>>> Vice Media looking to sell - report

Vice Media looking to sell


Vice Media, a New York City-based online media company, is looking to sell, according to a top industry source cited by a report on the Axios website on Thursday, 29 March.
The claim appeared in a separate report about rival Buzzfeed’s plans for a listing. The brief item gave no further details.
Background:
A New York Post report in June last year cited sources close to Vice who denied speculation that The Walt Disney Co. [NYSE:DIS] had tabled a USD 5bn (EUR 4.65bn) takeover offer for the company.
Vice Media announced the sale of 10% stakes to A&E Networks and Technology Crossover Ventures in September 2014, as reported by the Financial Times at the time. The deal valued Vice Media at USD 2.5bn, according to the report.
Disney and Hearst Communications jointly own A&E Networks.
The New York City-based media group Twenty-First Century Fox [NASDAQ:FOXA] acquired a 5% stake in Vice Media in August 2013.

>>> What to look at today - 30th of March 2017

Dow -0.20% S&P +0.11% Nasdaq +0.38% Russell +0.32%
US Market closed Slightly higher. Oil was the major catalyst to push mkt higher. WTI$49.47 +2.2% after EIA Report. Energy Sector +1.2%. AMZn +2.1% and pushed Cons. Disc. higher +0.6%. Financials -0.5%, Utilities -0.5%, all of the remaining sectors--industrials, materials, technology, consumer staples, telecom services, and real estate--failed to distinguish themselves from the broader market, settling higher. US After Hours PRGS +9% following earnings / CFO / DataRPM acquisition news, COP +6% on CVE deal and $3 bln repurchase authorization... CRTN -31%, LULU -18% following earnings/guidance. Asian equity markets are down modestly, tracking a lackluster session on Wall St where Energy sector rallied on a jump in oil prices while Financials lagged as US interest rates turned lower. Australia continued to outperform, helped by strength in iron ore boosting miners, with ASX200 index adding to near-2 year gains as it approaches the psychological multi-year high level of 6,000. Shanghai Composite was one of the worst performers, as investors ponder PBOC support after the central bank skipped its reverse repo operation injection for the 5th straight day. USD majors traded mostly in narrow ranges with an upside bias for the greenback. USD/JPY hit session highs of 111.40 after a press report citing US Transportation Sec Chao that Pres Trump will announce a $1T infrastructure package later this year that will run for 10 years and cover energy, water, and potentially broadband and veteran hospitals. Toshiba spiked up over 3% after reports of Westinghouse coming to terms with bankruptcy proceedings. Samsung Electronics has launched its Galaxay S8 smartphone featuring smaller battery and a high-end AI system.

Nikkei -0.85% HAng Seng -0.37% CSI -0.80% Shanghai -0.91%

Eur$ 1.0756 CNH 6.8805 CNY 6.8921 JPY 111.19 GBP 1.2438 CHF 0.9973 RUB 56.7077 WTI$ 49.68 +0.34%

S&P +0.06% EuroStoxx +0.08% FTSE +0.04% Dax -0.02% SMI +0.11%

Macro :
- House GOP Said to Weigh Another Try on Obamacare Vote Next Week
- Housing Better Bet Than Commercial Real Estate: Morgan Stanley
- Germany Said to Speed Planned Warship Purchase: Handelsblatt
- U.S. Individual Investor Bulls Fall to 3-Week Low: AAII
- Paulson & Co. Said to Cut Bonuses to Top Executives: Fox

Keep an eye on :
- ADS GY : Lululemon Drops 18% Post-Market After 1Q Views Trail Estimates
- AIR FP : Airbus Sees 2016-2035 LatAm Demand at 2,570 Commercial Planes
- AIR FP : Airbus A400m Clients Meet in Madrid Thursday, Le Figaro Says
- BAYN GY : Bayer-Monsanto Deal Will Be Finalized by Year-End: Grant
- DTE GY : Amazon Plans to Offer Mobile Phone Services in Germany: Wiwo
- EKTAB SS : Elekta Repayment of Convertible Bond ‘Unsurprising’: Berenberg
- ENGI FP : Engie Energia Chile Hits 5-Year High as It Catches Up With Peers
- HMB SS : H&M 1Q Pretax Beats Est.
- DEC FP : JCDecaux Says It’s Worried About Paris Bike-Share Media Reports
- LIGHT NA : Standard Life Investment Holds 3.02% Philips Lighting Stake: AFM
- LONN VX : Lonza Proposes To Issue 22m New Shrs; Set to Raise ~CHF2.3b
- LSE LN : LSE Won’t Sell Unit to Euronext, Euronext CEO Tells La Tribune
- MC FP : LVMH’S Biver Says His Baselworld Orders Rose 25%-40%: BaZ
- LULU US : Lululemon Rises 3.5%, Options Active Ahead of Earnings
- NOKIA FH : Nokia Says Horan, Kozel Proposed as New Board Members
- NYR BB : Nyrstar Shares Surge as Citi Says Zinc Settlement Should Help
- OPERA NO : Opera Software Targets $550-650m in Revenue in 2017
- PR IM : *PREMUDA SHARES SUSPENDED FROM TRADING PENDING NEWS, BORSA SAYS
- REP SM : Repsol Plans Dividend Equivalent to About EU0.45/Share
- SOLB BB : Solvay to Sell Polyolefin Cross-Linkable Compounds Business
- VOW3 GY : Volkswagen Says It Has EPA Approval to Sell Repaired Diesels

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 30th of March 2017

>>> Up
*Aareal Bank Raised to Buy at HSBC, PT EU41
*Admiral Raised to Sector Perform at RBC, PT 1925p
*Atrium European Real Estate Raised to Hold at Baader-Helvea
*Deutsche Post Raised to Outperform at Exane, PT EU36
*LondonMetric Property Raised to Buy at HSBC, PT GBP1.66
*Neopost Raised to Outperform at MainFirst, PT EU40
*Talanx Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse, PT EU35
*Vedanta Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse, PT 800p
*WPP Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley, PT 1975p

>>> Down
*Akzo Nobel Cut to Sell at Baader-Helvea, PT EU76.50
*Boliden Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse, PT SEK295
*Clarkson Cut to Underperform at Exane, PT GBP22
*Lenzing Cut to Hold at Baader-Helvea, PT EU163
*Metropole Television Cut to Neutral at Natixis
*Osram Cut to Neutral at Citi, PT EU60
*SIF Cut to Hold at HSBC, PT EU22
*Sika Cut to Hold at Baader-Helvea, PT CHF6150
*Sunrise Cut to Hold at Berenberg
*TF1 Cut to Neutral at Natixis
*Zooplus Cut to Hold at Berenberg

>>> Initiation
*Ashtead Rated New Buy at Liberum, PT 1940p
*Deutsche Boerse Reinstated Overweight at Barclays, PT EU95
*Deutsche Pfandbriefbank Rated New Buy at HSBC, PT EU13
*Dixons Carphone Rated New Overweight at Barclays, PT 370p
*Kingfisher Rated New Underweight at Barclays, PT 300p
*LSE Resumed Outperform at RBC, PT 3500p
*LSE Reinstated Overweight at Barclays, PT 3600p
*Next Rated New Underweight at Barclays, PT 3900p
*Redrow Reinstated Overweight at Barclays, PT 558p
*RTX Rated New Buy at ABG Sundal, PT DKK230

>>> Call

>>> Asian Update

Asia Mid-Session Market Update: Shanghai Composite slumps as PBoC extends the streak of zero liquidity injection

***US Session Highlights***
- (US) MBA MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS W/E MAR 24TH: -0.8% V -2.7% PRIOR
- (US) Fed’s Evans (dove, voter): there has been good progress towards Fed goals; supports one or two more rate hikes this year
- (US) FEB PENDING HOME SALES M/M: 5.5% V 2.5%E; Y/Y: -2.4% V +2.7% PRIOR
- (US) DOE CRUDE: +0.9M V +1ME; GASOLINE: -3.7M V -2ME; DISTILLATE: -2.5M V -1ME

***US markets on close: Dow -0.2%, S&P500 +0.1%, Nasdaq +0.4%***
- Best Sector in S&P500: Energy
- Worst Sector in S&P500: Financials
- Biggest gainers: VRTX +20.5%, CHK +7.8%, JWN +5.4%, HES +4.9%, URBN +4.5%
- Biggest losers: FFIV -3.4%, MYL -3.3%, ARNC -3.1%, PAYX -2.5%, EVHC -2.4%
- At the close: VIX 11.4 (-0.1 pts); Treasuries: 2-yr 1.28% (-2bps), 10-yr 2.39% (-2bps), 30-yr 2.99% (-2bps)

***US movers afterhours***
- EXTR: To acquire Brocade's Data Center Networking business for $55M; +13% afterhours
- COP: Cenovus agrees to acquire ConocoPhillips' 50% interest in the FCCL Partnership for $17.7B in cash and shares; +6% afterhours
- PRGS: Reports Q1 $0.34 v $0.28e, R$91.0M v $88.3Me; Guides Q2 $0.35-0.37 v $0.38e, $89-92M v $92Me; +4.7% afterhours
- CVE: Agrees to acquire COP interst in FCCL Partnership; announces $3.0B bought-deal offering of common shares; selling 187.5M shares at $16/shr through RBC and JPM (20% of shares outstanding); -8.0% afterhours
- LULU: Reports Q4 $1.00 (adj) v $1.01e, R$790.0M v $785Me; Guides Q1 $0.25-0.27 v $0.39e, R$510-515M v $555Me; -17.5% afterhours

***Politics***
- (CN) China Premier Li Keqiang expected to win another term as Premier - financial press
- (US) Federal Judge in Hawaii indefinitely extends court order blocking Trump administration's revised travel ban - press
- (US) House speaker Ryan: Does not want Pres Trump to work with Democrats on healthcare reform - CBS interview
- (US) Interviews with GOP's Freedom Caucus members said to reveal division on potential tax reform measures - press
- (US) City of Seattle files lawsuit against President Trump for his sanctuary cities order
- (US) Two Republican House members: House GOP is considering another try on Obamacare repeal next week - press

***Asia Key economic data:***
- (AU) AUSTRALIA FEB HIA NEW HOME SALES M/M: +0.2% V -2.2% PRIOR
- (AU) AUSTRALIA DEC-FEB SKILLED VACANCIES Q/Q: 1.8% V 2.5% PRIOR

***Asia Session Notable Observations, Speakers and Press***
- Asian equity markets are down modestly, tracking a lackluster session on Wall St where Energy sector rallied on a jump in oil prices while Financials lagged as US interest rates turned lower. Australia continued to outperform, helped by strength in iron ore boosting miners, with ASX200 index adding to near-2 year gains as it approaches the psychological multi-year high level of 6,000. Shanghai Composite was one of the worst performers, as investors ponder PBOC support after the central bank skipped its reverse repo operation injection for the 5th straight day. Separately, a researcher with CASS forecast China Q1 GDP at a solid 6.8% and H1 GDP slowing to just 6.7% - well above the 6.5% official 2017 target.
- USD majors traded mostly in narrow ranges with an upside bias for the greenback. USD/JPY hit session highs of 111.40 after a press report citing US Transportation Sec Chao that Pres Trump will announce a $1T infrastructure package later this year that will run for 10 years and cover energy, water, and potentially broadband and veteran hospitals. AUD/USD brifly rose toward 0.7680 on stronger HIA New Home Sales growth, though the pair was confined to a 20-pip range. GBP/USD consolidated its Brexit-commencing overnight slide, holding above $1.24.
- Australia's Bank of Queensland put out its H1 results that showed a slight decline in Net profit and Revenue, but shares rose over 1% on positive H2 outlook. Toshiba spiked up over 3% after reports of Westinghouse coming to terms with bankruptcy proceedings. Samsung Electronics has launched its Galaxay S8 smartphone featuring smaller battery and a high-end AI system, though share gains were contained by political risk in the country as court hearings on former Pres Park arrest warrant began this morning.


China
- (CN) China CISA's Vice-Chair Li: China to cut additional 140Mt in steel capacity; sees 2017 steel demand -1.9% y/y
- (CN) China Stats Bureau: Service sector employed 43.5% of China's workforce in 2016, up from 36% in 2012 - Chinese press
- (CN) US Treasury said to prepare to review China's market-economy status; expected to keep large tariffs on Chinese goods - financial press
- (CN) China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) sees China Q1 GDP at 6.8%; H1 GDP at ~6.7% - Chinese press
- (CN) Former Treasury Sec Lew: China is not intervening in FX to gain trade advantage, but doing the opposite, intervening at its own expense to protect its currency - press

Japan
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Deputy Gov Iwata: Japan's economic recovery gaining momentum reflecting improvements in overseas economies
- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Suga: Created a govt task force to minimize negative impact of Brexit; to be led by Hagiuda
- (JP) BOJ's 2% inflation target is in jeopardy due to the recent JPY strength - Nikkei

Australia/New Zealand
- (AU) Morgans equity strategist: We see higher global bond yields as a tipping point for equity markets toward 2017-end - SMH
- (NZ) Westpac economist: See some upside risk to its FY16/17 milk price forecast of NZ$5.90/kg; See FY17/18 price at NZ$6.10/kg

Korea
- (KR) South Korea Court to decide on former Pres Park's arrest warrant; Hearing taking place this morning
- (KR) South Korea Fin Min Yoo: Will respond to economic risks with active policy - speaking at parliament
- (KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) report to Parliament: Raises ratio of USD reserves to 70.3% in 2016 from 66.6% in 2015 (highest since started publishing data in 2008)
- (KR) South Korea and US seeking to limit oil supply to North Korea - Korean press

***Asian Equity Indices/Futures (00:00ET)***
- Nikkei -0.3%, Hang Seng -0.4%, Shanghai Composite -1.1%, ASX200 +0.3%, Kospi -0.3%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.1%; Nasdaq +0.1%; Dax +0.2%; FTSE100 flat

***FX ranges/Commodities/Fixed Income (00:00ET)***
- EUR 1.0740-1.0770; JPY 111.00-111.40; AUD 0.7655-0.7675; NZD 0.7020-0.7045
- Apr Gold -0.4% at $1,249/oz; May Crude Oil +0.1% at $49.57/brl; May Copper -0.3% at $2.67/lb
- iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings fall to 10,292 tonnes from 10,337 tonnes prior; 2nd straight decline
- (CN) PBoC skips open market operations for 5th straight session; Said to drain CNY40B v CNY70B prior
- (CN) PBOC SETS YUAN MID POINT AT 6.8889 V 6.8915 PRIOR; firmer setting after 2 consecutive weaker fixes
- (JP) Japan MoF sells ¥1.99T v ¥2.2T indicated in 2-yr 0.1% JGBs; Avg yield: -0.206% v -0.252% prior; bid to cover: 3.82x v 3.93x prior
- (JP) Japan investors sold net ¥152B in foreign bonds v bought ¥151B in prior week; Foreign investors sold net ¥754B in Japan stocks v sold ¥585B in prior week

***Asia equities / Notables / movers by sector***
- Consumer discretionary: 494.HK Li & Fung -9.1% (FY16 result); 525.HK Guangshen Railway Co -4.4% (FY16 result); DLX.AU Dulux Group -3.7% (UBS downgrades); NVT.AU Navitas +3.8% (trading update); TGA.AU Thorn Group -3.0% (potential class action)
- Consumer staples: 1230.HK Yashili International Holdings +0.7%, 2319.HK Mengniu Dairy +1.5% (FY16 result), BOQ.AU Bank of Queensland +1.4% (H1 result)
- Financials: 813.HK Shimao Property -1.6%
- Industrials: 338.HK Weichai Power -1.1% (FY16 result)
- Technology: 451.HK GCL New Energy -2.3% (FY16 result); 005930.KR Samsung Electronics +0.4% (Launches the Galaxy S8 smartphone); 6502.JP Toshiba +3.5% (Westinghouse files for bankruptcy)
- Materials: 2009.HK BBMG Corp -4.4% (FY16 result); WAF.AU West African Resources +7.1% (drilling result); ILU.AU Iluka Resources +1.9%, FMG.AU Fortescue +0.8% (iron ore price rise)
- Energy: BPT.AU Beach Energy +3.2%, WPL.AU Woodside Petroleum +1.5% (oil rises)
- Healthcare: 4502.JP Takeda Pharmaceutical +3.0% (Dengue Vaccine Triggers Immune Responses in Phase 2 Trial)

>>> US After Hours Summary: PRGS +9% following earnings/CFO/DataRPM ac


After Hours Summary: PRGS +9% following earnings/CFO/DataRPM acquisition news, COP +6% on CVE deal and $3 bln repurchase authorization... CRTN -31%, LULU -18% following earnings/guidance

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: IDXG +21.6%, KGJI +12.7%, PRGS +9% (also acquires DataRPM for $30 mln; appoints Paul Jalbert, chief accounting officer, as CFO replacing Kurt Abkemeier, who will leave the company effective immediately), NLST +7.5% (ticking higher)

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: EXTR +17% (Broadcom to sell its data center center switching, routing, and analytics business to Extreme Networks for $55 mln in cash), ANTH +16.6% (announces the findings from the Extension Period of the Phase 3 SOLUTION; demonstrates comparable maintenance in key measurements of height, weight, and BMI), COP +5.7% (Cenovus Energy acquires ConocoPhillips' 50% interest in the FCCL Partnership and also purchases the majority of ConocoPhillips' Deep Basin conventional assets; COP will add $3 bln to repurchase authorization), HTGM +4.3% (rebounding from recent offering related pullback; also higher despite GlaxoSmithKline lowering active stake / disclosing the sale of 300k shares), INCR +2.4% (will replace CEB in the S&P MidCap 400), HSKA +1.8% (light volume; will replace Wintrust Financial in the SmallCap 600), CBIO +1.2% (New Enterprise Associates increases active stake)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: CRTN -30.6%, LULU -17.6%, GEVO -16.2%, WOR -6.3%, SIGM -3.4%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: TNXP -16.3% (commences common stock offering), CVE -7.6% (Cenovus Energy acquires ConocoPhillips' 50% interest in the FCCL Partnership and also purchases the majority of ConocoPhillips' Deep Basin conventional assets in Alberta and British Columbia; enters into a bought-deal financing agreement), CARA -6.2% (commences $80 mln common stock offering), OFS -2.9% (commences underwritten offering of 3,500,000 shares of common stock), CAB -2.5% (pulling back after seeing late spike on reports that it may sell its finance unit to Synovus), SA -2.5% (announces CAD$14.3 million bought deal offering of common shares and concurrent CAD$20.0 million bought deal offering of flow-through shares), UAA -0.8% (LULU sympathy)

Trump to unveil $1 trillion infrastructure plan in 2017: official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said the Trump administration would unveil a $1 trillion infrastructure plan later this year, but she did not offer details of funding for projects.

Chao said at an event at the department's headquarters that the infrastructure initiative would include "a strategic, targeted program of investment valued at $1 trillion over 10 years. The proposal will cover more than transportation infrastructure, it will include energy, water and potentially broadband and veterans hospitals as well."

>>> US Close Dow -0.20% S&P +0.11% Nasdaq +0.38% Russell +0.32%

Closing Market Summary: Stocks Eke Out a Win on Wednesday

Tuesday's positive sentiment lingered throughout Wednesday's session as the benchmark S&P 500 (+0.1%) chalked up its second win of the week. The Nasdaq (+0.4%) also settled higher while the Dow (-0.2%) finished a tad lower.

While the macro movement was rather subdued on Wednesday, a variety of catalysts mixed things up on the micro level. Maybe the most notable of which was the latest crude oil inventory report from the EIA, which showed a smaller than expected build of 0.9 million barrels (consensus +1.4 million). The reading awoke the bulls in the crude oil futures market and prompted WTI crude to settle 2.2% higher at $49.47/bbl. The energy sector (1.2%) capitalized on the commodity's positive performance to settle at the top of the day's leaderboard.

Amazon (AMZN 874.32, +18.32) also influenced today's price action, jumping 2.1% to push the consumer discretionary sector (+0.6%) to the second spot in the day's standings. Today's gain leaves the internet retail giant 3.3% higher since Monday when it bounced off its 50-day moving average. The positive performance was also reflected in the 2.0% increase in the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 42.54, +0.82).

Elsewhere on the corporate front, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX 108.01, +18.34) propped up the biotech industry after reporting that an experimental cystic fibrosis drug improved lung function. VRTX shares spiked 20.5% and led the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 294.42, +2.41) higher by 0.8%, but it still wasn't enough to give the health care sector (unch) an edge on its peers.

The heavily-weighted financial group (-0.5%) kept the market's gain in check, but nearly all of the remaining sectors--industrials, materials, technology, consumer staples, telecom services, and real estate--failed to distinguish themselves from the broader market, settling within 0.3% of their respective flat lines. Meanwhile, the utilities space (-0.5%) finished with the financial group at the bottom of the day's leaderboard, but its impact was minimal due to its low market capitalization.

In the Treasury market, U.S. sovereign debt settled with a modest gain for the second time this week. The benchmark 10-yr yield closed four basis points lower at 2.38%.

On the data front, today's economic releases were limited to February Pending Home Sales and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index:

  • Pending Home Sales for February rose 5.5% while the consensus expected an increase of 2.4%. Today's reading follows an unrevised 2.8% drop in January.
  • The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 0.8% to follow last week's 2.7% decline.

Tomorrow, investors will receive the third estimate of fourth quarter GDP (consensus 2.0%) and Initial Claims (consensus 245,000) at 8:30 ET.

  • Nasdaq Composite +9.6% YTD
  • S&P 500 +5.5% YTD
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average +4.5% YTD
  • Russell 2000 +1.0% YTD

>>> WebMD starts sale process, sources say

WebMD starts sale process, sources say

WebMD Health [NASDAQ:WBMD] recently reached out to potential suitors to invite them to participate in a sale process, three sources briefed on the matter said.
The New York-based health information provider announced in February it had hired JPMorgan and Shearman & Sterling to explore a potential sale of all or parts of the company. Subsequently, activist Blue Harbour Group filed a 13-D and said it has held discussions with the company.
WebMD is currently signing confidentiality agreements with the suitors and has not yet communicated an official process timeline, the sources said. One said initial bids should happen in the next few weeks.

A spokesperson for the company declined to comment.
Bidders may be willing to offer 12x to 13x EBITDA for WebMD, two of the sources said. With a USD 50.64 per share price, the company currently trades at 8.8x adjusted 2016 EBITDA, assuming its convertible notes are treated as debt.
The USD 398m in 2.5% notes due 2018 convert at USD 66.13, the USD 300m in 1.5% notes dues due 2020 convert at USD 52.81 and the USD 351m in 2.625% notes due 2023 convert at USD 87.07 per share.
WebMD is expected to attract financial sponsors looking to put capital to work on sizable targets, the second source said. Private equity firms may also view WedMD as a value play, the third source said.
Large companies interested in data targets like Quintiles IMS Holdings [NYSE:Q] and Hearst are potential strategic suitors, two of the sources and a sector advisor said.
Some potential private equity suitors are lukewarm about looking at the company again given its failed attempts to sell in the past, some of the sources said. WebMD reportedly considered a sale in late 2011, again in fall 2012 and briefly in early 2016.
The new strategic review comes as WebMD has been losing connections to consumers through its webmd.com website that relies on internet searches, an equity analyst said. He noted that Google has prioritized health information offered by academic institutions in search listings.
Around 80% of WebMD’s USD 705m in revenue comes from advertising from its consumer website and a separate website for physicians, Medscape. The physician site accounts for 60% of the advertising revenue. The company also markets employee wellness programs to employers and sells health data.

The employer wellness market is undergoing a shift as companies look to pass these services along to health insurers and other parties, the analyst said.
One of the sources briefed, however, said that while WebMD has had “its ups and downs,” the business is good and growing, especially the physicians business and that is expected to pique buyer interest.

WedMD’s share price has declined over 15% in the past year at the same time when the NASDAQ Index has rallied over 20%. The company is forecasting 1% to 4% revenue growth in 2017.