Coca-Cola exercises call option to acquire Anheuser-Busch InBev's stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa
* Coca-Cola Company today announced its intention to acquire Anheuser-Busch InBevs (ABI) stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) following the closing of the ABI combination with SABMiller.
* The company has chosen to exercise its right to acquire ABIs stake in CCBA because it intends to implement its long-term strategic plan in these markets with other partners. While the company respects ABIs capabilities, it has a number of existing partners who are highly qualified and interested in these bottling territories.
* During the next few months the company will negotiate the terms of the transaction with ABI according to the contractual parameters, which will later be followed by a regulatory approval process. The Coca-Cola Company also will continue negotiations with potential partners, and plans to refranchise CCBA as soon as practical following regulatory approval. The companys intent is to account for the acquired stake as a discontinued operation for reporting purposes.
Completes business combination with SABMiller
* It is expected that shares in the former AB InBev will be delisted from Euronext Brussels and the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores at the opening of business in each market tomorrow, 11-Oct-16, and then delisted from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on 13-Oct-16.
* In addition, commencement of trading of Newbelco ADSs (representing the New Ordinary Shares) will commence on the New York Stock Exchange at the opening of business in New York tomorrow, 11-Oct-16.
*AB INBEV ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF COMBINATION WITH SABMILLER
- NewBelco : ABI BB
- AB Inbev : ABIT BB
Closing Market Summary: Indices Begin Week Higher as Oil RalliesThe major averages began the week on a higher note, aided by a rebound in European markets, a rally in crude oil futures, and the outperformance of market heavyweight Apple (AAPL 116.06, +2.00). The Nasdaq Composite (+0.7%) settled ahead of both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.5%) and the S&P 500 (+0.5%).
Long-term interest rate concerns shifted out of focus slightly as thin trading conditions and a holiday closure for the U.S. bond market kept a lid on recent rate angst. Today's action was largely headline driven as positive commentary from oil figures and specific company catalysts led to a higher start to the week. Investors also looked ahead to the start of the third quarter earnings reporting season. Alcoa (AA 31.51, +0.14) will kick things off when the company reports quarterly results ahead of Tuesday's open.
Crude oil extended its recent winning streak after Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled that he supports freezing or even cutting Russian oil production. The commentary comes on the heels of OPEC's recently-proposed output cap. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia's oil minister also contributed to the positive bias when he suggested that oil prices could reach $60.00/bbl before the end of the year. WTI crude finished the day higher by 3.1% ($51.32/bbl, +$1.56).
The major averages carved out session highs in the first hour of trade, yet buying interest tapered off in a slow, steady fashion during the remainder of the session.
All 11 sectors finished with a gain. The energy (+1.5%), utilities (+0.8%), and technology (+0.7%) sectors led the advance. The industrials sector (+0.02%) brought up the rear, held back by an earnings warning from Dover (DOV 66.69, -5.55), which followed on the heels of Honeywell's (HON 106.80, -0.14) profit warning on Friday.
In the technology space (+0.8%), Apple (AAPL 116.06, +2.00) outperformed after Samsung opted to provisionally adjust its Galaxy 7 smartphone production schedule. The company is seeking to better control quality and safety standards. Meanwhile, Twitter (TWTR 17.56, -2.29) was a story stock throughout the day as various reports highlighted waning takeover interest in the company. The social media name tumbled 11.5% on the news, but finished off its session low. Late headlines indicated Twitter could still be acquired, but most likely only at a lower price level.
The economically-sensitive financial sector (+0.5%) outperformed as the fed funds futures market continued to price in a higher probability (now 70%) of a rate hike at the December FOMC meeting. Participants will look for further clues regarding the rate hike picture when the FOMC Minutes from the September 21 meeting cross the wires at 2:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Biotechnology ended ahead of the broader health care space (+0.4%), evidenced by the 1.4% gain in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 288.07, +3.97). Mylan (MYL 38.87, +2.93) surged 8.2% after announcing that it settled claims related to the misclassification of its EpiPen device under the Medicaid rebate program. Mylan agreed to pay $465 million to resolve all potential liability claims by federal and state governments. Separately, Bristol Myers (BMY 49.81, -5.62) plunged 10.1% after Merck's (MRK 63.90, +1.13) Keytruda medication beat out its competing treatment.
The PHLX Semiconductor Index (-0.5%) erased an early gain as Qualcomm (QCOM 67.25, -0.94) ended lower by 1.4%.
The U.S. bond market was closed in observance of Columbus Day. The 10-yr yield settled at 1.72% last Friday.
Today's participation was below the recent average as fewer than 667 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
With the bond market closed today, there were no economic releases. There aren't any major economic releases on Tuesday's economic calendar either.
- Russell 2000: +10.1% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite: +6.4% YTD
- S&P 500: +5.9% YTD
- Dow Jones +5.2% YTD
A nuclear power plant became the target of a disruptive cyber attack two to three years ago, and there is a serious threat of militant attacks on such plants, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Monday.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Yukiya Amano also cited a case in which an individual tried to smuggle a small amount of highly enriched uranium about four years ago that could have been used to build a so-called "dirty bomb".
"This is not an imaginary risk," Amano told Reuters and a German newspaper during a visit to Germany that included a meeting with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
"This issue of cyber attacks on nuclear-related facilities or activities should be taken very seriously. We never know if we know everything or if it's the tip of the iceberg."
Amano declined to give details of either incident, but said the cyber attack had caused "some disruption" at the plant, although it did not prove to be very serious since the plant did not have to shut down its operations. He said he had not previously discussed the cyber attack in public.
"This actually happened and it caused some problems," he said, adding while the plant did not have to shut down, it "needed to take some precautionary measures."
He said the attack was disruptive, not destructive, a term used to refer to incidents like the 2014 attack that destroyed data on computers of Sony Corp's Sony Pictures Entertainment and rendered some of its internal networks inoperable.
Concerns about cyber attacks on nuclear sites have grown in recent years after the emergence of computer malware that can be used to attack industrial controls. The issue flared again after Belgian media reported that the suicide bombers who killed 32 people in Brussels on March 22 originally looked into attacking a nuclear installation.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co Ltd, which operates 23 nuclear reactors in South Korea, said in 2014 it was beefing up cyber security after non-critical data was stolen from its computer systems, although reactor operations were not at risk.
In April, German utility RWE increased its security after its Gundremmingen nuclear power plant was found to be infected with computer viruses. The company said they did not appear to have posed a threat to operations.
Security experts say blowing up a nuclear reactor is beyond the skills of militant groups, but the nuclear industry has some vulnerabilities that could be exploited.
Amano said the U.N. agency was helping countries increase cyber and overall nuclear security through training and a detailed database that included information from 131 countries, and by providing them with radiation detection devices.
Since 2010, the IAEA said it had trained over 10,000 people in nuclear security, including police and border guards, and has given countries more than 3,000 mobile phone-sized instruments for detecting nuclear and other radioactive material.
Amano flagged the issue at an IAEA cyber security conference in June 2015, and said it will be key topic at a broader nuclear security summit in Vienna in December.
San'an expressed interest in lighting manufacturer
Munich The Chinese semiconductor company San'an Optoelectronics has the traditional Munich company Osram targeted. There had been initial contacts to explore an acquisition or a partnership, San'an said on Monday. Details about the price were but so far not been a topic. "There is no binding arrangements have been made." Osram did not want to comment on that.
About a possible takeover bid from China for luminaire manufacturers is speculated for some time. Last week spurred a media report of a qualified offer of San'an to mid-October the Osram course. It was also speculated on the possible sale of the 17.5 percent stake, to the former parent company Siemens still holds the luminaire manufacturer.According to the statement of the Chinese on Monday the shares turned however into the red - in the top 2.7 percent to 56.15 euros.
The federal government does not comment on the Chinese interest in Osram in content. A spokesman for the economy ministry referred in Berlin that it constitutes an entrepreneurial process. At the same time he noted that Germany was competing with countries that are not so open themselves."We do not want protectionism, but we want fair competition," he said. In should be discussed at European level. "We have also in China the situation is that we do not find there the same open terms how it is with us." The same applies to investment from China in Germany. Therefore, must be given to how to deal with it.
San'an is not entirely unknown in Germany. The company had in 2014 with a major order in deficit chip equipment manufacturerAixtron catered for hope of better times. Late last year San'an steamed to order a however - instead of 50 plants for the production of light-emitting diodes, it should only be three.Shares of Aixtron broke then.Meanwhile, the Chinese Grand Chip Investment, a subsidiary of the investment fund Fujian Gran chip Imvestment (FGC), gripped by Aixtron and wants the Aachener company for six euros per share - a total of 670 million euros - take. FGC and San'an are not related, as Liu Zhendong FGC Manager recently admitted in an interview with Spiegel magazine. But he denied that there had been an influence.
Osram as well as the competitors contend with the upheaval in the industry for some time. More and more customers pivot about the power-saving light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are increasingly used in consumer electronics, automotive and industrial lighting. Osram CEO Olaf Berlien therefore align the Group consistently on LED chips and specialty lighting. The traditional bulb business Osram was sold to a bidder trio from China. That Berlien for the realignment of over one billion euros invested and built a mass production in Asia, met with shareholders as the former parent Siemens to massive criticism.
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