>>> OPWR - Agrees to be acquired by Oracle for $10.30/shr in cash; total deal va

Agrees to be acquired by Oracle for $10.30/shr in cash; total deal valued at $532M

Oracle has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Opower for $10.30 per share in cash. The transaction is valued at approximately $532 million, net of Opower's cash. The Board of Directors of Opower has unanimously approved the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in 2016, subject to Opower's stockholders tendering a majority of Opower's outstanding shares and derivative securities exercised prior to the closing of the tender offer, certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Opower's solutions enable over 100 global utilities, such as PG&E, Exelon and National Grid, to deliver a modern digital customer experience. Opower's big data platform stores and analyzes over 600 billion meter reads from 60 million utility end customers, enabling utilities to proactively meet regulatory requirements, decrease the cost to serve, and improve customer satisfaction

>>> MDVN amends by-laws re written consent - adds 2 provisions



From: LAURA ANREDER (OSCAR GRUSS & SON IN) At: May 2 2016 12:18:20
To: LAURENT CHEKROUN (MAKOR SECURITIES LO)
Subject: Fwd:MDVN amends by-laws re written consent - adds 2 provisions

Item 3.03. Material Modification of Rights of Security Holders.
On April 29, 2016, the Board of Directors of Medivation, Inc. (the “Company”) amended and restated the Company’s Amended and Restated Bylaws (the “Bylaws”) to add the two provisions set forth below.
Procedural Requirements With Respect To Stockholder Actions by Written Consent
The Bylaws were amended by amending Article 36(c) relating to stockholders acting by written consent to provide that, in the event that a stockholder or stockholders seek to act by written consent, then (a) the Company shall engage independent inspectors of elections for the purpose of performing promptly a ministerial review of the validity of the consents and revocations, (b) for the purpose of permitting the inspectors to perform such review, no action of the stockholders by written consent and without a meeting shall be effective until such inspectors have completed their review, determined that the requisite number of valid and unrevoked consents have been obtained to authorize or take the action specified in the consents, and certified such determination, (c) provide that nothing contained in this new provision shall in any way be construed to suggest or imply that the Board of Directors or any stockholder shall not be entitled to contest the validity of any consent or revocation thereof, whether before or after such certification by the independent inspectors, or to take any other action (including, without limitation, the commencement, prosecution or defense of any litigation with respect thereto, and the seeking of injunctive relief in such litigation, and (d) provide that every written consent shall bear the date of signature of each stockholder who signs the consent and no written consent shall be effective to take the corporate action referred to therein unless, within sixty (60) days after the earliest dated written consent received a valid written consent or valid written consents signed by a sufficient number of stockholders to take such action are delivered to the Company in the manner prescribed in Section 36(c) and applicable law, and not revoked.
Forum Selection Provision
The Bylaws were amended by adding a new Article XV thereto, which new Article XV provides that unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company; (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or stockholder of the Company to the Company or the Company’s stockholders; (iii) any action asserting a claim against the Company or any director, officer or stockholder of the Company arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, the certificate of incorporation or the Bylaws of the Company; or (iv) any action asserting a claim against the Company or any director, officer or stockholder of the Company governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
The Bylaws, as so amended and restated, are attached as Exhibit 3.1 hereto.

Item 5.03. Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Change in Fiscal Year.
Reference is made to the disclosure set forth under Item 3.03 above, which disclosure is incorporated by reference here.

>>> ECB's Weidmann (Germany): Reiterates lack of reform slows rate normalization

ECB's Weidmann (Germany): Reiterates lack of reform slows rate normalization - financial press 
- Global economy requires supply-side reforms, not stimulus
- Global growth potential is being over-estimated
- Prolonged loose monetary policy lowers returns, raises risks, but must not last longer than absolutely necessary 
- Reiterates monetary policy and fiscal policy can't create long-term growth

>>> Vivendi increase stake in Ubisoft to 17.73% of share capital; requesting boa

Vivendi increase stake in Ubisoft to 17.73% of share capital; requesting board seats

Vivendi [EPA: VIV] declared that it crossed on April 27 2016, the 15% legal threshold and owns 19,922,805 shares in Ubisoft [EPA: UBI], the listed French video games company, representing 17.73% of the share capital and 15.66% of the voting rights in the company.

Vivendi declared that it considers acquiring more shares, that it is not acting in concert with any other party, and that it does not plan to take control of Ubisoft or launch a public offer for the business.Vivendi added that it wants to establish a fruitful collaboration with Ubisoft and that it intends to seek a restructuring of the Board of Ubisoft with the view, in particular, to obtain a representation that is consistent with its shareholder position.

This development was also reported in daily Les Echos, which cited an insider at Ubisoft as saying that the tactics is not a “surprise” and that it was the usual method of Vincent Bolloré [chairman of Vivendi], who wants to take “creeping” control of Vivendi without paying the shareholders

FT : Saudi Arabia — the dangers of a fanciful vision

Saudi Arabia is in a mess. That conclusion seems to be common ground — the view of serious outside analysts and of the country’s own government. The only question is whether the problems can be corrected by shock treatment of the sort announced in Riyadh last week.
The immediate challenge is clear. Last year, revenue from oil exports fell by 23 per cent. That matters in a country that is 77 per cent dependent on oil income. Unemployment is officially 11.6 per cent, not counting the millions who hold non-jobs in and around the agencies of the state. In total, 70 per cent of Saudis work for the government. In the first half of last year, according to Mohammed al-Sheikh, the chief economic adviser to the all-powerful deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (known universally as MbS), the kingdom’s financial reserves were being drawn down at a rate that would have exhausted them by the end of 2017 — far earlier than had previously been estimated by outside authorities such as the International Monetary Fund.
All those problems were well summed up in a note from McKinseys published at the end of last year that talked of the prospect of a rapid economic deterioration in Saudi Arabia over the next decade.
So radical change is needed, which brings us to the announcement last week of MbS’s Vision 2030, designed to create a modern economy free of dependence on oil. The full announcement is worth reading because it demonstrates the sheer scale of the ambition, but a few headlines will give you the flavour.
  • A stake in the state-owned oil company will be floated in an IPO within the next two years.
  • The funds from that and other asset sales — perhaps $2tn dollars or more — will be invested in a new sovereign wealth fund to give the country a regular income from non-oil sources.
  • The country will be opened up to tourism.
  • Expats will be allowed to own property within Saudi Arabia.
  • New small and medium-sized enterprises will be encouraged to the point where they account for 35 per cent of economic activity.
  • Subsidies for oil, water and electricity will be progressive eliminated.
  • Unemployment will be reduced to 7 per cent
  • A range of new industrial sectors will be developed, including petrochemicals, manufacturing and finance on the basis of foreign investment.
  • An anti-corruption drive in the Ministry of Defence will be combined with the development of a domestic military equipment business that will be capable of meeting at least half of the country’s needs.
All this builds on a full-scale McKinsey study called “Saudi Arabia — Beyond Oil”, which was published at the end of last year.
The only problem with this grand plan is that is completely unrealistic. To say, as MbS did last week, that by 2020 Saudi Arabia will no longer be dependent on oil revenue is beyond a dream. To say that the country doesn’t care whether the oil price is $30 a barrel or $70 is ridiculous. But the real problem is the reality when it comes to implementation. Last week’s policy statement makes no reference to any of the difficulties of delivering what is promised.
Are we really supposed to believe that Saudi Arabia can create an industry to build technically complex military equipment from a zero base?
Or to believe that western tourists are going to flock to a country whose laws allow people to be stoned to death for adultery or gay sex? The human rights problems are amply and regularly set out in reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. How many western women will be happy to slip into a burkini for their holidays?
How is the civil service which MBS accepted last week was corrupt and inefficient to be reformed when so many of the brightest and best Saudis are happier to live and work in London or New York?
How is Aramco to be converted into a company that can meet western standards of transparency and good governance? Will the kingdom, for instance, allow an independent external analysis of the company’s claimed oil and gas reserves?
And, perhaps most important of all, how will the Saudi government break the hold ofWahhabist religious fundamentalism, something the royal family has not managed over the last century?
Without a serious analysis of the delivery process, Vision 2030 is meaningless rhetoric. The barriers to progress are not new. They have defeated every attempt to achieve change and reform made by successive Saudi governments. Promises of economic diversification, of industrial development, of education for all and of a transformation of the energy sector through the development of renewables have all ended in failure. To ignore the problems of delivery is to demonstrate the unreality of the whole approach. I hope McKinsey — a firm of the highest integrity — will point this out rather allowing its brand to be tarnished by association with a project that it must know cannot work.
The worst thing is that MbS, who is 30 and has not enjoyed the benefit of a western education with its inbuilt tone of scepticism, actually believes what he is saying and does indeed think that he can transform the country by an act of personal will. The deputy crown prince is the sort of character about whom Shakespeare could have written a great play. It would not have ended happily.
It might be tempting to say that these are Saudi Arabia’s problems and that after innumerable further, and no doubt very lucrative, consultancy studies little will change and MbS will be swept away — perhaps by a change of the guard after his father’s death.
That view is too narrow. Saudi Arabia matters in the region — look at the damage being done in Yemen and by the wider conflict with Iran which MbS has been stoking. Provocative behaviour, driven on by economic weakness and competition for shares of the oil market, could make a bad neighbourhood even more volatile.
And the country matters in the world, as well. Global oil consumption may be coming to its peak but it will stay at around 90 to 100mbd for a very long time. The kingdom is a crucial part of the equation and should be on the side of stability. Pretending the price doesn’t matter reflects a lack of interest or knowledge when it comes to the wider consequences of the policies being pursued.
For Saudi Arabia, the lack of realism behind Vision 2030 can only make a messy situation worse. For those outside the kingdom, the naivity of the approach is another unwelcome source of instability and danger.

>>> What to look at today - 2nd of May 2016

Asian equity markets are generally in the red, though volumes are light with mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore closed for holiday. Nikkei225 is leading the declines with a catch-up slump, since Tokyo trade was closed on Friday. USD/JPY continued to crater to fresh 18-month lows, falling below ¥106.20 and further pressuring Japan exporters. Nikkei225 futures contract is now down 8.5% from the levels just before the BOJ shocked the markets with a rate hold late last week. China official PMIs were a mixed bag - both were down slightly from March levels but remained in expansion. Among key manufacturing components, new export orders matched the headline with 50.1 v 50.2 m/m, employment continued to dive at 47.8 v 48.1 m/m, but input prices hit multi-month highs of 57.6 v 55.3 m/m. In another positive sign for commodities, inventories of raw materials fell to a 5-month low of 57.6 v 55.3 m/m, portending a potential peak in oversupply. Japan Final manufacturing PMI of 48.2 was only slightly better than 48.0 preliminary. Markit economist said the Output component with especially weak, registering the biggest rate of decrease in 2 years.

Nikkei -3.34% Hang Seng Closed Shanghai Closed

Eur$ 1.1466 CNH 6.4832 CNY 6.4780 JPY 106.46 GBP 1.4613 CHF 0.9590 RUB$ 64.6862 WTI$45.52(-0.87%)

S&P Unch EuroStoxx+0.34% Dax +0.21% SMI +0.06% UK Closed ClosedSouth Africa Closed Russia Closed Greece

Macro :
- Greece Said to Agree With Creditors on NPLs Sale: Ekathimerini
- China April Manufacturing PMI 50.1; Est. 50.3
- China Expresses Concern Over Frequency of U.S. Steel Probes
- Italy Cabinet Approved Decree for Banks, Premier Renzi Says
- ECB’s Coeure Says Abandoning Inflation Goal Not an Option: FAS

Keep an eye on :
- AF FP : Air France-KLM Board Chooses Janaillac as New CEO, Chairman
- AXP US : Munger Warns of Danger Facing AmEx While Buffett Affirms Support
- ADP FP : ADP 1Q Rev. Rises 1.8%, Buoyed by International, Property Units
- APOL US : Apollo Education Gets Increased $10-Shr Offer From Consortium
- AZN LN : Allergan Gets FDA Approval for First Generic of Astra’s Crestor
- AAPL US : Apple Eyes Battersea Power Station for London HQ: Sunday Times
- BHI US : Halliburton, Baker Hughes Abandon $28 Billion Merger Agreement
- BPI IM : Banco Popolare, Pop. Milano to Present Plan to ECB May 16: Sole
- BWO AV : Buwog to Invest EU430m in Property Project in Hamburg
- VCH SW : Swiss Retailer Charles Voegele Held Merger Talks with Adler: SaS
- CO FP : Michel Klein seeks to buy back control of Viavarejo from Pao de Acucar - O Globo
- 1COV GY : Covestro to Make Acquisitions W/ Existing Debt: Euro Am Sonntag
- DBK GY : Deutsche Bank Financial-Crime Controls Faulted by U.K. FCA: FT
- EDF FP : France Issues Decree Allowing Merger of Hydropower Concessions
- ENGI FP : Engie Debt Rating Cut to A- From A at S&P; Outlook Negative
- FER SM : Broadspectrum Investor Allan Gray to Accept Ferrovial Bid, Ferrovial Says Reaches 59% of Broadspectrum; Offer Extended
- RMS FP : Barrons Article : Hermès Shares Could Rally as Sales Improve - http://bit.ly/1QGRDjz
- ISP IM : Intesa Sanpaolo Signs Deal to Sell Setefi
- LSE LN : Deutsche Borse Asked to Retract CEO Comment on LSE Merger
- MB IM : Mediobanca Weighs Leading Counteroffer on RCS: Repubblica
- MDVN US : AstraZeneca, Pfizer Said Among Firms Weighing Medivation Bid
- ORANW NA : Oranjewoud Says 2015 Revenue Rose 9% to EU2.31b; Skips Dividend
- PHIA NA : Philips Said Disappointed With Lighting Bids, Leaning Toward IPO
- RCS IM : Mediobanca Weighs Leading Counteroffer on RCS: Repubblica
- RNO FP : Renault Shareholders Approve Cap on French State’s Rights
- RNO FP : French Govt May Sell Renault, Safran Shrs This Year: FT
- SAB LN : SABMiller's Kompania Piwowarska may be sold - Portalspozywczy.pl
- SHP LN : Shire chief shrugs off shareholder protests - FT - http://on.ft.com/1rHmU1E
- SMIN LN : Pfizer in talks to sell USD 2bn pumps arm to Smiths; Smiths eyes asset sales - Sunday Times
- STL NO : Statoil Says Gullfaks B Output Will Be Halted as Long as Needed
- 7312 JP : U.S. to Expand Recall of Cars With Takata Air Bags: Nikkei
- TIT IM : Telecom Italia looking at 100% control of Metroweb, including Milan subsidiary
- TIT IM : Telecom Italia CEO says new sales procedure may be launched for Inwit - Il Sole
- TEF SM : Telefónica would consider other buyers for O2 - FT - http://on.ft.com/1SAQuPY
- VOW3 GY : VW Said to Balk at Qatar Getting Executive Committee Seat: Rtrs
- YHOO US : Yahoo Bidder Shortlist Includes Close to 10 Offers: Reuters