TheChek News Flow

Pamplona Capital Management Nears Deal to Buy Parexel

Deal values Parexel, a drug-research firm, at $88.10 a share or $4.6 billion

The plan involves several approaches including custom-built infrastructure similar to other web-scale companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook, but the company recognized it would take more than building hardware for its own unique needs. It also needed to find ways to speed up the process, and that meant providing services as close to the user as possible. This is known as moving computing to the edge of the network.

They started with an enormous network expansion effort across 14 cities in seven countries on three continent, according to the company. “In doing so, we’ve added hundreds of gigabits of Internet connectivity with transit providers (regional and global ISPs), and hundreds of new peering partners (where we exchange traffic directly rather than through an ISP),” Dropbox’s Raghav Bhargava wrote in a company blog post.

But the company didn’t stop there. It also built a custom proxy based on open source software to power the entire project. “The edge proxy is a stack of servers that act as the first gateway for TLS & TCP handshake for users and is deployed in PoPs (points of presence) to improve the performance for a user accessing Dropbox from any part of the globe,” Bhargava wrote.

This type of service is typically offered by Content Delivery Network (CDN) providers like Akamai, but like many companies working at the scale of Dropbox, it ultimately decided it needed to build a custom solution to meet its unique requirements and to give it the ability to control all aspects of the stack.

Diagram: Dropbox

The company is deploying the custom proxy stack across its US data centers starting today. It plans to deliver it worldwide over the next several quarters starting with Sydney, Miami then Paris in Q3 2017, and Madrid and Milan in Q4 2017. By the end of 2017, Dropbox plans to have 25 facilities in ten countries across four continents.

Ultimately, this expansion is designed for two reasons. One is to improve the user experience wherever they live. This was particularly important to Dropbox because it found that about 75 percent of users are outside the US. By moving to the edge, much like Netflix, the company is providing service as close to the user as possible, and with an expanded presence across the world once the expansion is complete, it should be able to improve performance in those areas with the largest concentration of users.

The second reason is that by building its own hardware and software, the company can control costs much more easily, and they are claiming the new approach cuts networking costs in half, an amount that has to add up to significant cost savings for the company.

Dropbox has making noise about a possible IPO and this kind of approach which speeds up service delivery and cuts costs should appeal to potential investors down the road. And it should please its customers who should benefit from faster service wherever they happen to be.

*SEAMLESS: OFFERING TO SHAREHOLDERS TO BUY SHARES IN UNIT SDS

*SEAMLESS: OFFER TO SHAREHOLDERS TO BUY UP TO 85% OF SDS SHARES

*SEAMLESS PLANS TO LIST SDS UNIT ON NASDAQ FIRST NORTH PREMIER

BT - Orange selling 133m shrs (1.3%), BT to buyback £200m @ placement price..

SERCO - Signs £1.5b contract in Australia for the New Grafton Centre (119)..+1%

PROSIEBEN - +ve; Announces sales of Etraveli to CVC capital partners (37.7).+1%

N BROWN - Grp revs +5.6% driven by ladieswear. Online revs +16% too (288)...+1%

EON - We UPGRADE to Buy.Has flexibility to increase div payout to 70-80% (9)+1%

NOVARTIS - Positive PIII data reported for RTH258, the dry eyes drug (80)...+1%

DASSAULT - Announces the acquisition of Outscale. No terms disclosed (83.4).u/c

MINERS - Oil -0.4%, Copper -0.3%, Iron Ore futs -0.3%, BHP 0.1%,RIO -0.4%.-0.5%

DKSH - We D/G to Neutral post strong run. 3rd consecutive beat unlikely (81)-1%

TULLOW - CFO resigns due to ill health having taken leave of absence (157)..-1%

WOLSELEY - Trading profit 12% below BAML on lower margin but FY inline(4738)-3%

IWG - CEO Dixon sells 3% stake at 345.1p v 359.5p close. Retains 25.2% (349)-3%

CASTELLUM - AP2 sells 13.2m shares at SEK 126/shr, circa 5.5% discount (128)-4%

Citi:
UK

* Aggreko - Oz subsid gets Rio's A$100m Amrun Power Station contract +2%
* BT - Orange to cut 4% BT stake with stock/convertible sales -2%
* N Brown - fy guid unch,closing 5 stores at cost of £10-14m unch
* Wolseley - Q3 revs in line,sees fy trading profit in line with views -2%
* Tullow - cfo Springett resigns,replaced by interim cfo Wood unch
* Interserve- co wins £265m account extension +1%
* Barclays - SFO charges ex ceo Varley for fraud re:Qatar probe unch

* Orange - co cuts a third of its 4% stake in BT +1%
* Pl Omnium - placement of €500m euro bond issue -1%
* Ipsen - IRC confirmd primary enpoint for renal cell carcinoma +1%
* Kloeckner - US peer Reliance Steel cuts Q2 profit fcast,down 7% a.h. -1%

CS:
DKSH -2-3% CS DOWNGRADE to NEUTRAL (weak market conditions)

Implenia +1% Wins Order for Geneva Project Worth Around CHF300m

Miners -0.5% Copper -0.55%, Brent -1.10%, Iron Ore -1.00%, China UNCH

Mittal -1-2% Peer Reliance Steel -6% after hours as Cuts 2Q EPS

Modern Times M/P To acquire Kongregate

N Brown M/P Last 13 weeks lfl +5.6%, online increasing, guidance unch

Novartis +1-2% RTH258 reached primary efficacy endpoint. (eye treatment)

Serco M/P Signs £1.5bn contract for NGCC, already known

SGS M/P Acquisition of Harrison Research Laboratories (USA)

Tullow M/P CFO has resigned ue to ill-health

Ultra Elecs M/P Awarded $18m contract for an integrated security system

Wolseley -1% Revs 4.27bln vs cons 4.3bln, expects FY to be inline


Commerz:
BNN +4.8% DBK starts with Buy, PT €28
EVT +0.7% Evotek to invest in Facio Therapies to support FSHD Therapy
KCO unch Reliance Steel have cut their Q2 EPS 4cast, shares off 7% after hrs
LIN +0.2% Sinopec & Linde form JV to produce industrial gases in Ningbo
MUV2 +0.4% DBK raised to Hold (vs Sell)
OSR +0.7% Lampe raised to Buy (vs Hold)
PSM +0.4% sells Etraveli to CVC Capital Partners
RHM -0.9% Mainfirst cuts to Neutral (vs Outperform), PT €65
SNG -1.6% Singulus receives prepayment in single digit mln range
WDI +0.1% m-payment cooperation in 10 markets with VEON (235mln customers)


Mainfirst:

*THYSSEN-Elevators doing well in US,while China is firmer-CEO.......+0.5%

*ORANGE-Reduces stake in BT from 4%(133m shs),via Exane,BNP,JPM.....+0.5%

*NOVARTIS-RTH258 reaches primary efficacy endpoint($465m sales '21).+0.5%

*JC DECAUX-Wins contract at Guanghoz airport,Rev €50m a year........+0.5%

*LUFTHANSA-German Govt sees hurdles for Air Berlin aid - Press......+0.5%

*NESTLE-Invests in US Online meal subscrition service Freshly.......+0.25%

*DASSAULT SYSTEMS-Acquires majority stake in Outscale,no terms......+0.25%

*WIRECARD-Forms global partnership with Veon........................+0.25%

*HAWESKO-After 5 months well on track to achieve FY targets.........+2%

*BAYER-Minor -ve read across from Novartis RTH258 news(eye drug)....-0.5%

*KERING-St Laurent sees €2blnannual sales in mid-term(CMD yest).....+0.5%

*PRO7-Sells Etraveli to CVC for $508m,contins Travel bizz review....+0.5%

ShoreCap:

BARCLAYS - SFO charges four individuals, inc ex-CEO John Varley..............MKT

WOLSELEY - Q3 rev +16.7% £4.27bn,LfL +6.6%,trading profit +9.5%,FY in line.-0.5%

ULTRA ELECTRONIC - wins security system contract from Intl client worth $18m.+1%

TULLOW OIL - CFO resigns due to ill-health..................................UNCH

INTERSERVE - awarded 2-yr defense bases contract extension worth £265m.....+0.5%

NWF - FY trading in line & ahead of prev yr,Feeds division improved in H2...UNCH

INSPIRED ENERGY - continues to trade in line,order book grows to £31.5m......+2%

N.BROWN - Excellent start to yr.no change to our top of range expectations...+1%

RWS - H1 sales 76.6.Pbt 19.4m.Int divi +13% to 1.3p..........................+2%

SERCO - Est value of prison contract win AUD2.6b over 20 years...............+1%

MORGAN SINDALL - two-yr extension to W.Midland reinstatement works worth £60m+1%


RBC:
*ASSURA: -2% placing of 164M shares @ 58-60p.

*BARCLAYS: -1% SFO charges BARC & four individuals in Qatar case.

*BT/: -1% ORA sells shares.

*CASTELLUM: -3% AP2 sells 13.2M shares @ SEK126 per share.

*CNE: 0% Mexico license win.

*EDF: 0% fire at Bugey nuclear plant extinguished.

*FPM: +1% trading update, operations in line, cash beat, FY'17 guidance unch.

*GLEN: 0% Harris Associates has gone above 5% holding.

*IWG: -5% CEO Dixon sold 27M shares @ 345p, still holds 25%.

*KERING: +1% well-attended CMD yesterday positive on YSL.

*NOVARTIS: +1% RTH258 met endpoints in late-stage trials.

*ORANGE: 0% sells 133M BT/ shares @ 288p.

*SERCO: +1% £1.5B contract win to operate Oz largest prison over 20 years.

*SHAWBROOK: 0% Marlin Bidco says offer extended to July 10th.

*TLW: 0% board changes, CFO to resign due to ill-health.

*WOLSELY: -2% Q3 numbers mixed, margin light, UK restructuring on track.

Investec:
UK
* ASSURA-9.9% placing (164m shs) via ABB, to fund near term pipeline.......-2-3%
* BT-Orange sells 133m shs @ 288Pp,BT buys 69m for EBT.(closed 289.7p).......-1%
* CAIRN ENERGY-Secures interest in 2 licenses in Mexico.....................unch
* FAROE PETROL.-Update. Production sml beat. rest reads in line..............+1%
* GLENCORE-Harris Associates holding now through 5%.........................+½%
* INTERSERVE-Wins £265m (2yrs) contract with UK Armed forces.................+2%
* IWG-Mark Dixon sells another 27.3m shs(345.1p)Recent bid spec..............-5%
* N BROWN-Update.Rev +10.2%.Trading on track.Closing 5 loss making stores....+1%
* RWS HDG-Update.Strong current trading.Recent LUZ acq's performing well.....+2%
* SERCO-Signs £1.5bn (20 yr) contract with NGCC in NSW (Aus)................+1%
* TULLOW OIL-CFO resigns due to recent ill health...........................unch
* ULTRA ELEC-Wins $18m surveillance contract................................+½%
* WOLSELEY-Q3.Trading in line,US looks strong.Reits FY g'ance.(+2.5% yday)..unch

EU
* ALTICE-to carry out US ipo pricing on Weds (Echos).........................U/C
* FORTUM-Hafslund rejects offer,signicicantly u/values co. Fortum owns 36%..+2%
* KERING- YSL brand sees €2bn annual sales in medium term....................+1%
* NOVARTIS-reports positive results from new eye drug trials...............+0.5%
* ORANGE-sells 133m BT shares (1/3 holding),also issues CB into BT shares....+2%
* THYSSEN-interview w/CEO, elevators doing well in US, China firmer..........+1%
* VIVENDI-said to appeal regulator ruling on TIT and MEDIASET stakes(FT).....U/C

Numis:
* ACCSYS TECHNOLOGY +1%: FY numbers slightly ahead EBIT loss -E3.9m (NSe -E5.1m). Tricoya expansion project on track for completion end of CY17.

* CAIRN ENERGY: mkt, Secures 2 new licences in Gulf of Mexico.

* FAROE PETROLEUM: +1%, AGM statement shows strong prod averaging 15,100 beopd and cash increased to £113.8m

* IWG -3% CEO Dixon sold 27.3m shares @ 345.1p (Closed 359.5p)

* MORSES CLUB mkt trading update all in line

* RWS +1-2% Small Headline beat, EPS forecasts up 2-3%, shares have performed well – we go to HOLD fm ADD tgt 375p

* SERCO +2% Signs £1.5bn Aussie Prison contract – over 20 years – They were announced preferred bidder in March but up on the headline

* SHAWBROOK Marlin Bidco offer declared unconditional

* TULLOW OIL: mtk, CFO Ian Springett takes extended leave to undergo medical treatment.

* WOLSELEY -1%: Q3 numbers, revs in line EBIT slighlty below our f/cs at £254m (NSe £275m). Main driver US lfl +8.5% (+6.7% in Q2) FY viewed in-line.

Ranks of wealthy top 1.5m people but report expects asset growth to slow this year

China’s ranks of wealthy people have surged above 1.5m people with combined assets of Rmb165tn ($24.2tn) — but growth in their riches is expected to slow this year to a decade-low, according to a new report.

The number of Chinese with investable assets of at least Rmb10m climbed to 1.58m by the end of 2016, up from 180,000 a decade earlier, the report from China Merchants Bank and Bain & Co showed.

Their combined assets are expected to rise to Rmb188tn by the end of this year, marking a drop in growth to 14 per cent — the slowest rate for at least a decade which comes after growth peaked at a compound annual rate of 21 per cent between 2014 and 2016.

Vincent Bolloré’s Vivendi has followed through with its threat of legal action against an Italian regulator that ruled that it had breached rules on concentration of power.

According to a person familiar with the move, Vivendi filed an appeal on Friday against Agcom, the Italian communications regulator, which ruled in April that the French group could not keep large stakes it had built up in both Telecom Italia and Mediaset, Italy’s biggest private broadcaster.

At the time of Agcom’s ruling, Vivendi said that it “neither controls nor exercises a dominant influence on Mediaset” and that it could fight Agcom’s ruling with legal action. The Italian regulator gave Vivendia a year to cut its position in either Mediaset or Telecom Italia, and said it needed to present a “plan of action” within 60 days.

Earlier this month Vivendi chief executive Arnaud de Puyfontaine was named executive chairman of Telecom Italia, over which Vivendi has been strengthening its grip.

Activist investors are increasingly sending the same message to ailing retailers: Sell your real estate before it’s as worthless as the merchandise in your stores.

About a half-dozen retailers over the past couple of years have been hit with demands from hedge funds telling them to monetize their real estate holdings — the latest of which is the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue.

Canada-based Hudson’s Bay Co., which owns the Lord & Taylor chain in addition to Saks, on Monday got pressured by such an investor to either take itself private or sell its valuable real estate holdings.

The activist, hedge fund Land & Buildings Investment Management, claims the company’s real estate could be worth four times the company’s current stock price.

HBC — controlled by New York real estate mogul Richard Baker — owns Saks’ Fifth Avenue flagship, which “is one of the most valuable locations not only in Manhattan, but in the United States,” according to L&B’s Jonathan Litt.

L&B has taken a 4.3-percent stake in Toronto-based Hudson’s Bay.

“Is the best use of this location truly a department store?” Litt added in a letter to HBC’s board. “What about a hotel? Or office?”

Litt is working off a much-used and seldom successful playbook.

Since 2015, McDonald’s, Macy’s, Ethan Allen and Darden Restaurants have all been hit with a variation of Litt’s play.

“It’s surprising that there aren’t more,” said one real estate expert who advises department stores and other retailers and did not want to be identified. “Activist investors are saying the longer you wait to monetize your real estate, the less it’ll be worth because so many stores are closing at the same time.”

HBC — which recently ended talks to buy Neiman Marcus — said in a statement that it is “reviewing the letter and will respond in due course.”