WAF GY - Wacker Chemie intends to cut its stake in Siltronic, will continue to hold more than a 30% stake - Have begun accelerated bookbuilding process
RWE Dampens Speculation of Innogy Sale
Germany's largest energy producer has dismissed speculation that a French rival could buy its promising green-energy subsidiary Innogy. Investors shrugged off the denial and sent shares surging.
Engie is not interested in Innogy
The French group does not wish to buy a minority stake in the subsidiary specialized in renewable energies of its German competitor RWE.
The soufflé drops down. This morning, Bloomberg said that Enogie was eyeing Innogy, a company specializing in renewable energies, 77% owned by RWE. The German group reiterated its desire to maintain long-term control (51%) of its subsidiary while recognizing that it was "free to sell shares" by staying above that threshold. Chairman Rolf Martin Schmitz added that he "regularly reviewed the strategic options" of his subsidiary.
For his part, Engie declined to comment. But in the entourage of the group, one sweeps the possibility of becoming shareholder of Innogy. "RWE is looking for a partner to recover money," says a relative of Engie, "but we do not have the interest of being a minority of a large company already controlled." At the end of February, at the presentation of the annual results, CEO Isabelle Kocher said she preferred internal growth but did not exclude "targeted acquisitions" and not large operations.
"We want to control our companies"
"We have always said that we are not interested in financial participations," said another source close to the group. "We want to control our companies." The president of RWE added on Tuesday morning that Inogy enjoyed a "very stable profitability". The renewable energy subsidiary will pay this year 800 million euros of dividend to its shareholders, of which nearly 700 million for RWE.
The purchase of the entirety of Innogy is also unlikely. It would still cost 20 billion euros while Enge is worth 30 billion euros on the stock market. And it would be difficult for him to incur heavy debt while the group still bears 25 billion euros of debts. Especially since the former GDF Suez has set at 2 billion euros its envelope dedicated to acquisitions ...
However, in the long term, RWE may well give up control of Innogy, where part of the capital has already been listed on the stock market in 2015. A sign that development in renewable energies is not a priority. "The shareholders of RWE want to consolidate the market of thermal power plants in Europe, decrypts a good connoisseur of the file, by which they need money and they will be able to sell Innogy". A last, more consensual option would be to set foot at Innogy with an option on a futures takeover. This solution would allow RWE to benefit from the dividends of its subsidiary for a few years. And to Engie to save time to finalize these 15 billion euros of divestitures and find room for financial maneuvers.
Engie n’est pas intéressé par Innogy
Le groupe français ne souhaite pas racheter une part minoritaire dans la filiale spécialisée dans les énergise renouvelables de son concurrent allemand RWE.
Le soufflé retombe. Ce matin, Bloomberg affirmait qu’Engie lorgnait Innogy, société spécialisée dans les énergies renouvelables, détenue à 77% par RWE. Le groupe allemand a réitéré sa volonté de conserver à long terme le contrôle (51%) de sa filiale tout en reconnaissant qu’il était "libre de vendre des parts" en restant au-dessus de ce seuil. Son président Rolf Martin Schmitz a ajouté qu’il "examinait régulièrement les options stratégiques" de sa filiale.
De son côté, Engie s’est refusé à tout commentaire. Mais dans l’entourage du groupe, on balaie la possibilité de devenir actionnaire d’Innogy. "RWE cherche un partenaire pour récupérer de l’argent, explique un proche d’Engie. Mais nous n’avons pas intérêt à être minoritaire d’une grande société déjà contrôlée". Fin février, lors de la présentation des résultats annuels, la directrice générale Isabelle Kocher avait indiqué qu’elle préférait la croissance interne mais qu’elle n’excluait pas des "acquisitions ciblées" et non de grosses opérations.
"Nous avons toujours dit que nous n’étions pas intéressés par les participations financières, tranche une autre source proche du groupe. Nous souhaitons contrôler nos sociétés". Le président de RWE a ajouté ce mardi matin qu’Innogy bénéficiait d’une "rentabilité très stable". La filiale d’énergie renouvelables va verser cette année 800 millions d’euros de dividende à ses actionnaires dont près de 700 millions pour RWE.
Le rachat de la totalité d’Innogy est par ailleurs peu probable. Il coûterait tout de même 20 milliards d’euros alors qu’Engie vaut 30 milliards d’euros en Bourse. Et il lui serait difficile de s’endetter lourdement alors que le groupe supporte encore 25 milliards d’euros de dettes. D’autant que l’ancien GDF Suez a fixé à 2 milliards d’euros son enveloppe dédiée aux acquisitions…
Pour autant, à long terme, RWE pourrait bien céder le contrôle d’Innogy dont une partie du capital a déjà été introduit en Bourse en 2015. Un signe que le développement dans les énergies renouvelables n’est pas prioritaires. "Les actionnaires de RWE veulent consolider le marché des centrales thermiques en Europe, décrypte un bon connaisseur du dossier. Pour cela, il leur faut de l’argent et ils pourront vendre Innogy". Une dernière option, plus consensuelle, consisterait à mettre un pied chez Innogy avec une option sur une prise de contrôle à terme. Cette solution permettrait à RWE de profiter des dividendes de sa filiale pendant quelques années. Et à Engie de gagner du temps pour finaliser ces 15 milliards d’euros de cessions et retrouver des marges de manœuvres financières.
Unilever urges changes to UK’s takeover code
Anglo-Dutch group calls on Westminster to safeguard national corporate champions
Unilever has urged the UK government to take steps to safeguard national corporate champions and questioned the strength of the country’s takeover code after Kraft Heinz’s audacious £143bn bid for the consumer goods group last month.
Although the US company has less than half of Unilever’s annual sales of €53bn, the Warren Buffett-backed bid threatened the survival of the century-old group.
The maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream said target companies should have more time in which to defend themselves and that takeover rules should be changed to consider the interests of stakeholders beyond shareholders.
Paul Polman, chief executive of Unilever, said on Tuesday: “We’re not talking about protection; we are saying that when you have a situation like this, with a national champion, there should be a level playing field.”
Theresa May, prime minister, has talked tough on foreign takeovers and pushed for a stronger industrial policy to protect UK jobs after the fall in the pound’s value prompted by last year’s Brexit vote. This has raised fears about some UK companies being sold on the cheap, though Unilever holds most of its assets outside the UK.
Mrs May ordered senior officials to examine Kraft Heinz’s proposed takeover to determine whether government intervention was necessary. But it is unclear how far the government would intervene in corporate dealmaking.
The 2002 Enterprise Act only allows ministers to prevent mergers on the basis of three issues: financial stability, media plurality and national security.
Ministers are drawing up proposals for a new framework which could add a fourth criteria, “critical national infrastructure”, including specific areas such as nuclear power.
Government insiders say they had a “lucky escape” when Kraft withdrew its bid for Unilever, because such an enormous deal would have brought huge scrutiny to bear on the gap between Mrs May’s protectionist rhetoric and her relatively modest proposals.
Unilever pointed to the Netherlands, where the group is also listed and where takeovers are subject to a broader stakeholder interest test. In the UK, company boards have a fiduciary duty to shareholders only.
That echoes calls from Sir Vince Cable, former business secretary, who wants a new public interest test to prevent a string of currency-induced takeovers.
The Anglo-Dutch group also said that the 28-day deadline to make a firm takeover offer, known as “put up or shut up”, gives little time for a target company to prepare its defences, whereas a potential acquirer might have spent a year or more preparing its bid.
However, the deadline, also known as the “Pusu”, was one of a series of reforms brought in to protect potential takeover targets after Kraft successfully bought Cadbury, the chocolate maker, in 2010.
Kraft, which later spun off its snack business into Mondelez, pursued Cadbury for five months and the Pusu was introduced to shorten the period of uncertainty hanging over a potential target.
The Takeover Panel, which is a self-governing body, declined to comment.
Opec raises oil production estimates outside the cartel for 2017
US expected to lead non-cartel supply followed by Brazil and Canada this year
Opec has raised its 2017 estimates for oil production from outside of the cartel as US shale drillers boost activity in response to higher prices, underlining the threat to the group’s attempts to balance the market.
Non-Opec oil supply is now projected to grow about 400,000 barrels a day this year, from a previously estimated 240,000 b/d, to average at a higher level of 57.7m b/d, Opec said in its monthly market report.
The increased growth figure from just one month ago comes after a near 10 per cent drop in prices in the last week, as traders fret over the shale industry’s potential to overwhelm the cartel’s own supply cuts.
Hedge funds have reduced their bullish bets on the oil price given the renewed anxiety over excess supply. Brent crude, the global benchmark, has dropped nearly 7 per cent this month to $51.79 a barrel while US marker West Texas Intermediate has fallen almost 10 per cent to $48.73 a barrel.
“It seems that the oil supply recovery is gathering momentum in the world oil market, stimulated by gradually rising prices as well as improvements in drilling efficiency and well productivity in North America,” said Opec in its March report.
Despite Opec’s broad compliance with a global agreement to curb supplies, oil stockpiles remain well above their five-year average at more than 3bn barrels as production elsewhere rises and inventories remain bloated.
Among producers outside the cartel, the biggest contributor in 2017 is expected to be the US, which will add 340,000 b/d. Brazil and Canada will increase by a higher level of 260,000 b/d; Kazakhstan by 140,000 and smaller non-Opec countries in Africa will add several thousand barrels.
Opec’s collective production has fallen about 1m b/d since the deal late last year to about 32m b/d in February. This figure has been calculated by secondary sources, such as consultants and analysts, that submit assessments to Opec.
The drop — led by cuts from Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia — comes even as conflict-ridden Libya and Nigeria are exempt from the agreement and Iran has been given a special dispensation to increase its output slightly.
Although world oil demand this year has been revised higher, with growth at almost 1.3m b/d to average 96.3m b/d, and Opec forecasting no oil surplus in the second half of 2017, there are concerns about the pace of the inventory drawdown.
Opec had expected excess stockpiles to ease at a quicker rate than they have in the first few months of 2017, said Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister last week.
Secondary source data, from which targets for each producer are calculated, show the kingdom decreased its production in February from the previous month to under 9.8m b/d. But the Saudi government data submitted to Opec, however, shows an increase in production to above 10m b/d.
Nonetheless, it is still a steep drop from almost 10.5m b/d the kingdom produced in December. Mr Falih last week warned other participants of the deal that the steep production cuts must be shared by all. “Saudi Arabia will not allow itself to be used by others,” he said.
First-time buyers increase share of UK mortgages
Total value of property loans falls amid weakness in buy-to-let market
The share of first-time buyers taking out new mortgages has reached its highest level since the Bank of England began keeping a record in 2007.
In the final three months of 2016, 22 per cent of new home loans were granted to first-time buyers, the second consecutive quarter when the share hit a new record.
The total value of new mortgages in the final quarter was £62.8bn, a 2.6 per cent fall from the previous quarter and a 0.4 per cent year-on-year fall.
The proportion of buy-to-let loans rose to 13.9 per cent in the quarter, up from 13.0 per cent during the previous three months. But both of these figures are far below the 21.4 per cent share in the first quarter of 2016, when many purchases were brought forward to avoid the introduction of higher stamp duty.
Separate data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders painted a similar picture. The trade body found that the volume of new mortgages in January 2017 fell 28 per cent compared to December and was virtually unchanged since the same month during the previous year.
Mortgages for first-time buyers increased 9 per cent compared to January 2016 but buy-to-let was down by 16 per cent compared to one year ago.
Weakness in the buy-to-let market, as well as caution from lenders, “suggests that mortgage lending will make only modest gains this year,” said Hansen Lu, a property economist with Capital Economics.
While there was a rise in loans worth more than 95 per cent of the value of the property in the Bank of England data, it was “more than offset by a drop in loans extended at between 90 per cent and 95 per cent [loan to value],” Mr Lu said.
The BoE statistics mirror data from estate agents Countrywide, which found that rents in Britain fell for the first time in six years in February due to a surge in new rental properties appearing on the market.
This surplus of rental properties was due to the spike in new buy-to-let mortgage purchases last year and some temporary cooling in London’s property market, BoE data suggests.
“It will take a while for landlords to adjust to the new environment of increased stamp duty, tougher stress tests and the imminent curtailment of tax relief,” said David Whittaker, chief executive of Mortgages for Business.