will flesh out his forecast made on Friday to more than double revenues to $10bn by 2020.
Shire’s expansion has been driven by surging US demand for its Vyvanse treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which generated a quarter of last year’s $4.8bn in sales.
Meanwhile, Mr Ornskov has stepped up diversification into treatments for rare diseases – a fast-growing part of the pharmaceuticals sector that involves small patient numbers but high prices.
Several other US drugmakers have been touted as potential rival bidders for Shire ranging from Pfizer to Allergan, the Botox maker resisting a $53bn takeover by Valeant.

>>> ECB's Draghi: ECB setting liquidity measures through 2016 is an indication o

ECB's Draghi: ECB setting liquidity measures through 2016 is an indication of how low rates will stay low
- Would need to observe deterioration in inflation expectations over the medium term before ECB would turn to QE. Quantitative Easing could include buying govt bonds and private sector loans. 
- Reiterates not seeing any signs of deflation in the euro zone 
- Higher oil prices will impact inflation, as long as there is no further appreciation of the euro.

(BFW) Wyndham Worldwide Made Offer for InterContinental: Sky

BFW 06/21 11:27 Wyndham Worldwide Made Offer for InterContinental Hotels: Sky
MORE: Wyndham Worldwide Made Offer for InterContinental: Sky
2014-06-21 19:09:07.56 GMT


By Keith Naughton
     June 21 (Bloomberg) -- “We cannot comment on
speculation,” Michael Valentino, a Wyndham spokesman, said in
an e-mail.
  * NOTE: May 27, InterContinental Jumps After Report Company
    Rejected Offer NSN N68RRU6K50Y3<GO>


Story Link:NSN N7INTO6K50XS<GO>

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To contact the reporter on this story:
Dan Hart in Washington at +1-202-624-1870 or
dahart@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Joe Sabo at +1-609-279-3119 or
jsabo@bloomberg.net
Dan Hart

(Reuters) Iran rejects U.S. action in Iraq as militants push east

(Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader condemned U.S. intervention in Iraq on Sunday, accusing Washington of seeking control as Sunni insurgents drove toward Baghdad from the Syrian border and consolidated positions in the north and west.

The statement by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was the clearest statement of opposition to a U.S. plan to dispatch of up to 300 military advisers in response to pleas from the Iraqi government and runs counter to speculation that old enemies Washington and Tehran might cooperate to defend their mutual ally in Baghdad.

"We are strongly opposed to U.S. and other intervention in Iraq," IRNA news agency quoted Khamenei as saying. "We don’t approve of it as we believe the Iraqi government, nation and religious authorities are capable of ending the sedition."

The Iranian and the U.S. governments had seemed open to collaboration against al Qaeda offshoot the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which is fighting both the U.S.-backed, Shi'ite-led government of Iraq and the Iranian-backed president of Syria, whom Washington wants to see overthrown.

"American authorities are trying to portray this as a sectarian war, but what is happening in Iraq is not a war between Shi'ites and Sunnis," said Khamenei, who has the last word in the Islamic Republic's Shi'ite clerical administration.

Accusing Washington of using Sunni Islamists and followers of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, he added: "The U.S. is seeking an Iraq under its hegemony and ruled by its stooges."

Tehran and Washington have been shocked by the lightning quick offensive, spearheaded by ISIL, that has seen large swathes of northern and western Iraq fall to the hardline extremist group and other Sunni fighters since June 10, including the north's biggest city Mosul.

The Sunnis are united in opposition to what they see as Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's divisive sectarian rule.

WESTERN OFFENSIVE

ISIL thrust east from a newly captured Iraqi-Syrian border post on Sunday, taking three towns in Iraq's western Anbar province after seizing the frontier crossing near the town of Qaim on Saturday, witnesses and security sources said.

The gains have helped ISIL secure supply lines to Syria, where it has exploited the chaos of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad to seize territory. The group aims to create an Islamic caliphate straddling the desert border and has held Falluja, just west of Baghdad, since the start of the year.

The fall of Qaim represented another step towards the realisation of ISIL's military goals, erasing a frontier drawn by British and French colonial map-makers a century ago.

ISIL's gains on Sunday included the towns of Rawa and Ana along the Euphrates river east of Qaim, as well as the town of Rutba further south on the main highway from Jordan to Baghdad.

A military intelligence official said Iraqi troops had withdrawn from Rawa and Ana after ISIL militants attacked the settlements late on Saturday: "Troops withdrew from Rawa, Ana and Rutba this morning and ISIL moved quickly to completely control these towns," the official said.

"They took Ana and Rawa this morning without a fight."

IRAQ SPLINTERS

Military spokesman Major-General Qassim al-Moussawi said the withdrawal from the towns was intended to ensure "command and control" and to allow troops to regroup and retake the areas.

"The withdrawal of the units was for the purpose of reopening the areas," he told reporters in Baghdad.

The towns are on a strategic supply route between ISIL's positions in Iraq and in eastern Syria, where the group has taken a string of towns and strategic positions from rival Sunni forces fighting Assad over the past few days.

The last major Syrian town not in ISIL's hands in the region, the border town of Albukamal, is controlled by the Nusra Front, al Qaeda's branch in Syria which has clashed with ISIL but also agreed to local truces at times.

ISIL, which began as the Islamic State of Iraq and was disowned by al Qaeda's central organisation in February after pursuing its own goals in Syria and clashing with the Nusra Front, has pushed south down the Tigris valley since capturing Mosul with barely a fight two weeks ago, seizing towns and taking large amounts of weaponry from the fleeing Iraqi army.

Overnight, ISIL fighters attacked the town of al-Alam, north of Tikrit, according to witnesses and police in the town. The attackers were repelled by security forces and tribal fighters, they said, adding that two ISIL fighters had been killed.

State television reported that "anti-terrorism forces" in coordination with the air force had killed 40 ISIL members and destroyed five vehicles in fighting in Tikrit, home town of Saddam Hussein, the Sunni leader ousted by U.S. forces in 2003.

There was a lull in fighting at Iraq's largest refinery, Baiji, near Tikrit, on Sunday morning. The site had been transformed into a battlefield since Wednesday as Sunni fighters launched an assault on the plant. Militants entered the large compound but were held off by Iraqi military units.

A black column of smoke rose from the site. Refinery officials said it was caused by a controlled burning of waste.

The ISIL advance has been joined by Sunni tribal militias and former members of Saddam's Baath Party, united in their hatred of Maliki and Shi'ite politicians brought to power in U.S.-backed elections.

SUNNI CLASHES

Relations between the diverse Sunni groups have not been entirely smooth. On Sunday morning, clashes raged for a third day between ISIL and Sunni tribes backed by the Naqshbandi Army, a group led by former army officers and Baathists, around Hawija, local security sources and tribal leaders said.

More than 10 people were killed in the clashes in the area, southwest of the northern oil hub of Kirkuk, the sources said.

On Friday evening, ISIL and Naqshbandi fighters began fighting each other in Hawija, where a crackdown on a Sunni protest over a year ago triggered unrest leading to the current insurgency. Iraqi and Western officials believe that as ISIL and other Sunni factions start to consolidate their control of newly won territories, they may start turning on each other.

U.S. President Barack Obama has offered up to 300 U.S. special forces advisers to help the Iraqi government recapture territory but has held off granting a request for air strikes.

The fighting has threatened to tear the country apart for good, reducing Iraq to separate Sunni, Shi'ite and ethnic Kurdish regions. It has highlighted divisions among regional powers, especially Iran, which has said it would not hesitate to protect Shi'ite shrines in Iraq if asked, and Sunni Saudi Arabia, which has warned Iran to stay out of Iraq.

Iraq's Kurds have meanwhile expanded their territory in the northeast, including the long-prized oil city of Kirkuk.

The government has mobilised Shi'ite militias and regular citizens to fight on the frontlines and defend the capital - thousands of fighters in military fatigues marched in a Shi'ite slum of the capital Baghdad on Saturday.