WSJ : Spotify Raises $250 Million, Valued Above $4 Billion

Spotify Raises $250 Million, Valued Above $4 Billion

Daniel Ek, chief executive officer of Spotify, speaks at a news conference in New York in 2011. Bloomberg News

Swedish music-streaming company Spotify AB has secured nearly $250 million in new financing led by Silicon Valley firm Technology Crossover Ventures, valuing the company somewhere "north" of $4 billion dollars, according to multiple people familiar with the deal.

The latest round of funding comes as Spotify is looking to fuel its global growth strategy. While already established in many Western markets, including the U.S., Spotify is aiming to launch its service in some of the world's highest-potential destinations for streaming music, including Japan.

Spotify competes with U.S.-based streaming music services, such as Pandora Media Inc., P +4.04% as well as bigger content providers like Apple Inc. Paris-based Deezer is among the Spotify's competitors in Europe.

The company's revenue has boomed in recent years, more than doubling in 2012 to €434.7 million. Spotify's losses have also widened amid expensive licensing agreements and hefty costs related to expansion into a bevy of new markets.

A year ago, for instance, Spotify was in 17 countries, and now it is available in 32 markets. Spotify has also done deals with 25 telecom operators world-wide.

In a recent interview, Spotify Chief Executive and co-founder Daniel Ek said his company is converting a relatively large number of people who try the service free into actual paying customers. The company has also widened the gap between the revenue it pulls in and the royalties it pays to record labels, artists and publishers.

With Technology Crossover Ventures, Spotify will also add an investor familiar with the content licensing business. The investment firm purchased $200 million in convertible bonds from Netflix Inc. NFLX +2.28% about two years ago, at a time when the video content company was shedding subscribers. Since the deal was struck in late November 2011, the stock has more than quadrupled.

TCV has in the past also invested in real estate website Zillow Inc., Z +1.81% Facebook Inc. FB +1.18% and GoDaddy Group Inc.

Officials with both Spotify and TCV declined to comment.

Spotify last year raised more than $100 million from multiple investors at a valuation of slightly more than $3 billion. In 2011, the company raised $100 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Russian investment firm DST Global, at a $1 billion valuation.

Pandora is currently valued at about $5.7 billion. Its stock recently rose 3.8% to $29.53.

Spotify is privately held, and Mr. Ek said in August that at some point investors will likely want to get their money back, potentially through an initial public offering. "If we think that the goal is better aligned by going public, sure we'll contemplate it," he said. "But it's not something I spend any waking time thinking about."

(BFW) TUI Travel Shrs. Said Offered at 365-375 Pence Each in Bookbuild

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TUI Travel Shrs. Said Offered at 365-375 Pence Each in Bookbuild 2013-11-21 17:35:08.82 GMT

By Ruth David Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Shr. sale started today, may close any time, person familiar with the matter says. * Monteray selling 60.1m shrs. in TUI Travel to institutional investors, according to statement * TT@LN gains 0.3% to 389.3 pence today

Link to Company News:{TT/ LN <Equity> CN <GO>}

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

To contact the reporter on this story: Ruth David in London at +44-20-3525-8095 or rdavid9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at +44-20-3525-7032 or cvannucci1@bloomberg.net

(BFW) *CREDIT AGRICOLE TO SELL 3.2M EURAZEO SHARES IN PLACEMENT

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BN 11/21 16:43 *CREDIT AGRICOLE SAYS BONDS WILL HAVE 3-YEAR MATURITY BN 11/21 16:43 *CREDIT AGRICOLE SAYS BONDS EXCHANGEABLE FOR 5.1M EURAZEO SHARES BFW 11/21 16:42 *CREDIT AGRICOLE TO SELL 3.2M EURAZEO SHARES IN PLACEMENT BN 11/21 16:42 *CREDIT AGRICOLE TO SELL BONDS EXCHANGEABLE FOR EURAZEO SHARES BN 11/21 16:41 *CREDIT AGRICOLE TO SELL 3.2 MLN EURAZEO SHARES IN PLACEMENT BN 11/21 16:41 *CREDIT AGRICOLE TO SELL 3.2 MLN EURAZEO SHARES

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CREDIT AGRICOLE SA: CREDIT AGRICOLE SA announces the launch of a combined placement of Eurazeo shares and zero coupon bonds 2013-11-21 16:40:03.622 GMT

CREDIT AGRICOLE SA: CREDIT AGRICOLE SA announces the launch of a combined placement of Eurazeo shares and zero coupon bonds exchangeable for Eurazeo shares.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, OR JAPAN.

This press release may not be distributed, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America. It does not constitute an offer to purchase or to subscribe in the United States of America.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or to subscribe the Eurazeo shares or the Bonds (as defined below) in the United States of America. Neither the Eurazeo shares nor the Bonds referred to in this press release may be offered or sold in the United States of America unless they are registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or they are exempt from such registration requirements. Crédit Agricole S.A. does not intend to register all or any portion of the offering of the Eurazeo shares or the Bonds in the United Statesof America or to conduct a public offering of the Eurazeo shares or the Bonds in the United Statesof America.

Press release

Placement of a minimum of 3,200,000Eurazeo shares and Issue of zero coupon bonds due 2016 exchangeable for a maximum of 5,084,582 Eurazeo shares

Paris, November 21, 2013 - Under its balance sheet optimization policy, Crédit Agricole S.A., which holds approximately 18.25 % of the share capital of Eurazeo, announces the combined launch of a placement of Eurazeo shares and an issue of zero coupon bonds exchangeable for Eurazeo shares, together relating to an initial number of approximately 8.3 million Eurazeo shares.

The placement of an initial number of 3,200,000 Eurazeo shares (the "Shares") will be carried out by way of a private placement through an accelerated bookbuilding process (the "Share Placement").

An offering by Crédit Agricole S.A. (the "Issuer") of zero coupon bonds exchangeable for existing shares of Eurazeo due 2016 (the "Bonds") will be carried out by way of a private placement through an accelerated bookbuilding process (the "Bond Issue").

The underlying shares of the Bond Issue represent a maximum of 5,084,582 existing shares of Eurazeo (including the over-allotment option granted to the Joint Bookrunners representing approximately 15 % of the initial size of the Bond Issue).

The nominal value of each Bond will correspond to a premium of 22 % compared to the sale price of the Shares under the Share Placement.

The Bonds will not bear interest (zero coupon) and will have a 3-year maturity (except in case of an early redemption). They will be redeemed at par at maturity (except in case of an early redemption), subject to the Issuer's option to deliver existing shares of Eurazeo and an additional amount in cash.

The Bonds will be issued at a price comprised between 100 % and 103 % of their nominal value, corresponding to a gross yield to maturity comprised between -0.98 % and 0 %.

Bondholders may exercise their right to exchange their Bonds for Eurazeo shares at a ratio of one Eurazeo share per Bond, subject to any subsequent adjustments, in particular relating to transactions affecting Eurazeo's share capital, and subject to the Issuer's option to pay in cash all or part of the value of the Eurazeo shares instead of delivering such shares.

The proceeds of the Share Placement and the Bond Issue will be used for general funding purposes of  Crédit Agricole S.A. group.

The Share Placement and the Bond Issue are managed by Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank as sole Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner and Goldman Sachs International as Joint Bookrunner (together, the "Joint Bookrunners").

The Shares and the Bonds are being offered exclusively by way of a private placement in France and outside France, with the exception of the United States of America, Canada, Australia and Japan.

Settlement for the Share offering will take place three trading days after the determination of the price of the Share Placement.

Settlement for the Bond offering is expected to take place on 6 December 2013. An application will be made for the admission of the Bonds to trading on the Euro MTF market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

Crédit Agricole S.A. has entered into a lock up agreement relating to the shares of Eurazeo that it will continue to hold following the closing of the Share Placement, for a period of 90 calendar days, subject to certain customary exceptions including the consent of the Joint Bookrunners.

Press Relations Investors Relations  +33 (0) 1 43 23 04 31 Anne-Sophie Gentil  +33 (0)1 43 23 37 51 Denis Kleiber  +33 (0)1 43 23 26 78 Louise Tingström  +44 7899 066995 Nathalie Auzenat  +33 (0)1 57 72 37 81 Sébastien Chavane  +33 (0)1 57 72 23 46 Fabienne Heureux  +33 (0)1 43 23 06 38 Aleth Degrand +33 (0)1 43 23 23 81 Marie-Agnès Huguenin  +33 (0)1 43 23 15 99 Laurence Gascon  +33 (0)1 57 72 38  63 Aurélie Marboeuf + 33 (0)1 57 72 38 05

Disclaimer

This press release may not be distributed, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or to subscribe the Eurazeo shares (as defined above) or the Bonds (as defined above) in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, or Japan.

No communication or information relating to the Share Placement (as defined above) and/or the Bond Issue (as defined above) may be distributed to the public in a country where a registration obligation or an approval is required. No action has been or will be taken in any country where such action would be required. The Placement and the Bond Issue may be subject to specific legal and regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions; Crédit Agricole S.A. accepts no liability in connection with a breach by any person of such restrictions.

This press release does not constitute an advertisement or a prospectus within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive (as defined hereinafter).

This press release does not, and shall not, in any circumstances, constitute an offer to the public of the Eurazeo shares and/or the Bonds by Crédit Agricole S.A. noran invitation to the public in connection with any offerin any jurisdiction, including France.

European Economic Area

With respect to the Member States of the European Economic Area (the "Member States") which have implemented the Prospectus Directive, no action has been undertaken and will be undertaken to make an offer to the public of the Eurazeo shares and/or the Bonds requiring a publication of a prospectus in any Member State. As a result, the Eurazeo shares and/or the Bonds may only be offered in Member States:

 a. to qualified investors, as defined in the Prospectus Directive; or 

 b. to fewer than 100 or, if the relevant Member State has implemented the relevant provision of the 2010 PD Amending Directive, 150, natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive) by relevant Member State; or 

 c. in circumstances falling within Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive; 

and provided that no such offer of Bonds referred to in (a) to (c) above shall require Crédit Agricole S.A. or the Joint Bookrunners to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive, or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 16 of the Prospectus Directive.

For the purposes of this paragraph, as defined in the Prospectus Directive (i) the expression an "offer to the public of the Eurazeo shares and/or the Bonds" in a relevant Member State, which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (as defined below), means any communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer of the Eurazeo shares and/or the Bonds and on the Bondsto be offered, so as to enable an investor to decide, as the case may be, to purchase the Eurazeo shares or to purchase or subscribe the Bonds, as the same may be varied in that Member State, (ii) the expression "Prospectus Directive" means Directive 2003/71/EC (and amendments thereto, including the 2010 PD Amending Directive, to the extent implemented in the relevant Member State), and includes any relevant implementing measure in the relevant Member State and (iii) the expression "2010 PD Amending Directive" means Directive 2010/73/EU and includes any relevant implementing measure in the relevant Member State.

France

The Eurazeo shares and the Bonds have not been and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France. The Eurazeo shares and the Bonds will be offered or sold in France only to (x) persons providing investment services relating to portfolio management for the account of third parties (personnes fournissant le service d'investissement de gestion de portefeuille pour compte de tiers), and/or (y) qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) acting for their own account, and/or (z) to a restricted circle of investors (cercle restreint d'investisseurs), with the meanings ascribed to them in, and in accordance with, Articles L. 411-1, L. 411-2, D. 411-1 and D.411-4 of the French Code monétaire et financier and applicable regulations thereunder.

United Kingdom

This press release is only directed at (i) persons who are not located in the United Kingdom, (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order"); (iii) persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) (high net worth entities, non-incorporated associations, etc.) of the Order, or (iv) persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the "FSMA")) in connection with the offer to purchase the Eurazeo shares and/or issue or sale of the Bonds and, if any, the Eurazeo underlying shares (together being referred to as the "Securities"), may otherwise lawfully be communicated (all such persons mentioned in paragraphs (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) above, together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). The Securities are only available to Relevant Persons, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such Securities will be addressed or concluded only with Relevant Persons. Any person that is not a Relevant Person must abstain from using or relying on this press release and the information contained therein.

This press release does not constitute a prospectus and has not been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority or by another United Kingdom regulatory authority falling within Section 85 of the FSMA.

United States of America

This press release may not be published, distributed or transmitted in the United States of America (including their territories and dependencies, any State of the United States of America and the district of Columbia). This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or to subscribe the Bonds or the Eurazeo shares in the United States of America. Neither the Bonds nor the Eurazeo shares have  been, or will  be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), nor may they be offered or sold in the United States of America, except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. In addition, the Bonds and the Eurazeo shares will be offered or sold outside of the United States of America in offshore transactions in accordance with Regulation S of the Securities Act. Crédit Agricole S.A. does not intend to register all or any portion of the offering of the Bonds or the Eurazeo shares in the United States of America or to conduct a public offering of the Bonds or the Eurazeo shares in the United States of America.

Canada, Australia and Japan

Neither the Eurazeo shares nor the Bonds have been offered or sold nor may be offered, sold or purchased in Canada, Australia or Japan.

Stabilisation

In connection with the Bond Issue, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, acting as stabilising manager (or any person acting on behalf of the stabilising manager) may over-allot the Bonds or effect transactions with a view to supporting the market price of the Bonds or of the Eurazeo shares at a level higher than that which might otherwise prevail. However, there is no assurance that the stabilising manager (or any person acting on behalf of the stabilising manager) will undertake stabilisation action. Any stabilisation action may begin on or after the date on which adequate public disclosure of the final terms of the offer is made and, if begun, may be ended at any time, but it must end no later than the earlier of (i) 30 days after the issue date of the Bonds and (ii) 60 days after the date of the allotment of the Bonds. Any stabilisation action or over-allotment must be conducted by the stabilising manager (or any person acting on behalf of the stabilising manager) in accordance with all applicable laws and rules.

Such interventions may stabilize the price of the Bonds or of the Eurazeo shares. Such stabilisation activities may also affect the price of Eurazeo shares and of the Bonds and could result in a market price that is higher than would otherwise prevail.

EUROPE CP Launch EN

(The-Economist) The man who used to walk on water

How Barack Obama can get at least some of his credibility back

AN AMERICAN president’s most important power is not the veto pen or the ability to launch missiles. It is the bully pulpit. When a president speaks, the world listens. That is why Barack Obama’s credibility matters. If people do not believe what he says, his power to shape events withers. And recent events have seriously shaken people’s belief in Mr Obama. At home, the chaos of his health reform has made it harder for him to get anything else done. Abroad, he is seen as weak and disengaged, to the frustration of America’s allies.

Not all the barbs aimed at Mr Obama are fair. Our special report this week on American foreign policy notes that he inherited two miserable wars. He began his first term during the worst recession in 80 years. And the Republicans who shut down parts of the federal government last month and flirted recklessly with default bear much of the blame for Washington’s disarray. But the excuse that it is all someone else’s fault is wearing thin. Under Mr Obama, America seems rudderless and its power is being squandered. A more engaged president would handle the Republicans—and the rest of the world—with more skill.

The debacle of Obamacare has gravely weakened the president (see article). In the days before October 1st, when the online health-insurance exchange opened, he seemed blithely unaware that anything was amiss. Using it would be “real simple”, he told voters in Maryland on September 26th; it would work the “same way you shop for a TV on Amazon”. Alas, it did not. Millions tried to log on; few succeeded. The website was never properly tested, it transpires. Although this was Mr Obama’s most important domestic reform, no one was really in charge. Crucial specifications were changed at the last moment. Contractors warned that the website was not ready, but the message never reached the Oval Office. Big government IT projects often go awry, but rarely as spectacularly as this.

The Economist supported Obamacare when it passed Congress in 2010. We worried that the law was too complex (see article) and did too little to curb medical inflation, but it extended health insurance to the millions of Americans who lack it. The basic idea is sound: everyone must have insurance or pay a penalty. The cash-strapped receive big subsidies, and insurers are barred from charging more to those who are already sick. A more modest version of this reform works quite well in Massachusetts. A man with little interest in details and a disdain for business, Mr Obama tried to impose a gigantic change on the whole country all at once and far too casually.

The longer it takes to fix the website, the greater the chance that Obamacare will fail. Insurers have set their premiums on the assumption that lots of young, healthy people would be compelled to buy their policies. But if it takes dozens of attempts to sign up, the people who do so will be disproportionately the sick and desperate. Insurers could be stuck with a far more expensive pool of customers than they were expecting, and could have no choice but to raise prices next year. That would make Obamacare even less attractive to the young “invincibles” it needs to stay afloat.

To make matters worse, this sorry saga has caused American voters to doubt Mr Obama’s honesty. Time after time, when selling his reform, he told voters that if they liked their health insurance, they could “keep that insurance. Period. End of story.” Policy wonks knew this was untrue. Mr Obama’s number-crunchers quietly predicted that up to two-thirds of people with individual policies would be forced to change them, since the law would make many bare-bones plans illegal. But ordinary Americans took their president at his word; many were furious to learn last month that their old policies would be cancelled.

The poisonous politics of health care point to another common complaint about Mr Obama: that he gives great speeches but fails to build relationships. Abroad, he has cool relations with foreign heads of government. The leaders of allies such as Israel and Saudi Arabia scorn him. Europeans grumble that they are ignored when they want to be heard and spied on when they want to be left alone. Latin Americans feel neglected. Mr Obama’s “pivot” to Asia has made China feel threatened, without reassuring other Asians that America will be there in a crisis. Many doubt Mr Obama’s word—remember his “red line” over the use of chemical weapons in Syria?—and lament his inability to get things done.

At home, he seldom schmoozes with his political opponents—or even with his own side. Past presidents put in far more effort to charm and bully lawmakers, business moguls and anyone who could help them. Lyndon Johnson was famous for blackmailing congressmen to do the right thing, which is a hard art to practise if you barely know them. Mr Obama remains aloof—he has no regular breakfast or lunch even with the main Democrats in Congress. You cannot slap backs and twist arms if you are not in the same room.

Forget the Nobel halo—and roll up your sleeves There is a personal tragedy in this: a talented man who too often does not follow through. As Bill Clinton is reputed to have said, Mr Obama got all the hard stuff right, “but didn’t do the easy stuff at all”. Assuming that he still has the stomach for the fight, what can Mr Obama do to win back that lost credibility?

At home, the priority is simply to get his health exchange fixed. His announcement last week that people who have lost their old insurance will be allowed to get it back is a sham: he has given insurers neither the time nor the incentive to recreate the policies he previously ordered them to ditch. He should stop making empty promises, get rid of the aides who filter out bad news and roll up his sleeves.

Can he get any more done? Immigration reform is still just possible. He now says he is open to tackling it piecemeal, rather than in a comprehensive bill, which raises the chance that it will happen. An even bigger prize would be a long-term fix for America’s finances, with Republicans accepting some tax rises and Democrats tolerating cuts to entitlements. He has little to lose: at present he will go down in history, alongside George W. Bush, as a skipper who ignored the looming fiscal iceberg.

Fixing those problems would require Mr Obama to discover both Clintonian skills of triangulation and some Republicans who don’t hate him. As with other second-term presidents, foreign policy may offer more opportunity. The Obama brand is less tarnished abroad. And American power is sold short by a lot of people—including, sometimes, Mr Obama. With its matchless armed forces, a web of alliances and omnipresent soft power, the United States is still the world’s indispensable nation—as it has shown in the rescue efforts in the Philippines (see Banyan). When Mr Obama ordered a strike against Osama bin Laden, he proved that he can be decisive; when he patiently built the case with China and Russia for imposing sanctions on Iran, he was persuasive.

So Mr Obama can get things done when he puts the effort in. Our special report lays out the opportunities that a more committed and confident president could seize. In many regions, such as Latin America, just a little bit of attention could yield impressive results. Free-trade deals could tie in allies across the Atlantic and the Pacific. Having over-reached in Asia and with a string of domestic problems, China needs Mr Obama to keep the world stable. If Mr Obama can build a better relationship with China, he will advance both countries’ interests. An immediate test is Iran: an interim agreement to halt its nuclear programme would be a first step towards re-engaging America in the Middle East. But only if Mr Obama works at it and sells a deal to Israel and his Arab allies.

Mr Obama may not be able to walk on water. That is now painfully clear, perhaps even to him. But America’s first black president still has it in his power to leave the Oval Office famous for what he did, not just what he was.

(The-Economist) Israel and the United States : Chillier than ever

BINYAMIN NETANYAHU, Israel’s prime minister, has reason to feel satisfied. Two weeks into his campaign against America’s “extraordinarily bad and dangerous deal” apparently in the offing with Iran over its nuclear programme, he is counting what he considers to be his successes. Leading American and European news channels have broadcast his interviews. The French president, François Hollande, who recently helped postpone a deal after a first round of talks between six world powers and Iran in Geneva, has beaten a path to his door. And now Mr Netanyahu is courting Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, ahead of another round. His ambassador in Washington, Ron Dermer, has encouraged Congress to tighten sanctions against Iran just as Mr Obama planned to ease them. Some Israeli officials worry that Mr Netanyahu’s bullishness may prove costly. Hitherto Mr Netanyahu’s differences with Barack Obama were over the Palestinians or the Israeli leader’s backing of Mitt Romney for America’s presidency. But now, for the first time, graver differences over strategy in the region are flaring into the open. "We’re not talking about an ill-chosen phrase or statement," says an Israeli official who fears American diplomatic retaliation. "We’re talking about a deep issue." Next time the Palestinians seek full membership of the UN, might America—for instance—withhold its veto or acquiesce to European sanctions if Israel continues to expand Jewish settlements on the West Bank, which Palestinians see as the core of a future state? Israel is already sidelined from international conferences on neighbouring Syria, bemoans Efraim Halévy, a former head of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, whereas Iran finds itself increasingly on the inside track. Mr Obama’s visit to Israel in March patently failed to warm relations. On the Iranian front, the president has kept out of the public fray, letting John Kerry, his secretary of state, urge congressmen not to heed Mr Netanyahu, while putting off one of his latest scheduled visits to Israel. Not since 1991, when James Baker, the then secretary of state, supposedly left his telephone number for Israel to call when it was ready to resolve the Israel-Palestine issue, have relations been so bad, says the Israeli official. The further Mr Netanyahu’s strays from his American moorings, the closer he tacks towards the Gulf monarchs, most of whom share his disillusion with Mr Obama, especially over Iran. But cuddling up to Arab kings can hardly make up for the chilliness of relations with an American president.