have a look quick chart.
Holcim and Lafarge outline cement merger deal
An employee arranges cement bags at Switzerland's Holcim cement production plant in Siggenthal August 19, 2008. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann (SWITZERLAND) - RTR21EF5©Reuters
Holcim and Lafarge, the world’s largest cement makers, set out their proposed €39bn merger on Monday, raising the prospect of a swath of takeover activity across the building materials industry.
Revealing details of a deal styled a “merger of equals”, the partners said Holcim of Switzerland would take over Lafarge of France, offering one Holcim share for one Lafarge share, to create a global cement giant with combined sales of €39bn and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of €6.5bn.
Shares in Lafarge rose 4 per cent, the top gainer on France’s blue-chip CAC 40 index, while shares in Holcim were up 5.4 per cent in early morning trading.
The merger, under discussion since January, is set to trigger a wave of disposals worldwide and competition issues in at least 13 countries, ranging from Madagascar to France, Spain and the Czech Republic.
Ian Osburn, analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, declared the sector “open” for mergers and acquisitions. “This is normally the most attractive time to do it at the start of the upswing and some of the other global majors may be feeling in a weakened position trying to compete with a combined Lafarge/Holcim,” he said.
Potential deals could involve Dangote Cement in Nigeria, Votorantim in Brazil or Vulcan Materials, analysts said.
Both partners said they expect the divestment programme to be completed by the time the deal closes in the first half of 2015, with two-thirds of the sales in Europe, where there is significant overcapacity in the cement market.
“We have had strong signals of interest of different kinds, although we could not yet open specific negotiations,” Rolf Soiron, the outgoing Holcim chairman, told the Financial Times. “The interest is more than hope.” He added that they were targeting asset sales of 10-15 per cent of ebitda and had already opened discussions with the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU.
Bruno Lafont, chief executive of Lafarge, will take up the same role in the combined group, while Holcim’s chairman designate Wolfgang Reitzle, will become group chairman.
Management said the move was not defensive but a side effect is likely to be accelerated margin recovery on cost savings. “When margins and cash flows are booming large mergers rarely look good compared to other growth investment but management and major shareholders are clearly impatient for improvement,” said Mr Osburn.
The global cement market is already heavily consolidated with four top cement producers – Holcim, the largest, with total sales of $22bn; followed by Lafarge, with sales of $20.8bn; HeidelbergCement of Germany, at about $18bn; and Mexico’s Cemex with $15.2bn. All have faced a series of competition investigations worldwide, including an investigation by the European Commission for cartel behaviour and price-fixing since 2008.
Christian Stadler, associate professor of strategic management at Warwick Business School, said there were question marks as to whether a merger on this scale will work. “There are lots of examples of megamergers destroying value rather than enhancing it,” he said. “A prime example comes from the car industry when Daimler and Chrysler merged, both companies lost billions of pounds before they agreed to part again. When BP merged with Amoco in 1998 they had many problems in terms of increased complexity and duplications, it certainly affected BP’s performance for a long time.”
Mr Lafont said the merger had been discussed with France’s Socialist government, which is highly sensitive to industrial mergers that could result in redundancies. He said the group’s research centre would be in France and “we are not talking about plant closures”, adding there would be a “very limited impact on employment”.
The new LafargeHolcim would be listed on the Six exchange in Zurich and Euronext Paris, with its domicile in Switzerland. Each company will have seven representatives on the board of the merged group. The merger was signed off by the boards of both companies over the weekend.
G20 reportedly intends to seek stronger economic reforms to push for growth at the upcoming meeting beginning Thursday - press
- need more reforms of labor markets, trade and investment
- Stronger reforms seek to push to get growth higher by an additional 2% over 5 years
- Stronger reforms seek to push to get growth higher by an additional 2% over 5 years
Link to Google Translation :{http://bit.ly/1qe4tJH}
Link to original article : {http://bit.ly/1oGJGD7}
Intervention Cœuré Benedict, a member of the ECB Executive Board,
Alexandrine Bouilhet, Le Figaro, done April 4, 2014
Le Figaro:-The rise of financial markets is not it disconnected from economic reality?
Benoit Coeuré: Markets anticipate an economic recovery. This is a good sign, and we think they are right! This is not a bad thing to anticipate a recovery! At the ECB we believe that recovery is already there, but we know gradual and fragile and therefore we want to accompany it with even lower low interest rates over an extended period.
This increase does not she already makes bubbles?
Not in euro area, from our point of view. But in a period of very low interest rates, vigilance is required. If this risk materializes, supervisory authorities of the Member States have new instruments called "macroprudential", not to mention other macroeconomic measures.
The ECB is she really ready to move into quantitative easing (QE)?
Yes, there is unanimity in the Council of Governors to be prepared to use unconventional instruments, including this one, if the current period of low inflation extends more than expected. Today, it does not seem necessary, since the low level of inflation is due to temporary factors and we believe part to recovery: inflation should rise. But we will continue to monitor developments very closely and act if necessary.
What QE does it help the recovery of the credit?
This is the question! Although the QE means more liquidity in the banks' balance sheets, it is not sure that it creates credit. The ECB can not substitute for bank rehabilitation. Review of bank balance sheets that we conduct in 2014 will help. QE in Europe would necessarily be different from what is practiced in the United States.
In talking, Mario Draghi has lowered the euro. Why?
Market participants have now understood that the exchange rate is not an objective of monetary policy, but it is nonetheless an important variable in our decision, as it influences the evolution of prices . In times of low inflation, the effects of movements in exchange rates are subject to careful monitoring.
What would it take for the euro fell more?
If the euro is at this level against the dollar, it is also because the euro area recorded a surplus of its large current account - [note: 286 billion euros planned in 2014] - and is growing. This is new. Before, the current account of the euro area was rather balanced. This is because Germany, for example, exports too, as we hear sometimes, but because domestic demand in the euro area is depressed. From this point of view, the best response is to support domestic demand by investing, and it is also a way to prepare for the future of Europe! But these issues are beyond the exchange rate only European framework.
At $ 1.37, the euro is overvalued it not for France?
France is in a particular situation in the euro zone because it is the only country in the region to have a current deficit as important today - [note: 36 billion euros in 2013] -. Response through increased competitiveness, as provided by the Government.
France requested a new deadline for its deficits: Does the risk of sanction markets?
Expectations of Europe against France are strong, because it is the second largest economy in the euro area. The eurozone needs a strong France. France also has a responsibility to make credible economic government of the euro area it called for and gradually put in place. This provides governance objectives nominal and structural deficits. As recalled by the European Commission, France has already benefited twice deferred. It must meet its commitments. It is a question of credibility and trust.
France can do without the euro?
Without the European Union without the euro, France is an average power vulnerable because indebted and with declining productivity. The euro and Europe in France offer a protection that allows it to remain master of its destiny by managing her own reform process.
ECB's Coeure: ECB is prepared to use unconventional measures - France press
Important levels have been broken on Friday - Keep an eye on it , could be one of the resaon why we should continue to see Europe Outperforming US on the next few days...
Long Europe Stocks vs Short US Index...
{SX5E Index SPX Index GRT D<GO>} already 5% Outperformance since mid March
{SX5E Index NDX Index GRT D <GO>} already 10% Outperfrmance since Mid March
Japan's GPIF (world's largest pension fund) expects downside risks to JGB investments; positive on PE and infrastructure invesmtents assuming domestic debt levels come down
**Reminder: Last November, the GPIF advisory panel issued a report calling on the fund to review the domestic bond-focused portfolio and diversify investments. On March 5th, the advisory panel said the GPIF no longer needed to focus on domestic bonds in portfolio allocations as Japan emerges from deflation.
Facebook: Key takeaways from the AdAge Digital 2014 Conference - CRT Capital
CRT attended the Ad Age Digital Conference last week and have a positive takeaway for FB vis a vis Instagram. Instagram now has 200mm users and they are starting to use advertising products -- they are working with large brands to make sure that the ads are native to both users and the site. CRT thinks that these products could add $2-3bn in incremental revenues over the next few years which would be very positive for FB shares.
Gapping down
China internet/tech related names lower following weakness overseas in tech sector: YOKU -2.6%, QIHU -1.9%, WUBA -1.5%, YY -1.4%, BIDU -0.9% (BIDU for CTRP speculation).
Other news: MNKD -19.9% (updates status of New Drug Application for AFREZZA), PFE -2.4% (novel CDK 4/6 inhibitor palbociclib plus Letrozole significantly prolonged progression-free survival in patients with advanced breast cancer ), DDD -2.4% / SSYS -2.3% (may be attributed to cautious 3D printing WSJ story), MA -1.6% (still checking), TSLA -1.5% (will receive fewer California environmental credits for Model S, according to reports out Friday afternoon), ENB -1.4% ( is currently planning on re-exporting Canadian oil, according to reports), FB -1% (still checking for anything specific), GOOG -0.9% ( files mixed securities shelf offering; plans to introduce Android TV, according to reports), AMZN -0.9% (launched Amazon Dash for grocery delivery), VZ -0.9% (Cincinnati Bell to sell wireless spectrum licenses to Verizon Wireless ), ATVI -0.7% (files for ~41.5 mln share common stock offering by selling shareholders), GTAT -0.6% (announces $58.6 mln Specialty Furnace orders this Q ), GSK -0.3% (investigating bribery in Iraq, according to reports).
Analyst comments: CNVR -3% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman), MAT -2.3% (downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital), STO -2.2% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman), AEO -2.2% (downgraded to Underperform from Mkt Perform at Cowen )
Ctrip.com (+3%) is modestly higher in the premarket on apparent speculation out of China that Baidu (BIDU) may be interested in the company
----- Original Message -----
From: LAURENT CHEKROUN ()
To: LAURENT CHEKROUN ()
At: Apr 6 2014 23:21:50
From: LAURENT CHEKROUN ()
To: LAURENT CHEKROUN ()
At: Apr 6 2014 23:21:50
Ctrip.com International, Ltd. Hearing rumors Baidu to fully acquire Ctrip.com; Baidu said to integrate Ctrip.com and Qunar.com after acquisition - Chinese press- Ctrip is the largest online travel agency in China.- Ctrip and Qunar currently receive large volume of orders through Baidu.- Earlier in 2014, there were rumors that Alibaba could invest in Ctrip.