WSJ : Pfizer Walks Away From AstraZeneca Deal

Pfizer Walks Away From AstraZeneca Deal Pfizer Had Proposed $120 Billion Tie-Up of Pharmaceutical Firms Pfizer Inc. PFE -0.57% on Monday officially walked away from its offer to purchase AstraZeneca AZN.LN +1.06% for $120 billion, putting an end to a monthlong pursuit that would have tied up the trans-Atlantic pharmaceutical giants.

In a statement, Pfizer said it doesn't intend to make another offer for AstraZeneca.

"We continue to believe that our final proposal was compelling and represented full value for AstraZeneca based on the information that was available to us," said Ian Read, chairman and chief executive of Pfizer.

The decision to move on from Pfizer comes slightly more than a week after Pfizer made a final offer for AstraZeneca valued at roughly $120 billion, or £55 ($92.48) a share with a 45% cash component. The latest offer of £55 was above Pfizer's initial £53.50 offer, but below the £58.85 a share AstraZeneca had said would be needed to secure the board's recommendation.

That increased offer, which came four weeks from the confirmation of Pfizer's first offer, was promptly rejected by AstraZeneca. Even so, U.K. takeover rules gave the firms until Monday to enter takeover discussions.

The views of AstraZeneca shareholders are polarized with some saying AstraZeneca can deliver better value through investing in and delivering its own pipeline of cancer, respiratory and diabetes drugs. Others say the 7% difference between the rejected £55-a-share offer and the £58.85 AstraZeneca publicly cited as its lower limit for considering a deal should have been the basis for at least discussions between the companies.

Some large investors, including Aberdeen Asset Management PLC and Investor AB, previously voiced public support for the AstraZeneca board. Aberdeen Chief Investment Officer Anne Richards said last week that the latest offer "certainly wasn't a knockout," and cited risks such as the potential for takeovers to disrupt research and development.

Both companies are grappling with aging portfolios and losing billions of dollars in sales to generic competition. Each company posted a 6% drop in sales last year. Pfizer's sales fell to $51.6 billion, while AstraZeneca's dropped to $25.7 billion.

(BFW) Kering’s Pinault to Move to London, Wansquare Says...

 BN 05/26 12:58 *KERING'S PINAULT TO MOVE TO LONDON, WANSQUARE SAYS
Kering’s Pinault to Move to London, Wansquare Says
2014-05-26 13:00:53.502 GMT


By David Whitehouse
     May 26 (Bloomberg) -- Pinault will remain a fiscal resident
of France, Wansquare says, citing information gathered in the
UK.
  * Pinault will move to London to help further the career of
    Salma Hayek, Wansquare says.

Link to Company News:{KER 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

(BFW) *BULL SHAREHOLDER ORANGE SAYS WILL EXAMINE ATOS OFFER...

 BN 05/26 08:43 *ORANGE SPOKESMAN SEBASTIEN AUDRA COMMENTS BY PHONE
 BN 05/26 08:43 *BULL SHAREHOLDER ORANGE SAYS TO `DEFINE POSITION' ON ATOS OFFER
 BN 05/26 08:42 *BULL SHAREHOLDER ORANGE SAYS WILL EXAMINE ATOS OFFER
 BN 05/26 08:42 *BULL SHAREHOLDER ORANGE SAYS ATOS OFFER IS `CONSTRUCTIVE'
*BULL SHAREHOLDER ORANGE SAYS WILL EXAMINE ATOS OFFER
2014-05-26 08:45:24.149 GMT

--BENJAMIN DOW

-0- May/26/2014 08:45 GMT

>>> What to look at today : 26/05/2014


US Market closed today, Election in Ukraine & Victory of Poroshenko should cool down the situation as he's looking for more tied with Europe and improved realtions with Russia...Asia higher with Nikkei +0.64% HS-0.10% Shanghai+0.25%...European Election should weakened sentiment in Europe but should not move the market.

Eur$ 1.3621 S&P Fut +0.07% European Fut +0.44%

Macro
- EU Has Three-Stage Sanctions Plan Against Russia: Handelsblatt
- Russia Ready for Ukraine Gas Discounts, Novak Tells Handelsblatt

Keep an eye on : (More news in the Week end Edition sent yesterday)
- AB1 GY : Air Berlin could be split into two units
- ALO FP : Hollande to meet GE CEO on the 28th, Nuclear arm will be keep in France, Siemens offer for ALO yet to be set
- ALPH SW : Alpiq to Sell Non-Strategic Share in Swissgrid
- ATO FP : Atos Bids EU4.90 a Share in Cash in Recommended Bid for Bull
- AUTO Sector : Ford chief Alan Mulally warns on European overcapacity
- BNP FP : BNP Paribas BNP's US banks not likely to face legal risk in probe of parent bank
- BULL FP : Atos Bids EU4.90 a Share in Cash in Recommended Bid for Bull
- BWO NO : BW Offshore 1Q Ebitda $113m vs $107m Q/q
- CBK GY : Commerzbank not to see German Government exit before 2016
- CU FP : France’s AMF Wants Bonomi Clarification on Club Med, Echos Says
- DSM NA : DSM to Hand Out Free Solar Cell Coating: Financieele Dagblad
- EDL FP : Euro Disney SCA Euro Disney, Pierre and Vacances enters into financing agreement
- GETIB SS : Getinge Postpones Investor Day Due to FDA Talks
- IHG LN : InterContinental Hotels Rejects Takeover Bid From U.S.
- LG FP : Lafarge CEO Confident of Timeline for Holcim Merger: Le Temps
- REP SM : Repsol to Pay Extraordinary EU1 P/Shr Dividend: Confidencial
- RNO FP : Renault-Nissan Studies New Project With Daimler’s Smart: Echos
- TEC FP : Technip Gets New LNG Plant Contract in China
- VIE FP : Veolia Seeks Partners to Benefit From German Nuclear Exit: WiWo

>>> Brokers Upgrade & Downgrade : 26/05/2014

>>> Up
*CREDIT SUISSE RAISED TO BUY AT DEUTSCHE BANK
*RED ELECTRICA RAISED TO BUY VS HOLD AT SOCGEN

>>> Down


>>> PT Change


>>> Initiation
*BRAVOFLY RUMBO RATED NEW NEUTRAL AT MEDIOBANCA; PT CHF49
*RECIPHARM INITIATED BUY AT SWEDBANK, PT SEK105
*SEPLAT RATED NEW BUY AT RENAISSANCE CAPITAL; PT 300P

>>> Call

>>> Air Berlin could be split into two units

Air Berlin could be split into two units – report (translated)
Story
Air Berlin, the listed German airline, could be split into two units, Handelsblatt reported. Without citing a specific source the report said the Air Berlin management is considering splitting the company into a division for tourist destinations and a division focused on the classic scheduled flight business. The German daily cited an article to be published in Focus magazine which claimed Air Berlin Senior Vice President Detlef Altmann told industry specialists that this option is being considered.


Source Handelsblatt

FT : Aviva chief warns on pensions insurance returns

Aviva chief warns on pensions insurance returns

Pedestrians walk past an Aviva logo outside the company's head office in the city of London March 5, 2009. British life insurer Aviva on Thursday said it was maintaining its dividend, soothing concerns the payout could be cut to conserve capital, and reported annual profits that broadly met forecasts. REUTERS/Stephen Hird (BRITAIN)©Reuters
The returns insurers can generate doing deals with corporate pension schemes are set to come under pressure, the head of Aviva has warned, undermining hopes the industry can offset a collapse in individual annuity sales with such transactions.
Mark Wilson, chief executive of the UK’s second-largest insurer by market capitalisation, has told investors it is “inevitable” profit margins on “bulk” annuities will decline because of mounting competition.
The FTSE 100 chief’s comments stand in contrast to the forecasts of some of his rivals and analysts, who believe corporate pensions insurance has become the industry’s most promising line of business following George Osborne’s Budget reforms.

The Chancellor has scrapped the effective requirement for defined contribution scheme members to buy an individual annuity.
Several companies have said they will deploy capital otherwise set aside for individual annuities to the bulk market, serving corporate defined benefit schemes, as a result.
Executives at other insurers including Legal & General have talked up the prospect of the big pension de-risking deals helping to compensate for an expected decline in the individual annuity market.
“I know some people in the market are saying that the margins aren’t going to decrease on bulks,” Mr Wilson said. “I disagree.”
Under “bulk” annuity deals, pension schemes transfer the risks that their members will live longer – or their investment returns will be weaker – than expected to insurers, in return for a fee.
The arrangements can be complex and difficult to price although consultants estimate they can produce returns on equity for the insurers involved of anything between 10 and 20 per cent.
Aviva had previously been among the UK’s largest writers of bulk annuities, striking a series of deals including a £350m transaction with Friends Provident.
However, the insurer scaled back from the market about two years ago as it underwent a restructuring following the departure of Andrew Moss, former chief executive.
The UK bulk annuity market is now dominated by two specialist companies – Pensions Insurance Corporation and Rothesay Life – and Aviva’s FTSE 100 rivals L&G and Prudential.
Aviva has continued to do deals with smaller pension schemes. In the past year it has done about 60, with a total liability value of £400m. Mr Wilson said Aviva’s appetite for “midsize” deals had increased because of the Budget.
“We’ll do it, but we’re very cognisant of the margins,” he added. “I think the margins will decrease, I think that’s inevitable.”
Clive Wellsteed, partner at pensions specialists LCP, said demand for the deals was also on the rise as pension schemes want to offload the liabilities. He added the additional capital insurers were planning to allocate to bulk deals would prevent prices from rising.
“Demand is increasing, but so is supply,” he said. “There’s more capital available to support larger business volumes.”

FT : Ford chief Alan Mulally warns on European overcapacity

Alan Mulally, chief executive of Ford, has warned that European carmakers need to cut back further the numbers of cars they can build as excess capacity on the continent remains at dangerous levels.
Idle production lines and underproductive factories have plunged almost all of Europe’s major carmakers into billion-dollar losses in recent years after annual sales on the continent fell by about 4m cars between 2007 and 2013.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Mulally said that the closure of a handful of European factories over the past year was not enough to bring capacity down to a sustainable level.
Car sales fell to a two-decade low in 2013 as losses from the continent dragged down global earnings for the world’s biggest carmakers. Although sales have risen in every month so far this year, Mr Mulally cautioned that the positive growth was masking deeper problems that needed to be fixed.
“It is not enough. I think that companies need to match their production to demand,” said Mr Mulally, who will step down as CEO on July 1. “If you do not match production to the real demand, it is going to be exacerbated on the way down, because then it all gets worse.”
Car sales in Europe rose 7.4 per cent during the first four months of this year, but analysts say that heavy levels of discounting are propping up sluggish real demand in a region with tepid economic growth, high unemployment and low consumer confidence.
Because of their high fixed costs, car factories need to be running at about 70 per cent of their designed capacity to be profitable.
“Is there still overcapacity? Yes. The extra factories are clearly making the industry uncompetitive in Europe,” said Stefano Aversa, managing director of consultancy AlixPartners. “For the volume manufacturers building in Europe, for Europe, utilisation is still too low, and they are suffering,” Mr Aversa added.
Ford, Europe’s second biggest selling car brand, lost $1.6bn in Europe last year, its third consecutive annual loss from the region. General Motors’ European division lost $844m last year and $1.9bn in 2012.
Ford, which has announced the closure of two factories over the past two years, is “fully on track” to meet its target of being profitable in Europe next year, Mr Mulally added, ahead of US rivals GM and Fiat-Chrysler.
Carmakers, particularly national champions such as France’s Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroën and Italy’s Fiat, have come under significant pressure from governments not to close factories because of their high number of employees. The automotive industry employs 3m people in the EU, according to industry trade body ACEA, equivalent to 5.3 per cent of all jobs in the trading block.

(Les Echos) Oil at the edge of a wave of M & A

Oil at the edge of a wave of M & A

The low valuations in the oil sector fusionsacquisitions promote movement among independent companies.

The oil industry is no exception to the general recovery of mergers and acquisitions. The movement began in mid-April when Glencore took control of Caracal Energy for $ 1.5 billion, is the largest acquisition of an independent oil company for a year. He then accelerated with the announcement of the merger between Australian companies Roc Oil and Horizon Oil and OPA fund Qatari Al Mirqab on Heritage Oil for $ 1.55 billion. The stock momentum is favorable and returned to independent oil companies. The industry has realized an undervaluation of assets. Indeed, valuation levels fell to less than $ 6 per barrel on independent 3P listed in London, the lowest in five years should raise the appetite of large companies, which often struggle to grow so organic and have to deal with discovery costs that arise between $ 7 to $ 8 a barrel, or about 40% above these valuation levels.
It is difficult to predict the operations of M & A, but we believe that among European integrated RD Shell, BP and Total are potential buyers. And among the targets, we think Ophir Energy, Africa Oil, Cobalt International Energy and Tullow Oil. RD Shell could look at Ophir Energy due to its exposure to gas in East Africa. The acquisition by Africa Oil Total much sense as it would make a natural expansion of assets in Uganda to Kenya, which could allow Total to optimize its development in the region and reduce costs . Moreover, such an operation to provide a total potential at significant exploration.

Sandrine Cauvin manager at Turgot AM

(LEs Echos) Club Med: Andrea Bonomi told to clarify its game

Club Med: Andrea Bonomi told to clarify its game

Link to translation : {http://bit.ly/1r7TBmq}
Link to French Article :{http://bit.ly/1k89a3G}

Faced with the debut of the businessman, the AMF has extended the deadline to June 6 OPA Gaillon Invest and calls for clarification.

The time has come to clarify the Italian businessman Andrea Bonomi which maintains the suspense about his intentions for two weeks. Now become the largest shareholder of Club Med (10%), it has so far 18 hours to know if he intends to launch a cons-offer against that of Fosun-Ardian. In this context, the AMF preferred for another two weeks due to the takeover of Gaillon Invest (the investment vehicle of the Sino-French tandem) from May 23 to June 6 A priori, the founder of Investindustrial remains determined to thwart the takeover Gaillon Invest (17.50 euros per share), which he considers the price undervalued, saying ready to ride 29 9%, the threshold for triggering a mandatory takeover bid. But it remains unclear about its intentions in case of failure proved supply Sino-French.
"Strategic Holdings does not intend to take control of Club Med or submit a bid on the securities of the company, such a transaction not subject to its current investment strategy, "said the company Andrea Bonomi, in a first "development" published on Friday, adding that "what happens after the offer will depend on the circumstances then prevailing." But the AMF called for further clarification by asking the Luxembourg company "and any person acting in concert with it" to clarify their intentions. Clearly, the stock Constable intends to ensure that it relinquishes to initiate, directly or indirectly, an alternative offer , which forbid him to do so for a period of six months. Strategic Holdings should provide an answer on this subject today. In its development of 23 May, Andrea Bonomi no secret that "some investment funds managed by companies ("Investindustrial Private Equity ") indirectly controlled by BI-Invest Holdings could review the situation arising, especially if the Club Med shareholder situation was unstable and the company proved better positioned becoming private. " Clearly, the galaxy Bonomi reserves the right to reconsider its position through Investindustrial. The distinction is important because BI-Invest, the holding company of the Bonomi family, says exercise no direct control over the galaxy Investindustrial, which he chairs, and management.
"A great confusion"
"By creating a great confusion, Andrea Bonomi looking to make a creeping takeover at lower prices, "says Will you side Gaillon, deploring its" permanent ambiguity. " But the Italian side, it does not preclude a "more ambitious project," Andrea Bonomi has not hidden his recently growing interest in tourism.
For its part, Gaillon Invest has been dismissed on Friday its request for interim relief before the Commercial Court of Paris to force Benetton (family Edizione Holding ) to sell its shares to the offer under a commitment " irrevocable "subscribed in June 2013. Noting that Benetton has never qualified its irrevocable position, the court dismissed the application for interim relief Gaillon. The tussle over the future of the Club is not finished.