>>> Alstom board thinks Siemens/MHI proposal is too complex compared to GE's bid

Alstom board thinks Siemens/MHI proposal is too complex compared to GE's bid

Alstom’s board’s initial thoughts on the bid from Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) are that the proposal is too complex compared with General Electric’s (GE) bid, Financial Times reported.

The newspaper cited people close to Alstom for the claim, which appeared in a longer item about attempts by Siemens and MHI to persuade the French government and Alstom’s board that their bid for the French engineering company's energy assets is a better offer than the EUR 12.35bn bid from GE.

Alstom’s board also has concerns about breaking the company up, the article added.

Siemens CEO, Joe Kaeser and his counterpart at Mitsubishi, Shunichi Miyanaga said that their offer for Alstom's energy assets represents a valuation of EUR 14.2bn, the item noted. Kaeser and Miyanaga held meetings with the French President Francois Hollande and French unions yesterday morning, 17 June, the article reported.

The two CEOs made a commitment to provide 1,000 apprenticeships to French workers yesterday, having already committed to creating an additional 1,000 jobs on Monday, according to the report.

The French government indicated yesterday that both sets of suitors need to improve their offers, the article said, citing a government spokesperson.


Source Financial Times

NY Post : Spectrum purchases could keep T-Mobile afloat if merger fails

T-Mobile CEO John Legere is making contingency plans in case a long-rumored takeover offer from Sprint falls through, The Post has learned.
The nation’s fourth-largest wireless carrier is offering to buy valuable spectrum from smaller rivals even though Legere might have to resell some of those same airwaves if a merger with Sprint passes regulatory muster, said a source familiar with the situation.
“Buying spectrum would add to the potential divestitures resulting from the combination,” the source said.
Nevertheless, T-Mobile has delivered proposals to several carriers offering to buy their so-called low-band spectrum — the key to urban markets like New York City because it penetrates buildings better than the high-band variety.
In April, T-Mobile completed a $3.3 billion purchase of low-band spectrum from Verizon. Before then, T-Mobile was the only major wireless provider without such spectrum.
The swath of 700 megahertz A-band spectrum covers about half the country, and T-Mobile could start filling in the rest of its footprint, sources said. Most of the other 700 MHz A-band spectrum is spread among about 30 smaller carriers, including US Cellular and Paul Allen’s Vulcan.
“It could be trying to push for this spectrum now before reaching the Sprint deal,” the source said.
Sprint parent SoftBank is expected to make a formal bid for T-Mobile in July or August and reportedly has agreed to a $2 billion breakup fee if antitrust regulators nix the combo.
T-Mobile has been at a huge competitive disadvantage not owning low-band spectrum and needs to act independently as if there were not going to be a merger, said one source.

(BFW) Casino’s CNova May Add EU10 to Shr Price, Bernstein Says

Casino’s CNova May Add EU10 to Shr Price, Bernstein Says
2014-06-18 07:13:37.8 GMT


By Heather Burke
     June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Casino’s CNova online non-food unit
may be worth EU3.7b, Bernstein says; reiterates outperform,
raises PT 15% to EU115 (~22% upside to yday’s close).
  * Stock up 28% since Feb. on FX, better emerging mkts, CNova
    IPO news; shrs haven’t hit peak: Bernstein
    * Sees CNova sales rising to EU5.6b in 2018 from EU2.9b in
      2013 from higher market place sales in Brazil, France,
      new areas such as Thailand, Colombia
    * CNova may add EU10/shr to Casino shr price
  * Next catalyst: 2Q sales July 15
  * NOTE June 4: MORE: Casino, CBD, Via Varejo, Exito Approve
    Terms for Cnova


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

To contact the reporter on this story:
Heather Burke in London at +44-20-7673-2044 or
hburke2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Ludden at +44-20-7673-2645 or
jludden@bloomberg.net

(BFW) *UNILEVER REITERATES 2014 SALES VOLUME, PROFIT MARGIN FORECASTS

 BN 06/18 07:07 *UNILEVER REITERATES 2014 SALES VOLUME, PROFIT MARGIN FORECASTS
 BN 06/18 07:05 *UNILEVER SAYS TOTAL SPREADS CATEGORY STILL NOT GROWING
 BN 06/18 07:05 *UNILEVER CFO HUET SPOKE TO INVESTORS IN PARIS
 BN 06/18 07:04 *UNILEVER SAYS IT IS GAINING MARKET SHARE IN SPREADS BUSINESS
 BN 06/18 06:38 *UNILEVER CFO HUET BEGINS INVESTOR PRESENTATION IN PARIS
*UNILEVER REITERATES 2014 SALES VOLUME, PROFIT MARGIN FORECASTS
2014-06-18 07:07:55.617 GMT

--JAMES LUDDEN

-0- Jun/18/2014 07:07 GMT

(BFW) Bois Sauvage Agrees to Sell 23.81% Stake in Codic International

 BN 06/18 06:46 *BOIS SAUVAGE SAYS SALE WOULD REDUCE EPS BY ABOUT EU9
 BN 06/18 06:44 *BOIS SAUVAGE AGREES TO SELL 23.81% STAKE IN CODIC INTERNATIONAL
Bois Sauvage Agrees to Sell 23.81% Stake in Codic International
2014-06-18 06:50:34.679 GMT


By Andrew Clapham
     June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Sale will reduce EPS by about EU9,
Bois Sauvage says in e-mailed statement.
  * Move is part of strategy to focus on limited number of
    strategic participations, Bois Sauvage says
  * Link to statement: http://tinyurl.com/pxhk4yf
Link to Company News:{COMB BB <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:
Andrew Clapham at +32-2-285-4302 or
aclapham@bloomberg.net

>>> Actelion not for sale; looking at acquisition candidates

Actelion not for sale; looking at acquisition candidates (translated)
Story 
Actelion, the listed Swiss biopharmaceutical company, is looking at acquisition candidates, the Finanz und Wirtschaft reported. 

The Swiss bi-weekly asked Actelion Chief Executive Jean-Paul Clozel if he was looking at Santhera Pharmaceuticals, to which Clozel said he was looking at all companies with innovative products but declined to reveal details.

Clozel also stated that Actelion itself was not for sale though.

The report noted that Actelion has almost CHF 1bn cash reserves.


Source Finanz und Wirtschaft

WSJ - Chinese Port's Missing-Metals Mystery Deepens

Chinese Port's Missing-Metals Mystery Deepens
Citic Resources Can't Locate Alumina at Qingdao, Amid Probe Into Commodities-Backed Loans

BEIJING—China's state-owned Citic Resources Holdings Ltd. 1205.HK +3.23% said about half of the alumina stockpiles it had stored at Qingdao Port couldn't be located, heightening concerns over the use of commodities for financing in the country.

Citic Resources, a mining company, said earlier this month that it had applied to courts in Qingdao, on China's eastern coast, to secure metals it owns in warehouses. Citic Resources' parent is Citic Group, one of China's largest state-owned companies and a big financial concern.

Citic Resources, in a statement released Wednesday to the Hong Kong stock exchange, said Qingdao courts couldn't locate 123,446 metric tons of alumina, a mineral used to produce aluminum. Citic Resources said it stored 223,270 tons of alumina and 7,486 tons of copper at the port that was awaiting delivery to buyers. The company said it would now conduct its own investigation into the missing commodities. At current market prices, the missing alumina is worth about $50 million.

Qingdao courts couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

The statement came as Western and Chinese lenders are looking into suspected fraud in China involving metals that were used as collateral. Banks have lent hundreds of millions of dollars to Chinese commodities traders in recent years, using commodities such as copper, iron ore and aluminum as collateral.

Western lenders say they are trying to determine whether metals stored at Qingdao Port as collateral against loans were illegally pledged by a Chinese trading firm to more than one lender to obtain multiple loans.

Qingdao Port International Co. 6198.HK -0.60% , which operates Qingdao Port, on June 6 said Chinese authorities were conducting a probe into metals stored at the port. Chinese authorities haven't publicly commented on the probe.

Western bankers complain that they still can't access the storage facilities at Qingdao to check on the collateral promised to them in return for loans. They say they have little clarity on when they will be allowed access. "The foreign banks are not invited to any party that is going on there," said one person familiar with the matter.

CITIC Missing Half Its Alumina, Seeks Legal Action As Qingdao Rehypothecation Sc

Copper, Iron Ore, Rebar, Rubber, and now Cotton are all at multi-year lows as the Qingdao CCFD ponzi probe continues to broaden to all the commodities we warned about previously. As CottonCN reports, the probe's increased uncertainty and scrutiny of shipments may hurt imports of of cotton in the form of consignment sales, as international traders delay shipments or deliveries to wait for clear policies as authorities continues their investigation. Even soybeans and palm oil have been on a notably downswing since the probe intothe collateral evaporation started. Then comes the news that Chinese commodities trading firm CITIC admission that over half of its 220,000 tonnes of alumina are missing. This is far from over...
Cotton has been sold down to 2010 lows as the probe widens...
Along with Iron Ore...
Rebar...
Copper...
Chinese commodities trader CITIC Resources Holding Ltd said on Wednesday that more than 100,000 tonnes of alumina stored at Qingdao port was missing, deepening fears that firms exposed to a metals financing scam at the port could face big losses.
...
"The company has been notified that in the enforcement of the sequestration orders obtained by the group, the Qingdao court has been unable to sequester about 123,446 MT (metric tonnes) of alumina which the group has stored at Qingdao port," the firm said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
CITIC Resources said it had title to 223,270 tonnes of alumina and 7,486 tonnes of copper stored at the port pending payment by and delivery to buyers.
CITIC said it did not have information on the current status of an investigation by Qingdao authorities and was not yet able to accurately assess the impact of the alleged fraud on the company.
...the copper "monetary metal" funding pathway is best known, and in fact we covered the inevitable end of the Chinese Copper Financing Deals in gruesome detail last May in "The Bronze Swan Arrives: Is The End Of Copper Financing China's "Lehman Event." What happened next was that despite repeated warnings by the PBOC and SAFE that it would end the hot money inflows masked by funding deals, China not only encouraged more CCFDs but aggressively expanded into other commodities, such as iron ore, and as we now learn, weird and wacky commodities such the abovementioned soybeans, palm oil, rubber, zinc, aluminum, gold and nickel. To be sure this was largely precipitated by the near collapse in the overnight lending market in June of 2013 when China's first and so far only real tapering attempt nearly destroyed the domestic financial system.
So what has changed since May, in addition to the realization that virtually every hard asset is now being used by China to mask hot money inflows into the Chinese economy taking advantage of rate differentials between the Renminbi and the Dollar? Well, this time around China may finally be serious about normalizing its epic credit bubble, which as we pointed out before, added a ridiculous $1 trillion in bank assets in just the fourth quarter of 2013 alone. Specifically, as Goldman notes in a just released analysts on the future of CCDS, "the recent managed CNY depreciation is a signal that the government wants to increase FX volatility and reduce the hot money inflow pressure gradually."
In other words, the day when the Commodity Funding Deals finally end is fast approaching.
And in this context, an unwind of Chinese commodity financing deals would likely result in an increase in availability of physical inventory (physical selling), and an increase in futures buying (buying back the hedge) – thereby resulting in a lower physical price than futures price, as well as resulting in a lower overall price curve (or full carry) (Exhibit 11).
Simply put - all that exuberance based on the high prices of industrial (and non-industrial) commodities was misplaced... shadowy credit expansion and what we now know as ponzi financing merely provided a mirage of demand that hid the true nature of the economy... unfortunatley that mirage sent signals to the world that everything was hunky dory and mal-investment and speculation followed. We are sure, however, that this will all end calmly as investors line up in an orderly fashion and leave the burning theater.
And just in case you thought the rule of law would help...
"[Citic Resources] will conduct its own investigation to ascertain why the court has been unable to enforce its sequestration order in respect of all of the group’s alumina..." said in the statement.
The company will also consider “legal proceedings if necessary”.
This is the first time any firm has actually admitted its missing commodities... let the
orderly
selling/scramble for collateral begin...