DIA mandates Santander and BBVA to find buyer for Clarel
Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación (DIA), the Spain-based supermarket group, has mandated Banco Santander [BME: SAN] andBBVA [BME: BBVA] to find a buyer for Clarel, its subsidiary specialising in drugstores, perfumes and personal hygiene, Expansion reported citing financial sources. The chain aims to obtain about EUR 200m with the sale, which is expected to be carried out during 1Q19, the item said.
At the end of 2017, Grupo Dia had 1,251 Clarel stores in Spain and Portugal, according to Dia's last annual financial accounts, the Spanish-language paper said.
In addition to Clarel, Dia mandated PwC to sell its cash & carry business Max Descuento, as reported. Between the two businesses, the group aims to obtain between EUR 200m and EUR 250m, most of it with Clarel. Alongside these sales, the company's new strategic plan, which is expected to be ready by the end of the month, includes the closure of stores, the report said.
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Shiseido targeting US tech startups in beauty-related apps, health information data analysis
Shiseido Company [TYO:4911] is looking to take minority stakes in US startups engaged in beauty-related simulation apps and health information data analysis, the Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun reported.
The Japanese-language report cited Shiseido President and CEO Masahiko Uotani, who said during an interview that the chief growth officer at a special M&A unit set up at its New York headquarters will from January begin gathering information on tech startups, adding that companies engaged in beauty-related simulation apps and health information data analysis look promising. He added that there is a possibility the company could also take minority stakes in new brands having remarkable growth.
No specific targets were revealed in the report.
Shiseido has a market capitalization of JPY 2.606trn (USD 24bn).
Stocks across Asia kicked off the week with strong gains after soothing Federal Reserve comments and an easing of monetary policy in China stoked a renewed appetite for risk assets. The dollar fell to the lowest in more than two months against peers.
Shares in Japan led the charge, with advances also in Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia. U.S. futures climbed, signaling Friday’s rally in U.S. stocks could continue, and European futures also rose. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said policy is flexible and officials are “listening carefully” to financial markets, while the People’s Bank of China cut the required reserves for banks.
Treasuries steadied after Friday’s slide that sent yields soaring back to 2.67 percent. Fresh talks between the U.S. and China on trade, and Powell’s remarks sapped demand for the dollar as the yen led gains in G-10 currencies.
Nikkei +2.44% Hang Seng +0.67% CSI +0.61% Shanghai +0.71% Shenzen +1.66%
Eur$ 1.1419 CNH 6.8530 CNY 6.8479 JPY 108.16 GBP 1.2745 CHF 0.9842 RUB 67.8436 TRY 5.3504 WTI$ 48.78 +1.71%
S&P +0.28% EuroStoxx +0.36% FTSE +0.14% Dax +0.53% SMI +0.27%
Macro :
- Macron Spoke With May on Brexit, Confirmed November Deal Backing
- Juncker Says EU Has Plans for Unemployment Insurance: Welt
- Italy Coalition Will Focus on Infrastructure Plans, Di Maio Says
- Goldman Sachs Asks What If Lebanon Is Forced to Restructure Debt
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- AMRN US : Amarin Slides Post-Market After Soft 2019 Revenue Outlook
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- BT/A LN : BT ramps up takeover defence with help from Goldman Sachs, Robey Warshaw - The Times
- CNA LN : Centrica Earnings Risks, Credit Metrics Prompt Cut at Jefferies
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- CINE LN : Very Strong 2019 Film Slate Makes Cineworld Top Pick, RBC Says
- DASNSKE DC : Danske Mulls New Headhunter Amid Search for CEO: JP’s Finans
- DIA SM : DIA mandates Santander and BBVA to find buyer for Clarel
- EPO LN : Earthport Investors Argue They Can Do Better Than Visa’s Offer
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- OR FP : Shiseido targeting US tech startups in beauty-related apps, health information data analysis
- MITRA BB : Mithra Sees New Perimenopause Potential Product Launch in 2023
- RADH SS : Radisson Board Evaluates Revised Offer From Jin Jiang
- RNO FP / 7201 JP : Key Nissan Executive Jose Munoz Taking Leave of Absence: WSJ
- RNO FP : Ghosn’s Lawyers to Speak to Press Tuesday at 3pm in Tokyo
- SHP LN : Takeda to Divest Assets in 2019 ‘for Sure,’ CEO Weber Says
- TRI FP : Trigano First Quarter Sales +6.1%
- UBSG SW : UBS Said in Talks With Meissner as Potential Ermotti Successor
- UBSG SW : UBS's Woes Run Deeper than Just One Leader: Elisa Martinuzzi
>>> Up
* Hays Upgraded to Buy at HSBC; PT 1.90 Pounds
* Legal & General Upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank
* Lundin Petroleum Upgraded to Sector Perform at RBC
* Mediclinic Upgraded to Overweight at JPMorgan; PT 3.94 Pounds
* Petrofac Upgraded to Buy at Jefferies; PT 5.90 Pounds
* Publicis Upgraded to Buy at Pivotal
* SKF Upgraded to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley
* SSP Upgraded to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley
* Tullow Upgraded to Outperform at RBC
* Yara Upgraded to Buy at Citi (Double)
>>> Down
* ASR Nederland Cut to Reduce at Kepler Cheuvreux; PT 33.60 Euros
* Autoliv Downgraded to Market Perform at BMO; PT $79
* BMW Downgraded to Underweight at JPMorgan; Price Target 75 Euros
* Centrica Downgraded to Hold at Jefferies
* EnQuest Downgraded to Underperform at RBC
* Gestamp Downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 5.70 Euros
* HSBC Cut to Sell at Citi on Trading Income, Competition Concerns
* InterContinental Hotels Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley
* Lagardere Downgraded to Neutral at Goldman; PT 23.80 Euros
* Michelin Downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 105 Euros
* Nokian Renkaat Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan; PT 32 Euros
* Pirelli Downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 7 Euros
* St James's Place Downgraded to Hold at Deutsche Bank
* Standard Life Aberdeen Downgraded to Hold at Deutsche Bank
* Volvo Downgraded to Add at AlphaValue
* Volvo Downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 150 Kronor
>>> Initiation
*
>>> Call
Bridgewater’s Pure Alpha defies markets with 15% gain
Ray Dalio’s fund regains its mojo with best performance in 5 years
Bridgewater’s flagship “Pure Alpha” hedge fund notched up a gain of nearly 15 per cent last year, despite torrid financial markets that wrongfooted many other big-name investors and stirred concerns over the health of the global economy.
The $160bn hedge fund group founded by Ray Dalio has seen its performance droop since the end of the financial crisis, and last year its Pure Alpha fund only returned 1.2 per cent. But Bridgewater appears to have regained its mojo as markets turned increasingly rocky in 2018.
Pure Alpha returned 14.6 per cent, net of fees last year, according to people familiar with the matter, even as global equities sagged precipitously and many other investment groups saw their performance unravel. It was its best performance in five years.
The average hedge fund lost 2 per cent in the year to the end of November, according to HFR, and “macro” funds such as Bridgewater — which try to profit from the ebb and flow of the global economy — dropped more than 4 per cent.
Bridgewater declined to comment, but in an interview with the FT last autumn, Bob Prince, the hedge fund group’s co-chief investment officer, said the post-crisis market regime was at an “inflection point” as central banks pared back stimulus even as global growth slowed.
“We are clearly shifting from an era of monetary easing to monetary tightening,” Mr Prince said in October. “A lot of optimism about future earnings growth has been baked into equity valuations. But we are at a potential inflection point where the economy is moving from hot to mediocre.”
Markets were particularly torrid in December, when US equities suffered their biggest monthly decline since the financial crisis.
Coupled with a string of poor economic data from around the world, that has ramped up expectations that the Federal Reserve will pause its interest rate increases this year and triggered bets that the US central bank could even begin to cut them later in 2019.
The Fed indicated that it would probably lift interest rates another two times this year, but Jay Powell, the bank’s chair, last week sought to calm concerns by stressing that policymakers would be “patient” and opened the possibility that it could revisit its ongoing balance sheet shrinkage.
Mr Powell’s soothing words were coupled with better than expected US employment data that sent the S&P 500 up by 3.4 per cent on Friday and lifted the 10-year Treasury yield by 11 basis points to 2.66 per cent at the end of the day. Nonetheless, many investors and analysts remain nervous over the outlook for 2019.
“Valuation has been improving rapidly, especially in equity markets. Sentiment is cautious, but not extreme. Fundamentals, however, remain challenging, and the biggest hurdle to adding risk,” Andrew Sheets, a Morgan Stanley strategist, wrote in a note to clients on Sunday. “Chair Powell’s comments on Friday on policy flexibility are encouraging, but there is still a lot of uncertainty over the threshold at which the Fed will actually change its policy path.”
In a LinkedIn post in late December Mr Dalio also indicated that he thought the combination of short- and long-term financial trends meant markets would remain rock,y despite the fact that the economy and corporate profits are for now still healthy.
“We are now seeing this classic late-cycle, strong profit growth and strong economic growth that is accompanied by falling stock prices due to the financial squeeze,” the hedge fund manager wrote. “That’s when the cracks in the system begin to appear and what most people never expected to happen starts happening.
2019 commenced with a bang as markets gyrated in much the same fashion as the closing weeks of 2018. key China PMI reading dropped into contraction territory while European and US data continued to soften. The US government remained in a partial shutdown and the prospects for ending the standoff anytime soon appeared remote. The Japanese Yen saw extreme upside volatility in the wake of the Apple news highlighting how global liquidity conditions maybe exacerbating capital market swings in the wake of central banks attempts to wean off of unconventional measures, namely quantitative easing. US rates fell aggressively after the December ISM reading dropped at the fastest pace since October 2008. For the first time since the financial crisis the Fed funds rate briefly traded above that of the yield on the 2-year Treasury note prompting more forecasts for an eventual rate cut by year’s end. Breadth on both the NYSE and NASDAQ widened to levels not seen in recent weeks as US stock indices rebounded into the weekend. Rising oil and copper prices supported the positive tone in equities, and for the week the S&P gained 1.9%, the DJIA added 1.6%, and the Nasdaq rose 2.3%. Leading corporate headlines during this holiday-shortened week was news that Bristol-Myers would acquire Celgene for $74B, which would make it the largest health-care deal ever. Apple slashed its outlook for the first time in the iPhone era, noting poor demand in China and unexpectedly less frequent model upgrades. Samsung announced plans to cut its chip inventory in order to maintain tight supplies as demand is expected to slow. Tesla shares fell after it reported a miss on Q4 targets for Model 3 and implemented a price cut for all vehicles to offset tax credit reductions. Delta weighed on the transports midweek after trimming its Q4 revenue outlook. Netflix named former Activision and Disney executive Spencer Neumann as its new CFO. Shares of winter clothing manufacturer Canada Goose lifted on the news that its store opening in China was well received.
Macro :
- Macron Spoke With May on Brexit, Confirmed November Deal Backing
- Juncker Says EU Has Plans for Unemployment Insurance: Welt
- Italy Coalition Will Focus on Infrastructure Plans, Di Maio Says
- Goldman Sachs Asks What If Lebanon Is Forced to Restructure Debt
Keep an eye on :
- AD NA : Ahold Delhaize’s Stop & Shop To Buy King Kullen Grocery Co.
- AZA IM : Alitalia bidder FS likely to be given further month to prepare final offer, industrial plan
- AMRN US : Amarin Slides Post-Market After Soft 2019 Revenue Outlook
- BT/A LN : BT ramps up takeover defence with help from Goldman Sachs, Robey Warshaw - The Times
- EPO LN : Earthport Investors Argue They Can Do Better Than Visa’s Offer
- GE US : GE Options Active Amid Report Apollo Eyeing Jet-Leasing Unit
- GLPG NA : Fibrocor & Galapagos Sign Partnership for Fibrosis Diseases
- INA PL : Caixa Geral Sells Stake in Inapa to Portuguese State for EU15.8m
- RADH SS : Radisson Board Evaluates Revised Offer From Jin Jiang
- RNO FP / 7201 JP : Key Nissan Executive Jose Munoz Taking Leave of Absence: WSJ
- UBSG SW : UBS Said in Talks With Meissner as Potential Ermotti Successor
BT ramps up takeover defence with help from Goldman Sachs, Robey Warshaw
BT Group [LON:BT.A] has been working with advisers from Goldman Sachsand Robey Warshaw to help fend off a possible takeover attempt by Deutsche Telekom [ETR:DTE], The Mail on Sunday reported. City sources cited in the report said BT started working with Goldman Sachs, Simon Warshaw and Simon Robey at the end of last year in the hope of bolstering its takeover defences.
A three-year standstill agreement which prevents Deutsche Telekom from increasing its stake in BT to more than 15% will expire on 29 January, which could leave the British telecoms company vulnerable to takeover, the report said. Deutsche Telekom is BT’s biggest shareholder, having built up a 12% stake by February 2015, the item noted.
BT declined to discuss any involvement with Goldman Sachs and Robey Warshaw, which is well known for advising on takeover defences against overseas buyers, the report said.
BT may also be sounding out the advisers regarding potential options for a break-up of the group prior to the installation of new Chief Executive Philip Jansen on 1 February, the report said.
Sources cited in the article said JPMorgan and Perella Weinberg Partnersare also likely to have been approached by BT regarding defence strategies and strategic options as they previously advised the company on its acquisition of EE.
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