Les Echos : Vente-privee multiplie les acquisitions.

Vente-privee multiplie les acquisitions.

EXCLUSIF Le leader français du déstockage achète Privalia, numéro un espagnol. Il prend une participation majoritaire dans le site suisse eboutic.ch.

Jacques-Antoine Granjon, le président-fondateur du site Vente-privee.com, met le turbo. Et avec lui, son directeur général, Charles-Hubert de Chaudenay, ancien banquier d'affaires, qu'il a installé dans sa fonction en novembre dernier. Après une première opération de croissance externe avec le rachat du site belge Vente-Exclusive en septembre 2015, avant que n'arrive son nouveau dirigeant (qui était néanmoins administrateur de Vente-privee depuis 2008), le pionnier français du déstockage de produits de marque sur Internet imprime son empreinte sur l'Europe.

Il doit annoncer ce matin l'acquisition de 100 % du capital de Privalia, leader du secteur en Espagne (et présent aussi en Italie, au Brésil et au Mexique), et une prise de participation majoritaire dans eboutic.ch en Suisse, soit un chiffre d'affaires additionnel total (TTC et avant retours) de près de 480 millions d'euros en année pleine. « Ces opérations sont financées sur fonds propres et par de la dette. Cumulé à notre croissance organique attendue à 17 % cette année, ces acquisitions devraient permettre au groupe de franchir la barre des 3 milliards d'euros de chiffre d'affaires en 2016 », se félicite JacquesAntoine Granjon.

Il s'agit de répondre à l'offensive du géant américain de l'e-commerce Amazon, qui investit massivement dans la mode, et à la croissance forte de sites comme l'anglais Asos ou l'allemand Zalando. « Nous sommes sur un marché concurrentiel très vaste, où de multiples acteurs on line et off line s'affrontent pour la promotion et la distribution des collections des grandes marques de mode », poursuit le fondateur de Vente-privee.

A l'instar du modèle établi avec l'acquisition de Vente-Exclusive, le groupe français va conserver les dirigeants des deux entreprises, dont il prend le contrôle, et installer son offre sur leurs sites, ce qu'il a fait avec succès sur les marchés du Benelux. « Nous allons travailler les synergies potentielles et partager nos savoir-faire mutuels pour continuer de développer nos activités sur chacun de ces marchés ; et offrir ainsi le meilleur service à nos marques partenaires en leur proposant une offre globale », explique Jacques-Antoine Granjon.

Un premier pas vers une marque unique pour affronter à armes égales les autres géants du Net ? Le patron de Vente-privee n'entend pas mettre la charrue avant les bœufs. S'il sait bien que sa marque française n'est pas facilement exportable (comme en témoigne son échec aux Etats-Unis), il entend d'abord mener à bien le chantier visant à construire une plate-forme européenne.

« Nous nous donnons quelques mois de réflexion sur le maintien ou non des différentes marques dans les pays où elles ont le plus souvent une notoriété forte. Il est bien possible qu'il ne faille pas forcément une même marque sur tous les marchés », estime Jacques-Antoine Granjon. Dans ce mouvement de consolidation d'un marché de la démarque qui s'industrialise (lire ci-dessous), Vente-privee ne s'interdit pas de nouvelles opérations de croissance externe en Europe. En Allemagne, où Vente-privee réalise un peu moins de 100 millions d'euros de chiffre d'affaires, il privilégiera la croissance interne. Echaudé par son aventure américaine, le français entend rester à l'écart du Royaume-Uni, un marché compliqué, où il a une petite activité.

>>> What to look at today -14th of April 2016

Dow+1.06% S&P+1% Nasdaq+1.55% Russell+2.14% VIX 13.80
US Market closed higher helped by better earnings from JPM & CSX. WTI crude ended its day lower by 1.0% at $41.70/bbl. the Federal Reserve released its April Beige Book, which described overall economic activity across the twelve Fed Districts as expanding within a "modest" or a "moderate" range. Most districts reported job gains, which in turn looks to be leading to an uptick in wage growth. Elsewhere, manufacturing activity increased in most districts, although, expectations for continued expansion remained mixed. As for inflation, the Beige Book described continued optimism for slow and steady growth in 2016. Volume were in line with average at 983mil shares. US After Hours EXXI -59% after reports it is preparing to file bankruptcy; STX -6% after prelim Q3 revs below Consensus, LUB+5.4% on Earnings, WYNN+2.3%, Steve Wynn bought 72.8k sha . Asian equity markets are generally positive, though investors on the mainland are notably more cautious going into tomorrow's Q1 GDP and March economic data points. Nikkei225 is leading the charge higher amid continued weakness in JPY currency, as USD/JPY has now tested a 1-week high above 109.50. A surprise currency policy easing by Singapore central bank was a notable ripple that was also felt in significantly weaker Yuan fix by the PBoC. BOJ Gov Kuroda spoke extensively on the central bank policy, largely remaining optimistic about achieving inflation target with the current policy framework. As usual, Kuroda reiterated that the central bank is prepared to cut rates further, but generally sees underlying trend of inflation improving and economy recovering.

Nikkei +2.92% Hang Seng +0.76% Shanghai -0.18%

Eur1.1262 CNH 6.4972 CNY 6.4831 JPY 109.42 GBP 1.4128 CHF 0.9668 RUB$ 66.2195 WTI$41.19 (-1.34%)

S&P-0.01% EuroStoxx+0.54% Dax+0.54% SMI +0.45%

Macro :
- Nowotny: Negative Rate Has Helped Spur Euro-Area Lending
- Fed Beige Book: Prices Increased Modestly in Most Districts
- Italy’s Reforms for Banking System Go in Right Direction: Padoan

Keep an eye on :
- AAL LN : BHP, Rio, Glencore Seen Interested in Anglo Coal Assets: Reuters
- BKIA SM : Bankia Best Dividend Play Among Spanish Banks, JPMorgan Says
- BRBY LN : Burberry Group: Second Half Trading Update 14.04.2016
- CO FP : Casino 1Q France Retail Sales In Line, Hypermarkets LFL Beats
- CAST SS : Castellum Buys Norrporten From Sweden’s AP2, AP6 Funds
- CTLT US : Catalent Climbs; Lonza Said to Approach With Offer: Reuters
- DBK GY : Swiss Re, L&G Said to Weigh Bids for Deutsche Bank’s Abbey Life
- DBK GY : Deutsche Bank German Wealth Unit Chief to Leave: Manager Magazin
- DBK GY : Deutsche Bank Said to Agree to External Audit: Manager Magazin
- EDF FP : Areva, EDF Propose Further Tests at Flamanville Nuclear Reactor
- EO FP : Faurecia: Koller to Replace Delabriere As CEO From July 1
- FIM FP : Fimalac Reports Tender Offer for 1.7m Shares at EU101/Shr
- GAM SM : Gamesa Wins Contract to Supply 33MW for 5 Developements in UK
- GATE SW : Gategroup to submit revised proposal regarding executive management compensation to AGM
- GBT FP : Guerbet 2015 Net Rises 53% to EU39.9m
- IBE SM : California May Win Refunds From Shell, Iberdrola, Regulator Says
- ITV LN : ITV Said to Pursue Takeover of Canada’s Entertainment One
- KAHL SS : Kappahl 2Q Profit Beats Estimates, Sales in Line
- KUNN VX : Kuoni Says EQT Offer Successful as 72.6% of B Shares Tendered
- MMB FP : Lagardere to target travel retail and media buys, active divestments, DFS flagged as potential but difficult target– bankers
- LONN VX : Catalent Climbs; Lonza Said to Approach With Offer: Reuters
- LSE LN : Qatar Holding increases stake in London Stock Exchange Group to 10.3%
- LHA GY : Germanwings Crash Families Sue Lufthansa U.S. Flight School
- MERY FP : Mercialys 1Q Rental Rev. EU45.6m Vs EU39.6m Y/y
- MSK IM : Moleskine could attract private equity bidders - Il Sole 24 Ore
- NESN VX : Nestle 1Q Organic Sales a Small Beat, No Surprises, Exane Says
- RKET GY : Rocket Internet Says 2015 Results In Line With Expectations
- QIA GY : Qiagen Partners With Mirati on Companion Diagnostic Test
- G24 GY : Hearing Placing of 12m shares vis GS & CS - unconfirmed
- SEBA SS : SEB CEO Not Interested in Baltic Ops of Other Nordic Banks: ERR
- SW FP : Sodexo 1H Rev. In Line, Adj. Oper. Profit Misses, Keeps Forecast
- SREN VX : Swiss Re, L&G Said to Weigh Bids for Deutsche Bank’s Abbey Life
- TIT IM : Telecom Italia to choose between rival bids for Inwit stake in first week of May - Carlo Festa Blog http://bit.ly/1qqJ4E6
- TPK LN : Travis Perkins could be bid target for Wolseley or private equity- FT
- UNA NA : *UNILEVER 1Q UNDERLYING SALES GROWTH 4.7%; EST. 4.6%
- VIRP FP : Virbac 1Q Rev. EU211.4m, Flat Y/y
- VOW3 GY : VW Board Proposes to Cut Manager Bonuses by Half: Sueddeutsche

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 14th of April 2016

>>> Up
*ALSTOM RAISED TO BUY VS NEUTRAL AT UBS
*ATOS RAISED TO OVERWEIGHT VS EQUALWEIGHT AT BARCLAYS
*IMAGINATION TECH RAISED TO EQUALWEIGHT VS UNDERWEIGHT: BARCLAYS
*JOHNSON MATTHEY RAISED TO OUTPERFORM AT CREDIT SUISSE
*SALZGITTER RAISED TO OUTPERFORM VS SECTOR PERFORM AT RBC
*TOD’S RAISED TO HOLD VS SELL AT SOCGEN

>>> Down
*PRADA CUT TO HOLD VS BUY AT HSBC
*SOFTWARE AG CUT TO UNDERWEIGHT VS EQUALWEIGHT AT BARCLAYS
*TESCO CUT TO SELL VS HOLD AT SOCGEN

>>> PT Change


>>> Initiation
*ABN AMRO RATED NEW OUTPERFORM AT MACQUARIE; PT EU22
*GENMAB RATED NEW BUY AT CITI; PT DKK1,140
*METRO BANK RATED NEW OUTPERFORM AT RBC CAPITAL
*PREMIER FARNELL REINSTATED EQUALWEIGHT AT BARCLAYS, PT 125P

>>> Call
>> Stock
*UMICORE ADDED TO EUROPE FOCUS LIST AT CREDIT SUISSE

>>> Telecom Italia to choose between rival bids for Inwit stake in first week of

Telecom Italia to choose between rival bids for Inwit stake in first week of May 

Telecom Italia (TI) will hold a board of directors meeting in the first week of May to pick a winning bidder for a stake in Inwit, the listed Italian transmission tower group, the Italian language Carlo Festa blog reported. The report cited unspecified rumours saying that it will have to choose between a bid for a 45% stake in Inwit from a consortium made up of Cellnex and F2i an an offer from EI Towers for a stake just under 30%.

The report said that the Cellnex/F2i offer is priced at EUR 4.9 a share and the EI Towers offer at EUR 5 a share.
Inwit has a market cap of EUR 2.61bn.

Carlo Festa Blog

>>> Moleskine could attract private equity bidders - Il Sole 24 Ore

Moleskine could attract private equity bidders 

Moleskine, the listed high-end Italian stationary producer, could attract bids from private equity, Italian language daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported.

The unsourced report said that PE firms Permira, Blackstone and Triton could be among the bidders.

The report added that Rothschild, which has extensive knowledge of Moleskine, could become involved in the dossier.

The report said that the speculation has been sparked by the fact that PE firm Syntegra has held its 42.2% stake for 10 years and could be looking to exit. The item noted that Syntegra has ruled out an exit in the short term.

Moleskine has a market cap of EUR 415m.

Il Sole 24 Ore

>>> Gategroup to submit revised proposal regarding executive management compensa

Gategroup to submit revised proposal regarding executive management compensation to AGM

On 13 April listed Swiss airline catering group Gategroup issued the following press release:

Prior to tomorrow’s Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors of gategroup Holding AG has held discussions with various key shareholders and proxy advisors on agenda item 9.2 (total amount of compensation of the Executive Management Board for the 2017 business year) and has come to the conclusion that this item needs to be reviewed.

The Board of Directors has therefore decided not to submit to the Annual General Meeting agenda item 9.2 for a vote. The Board of Directors intends to submit to the next General Meeting a revised proposal regarding compensation of the Executive Management Board.

>>> Qatar Holding increases stake in London Stock Exchange Group to 10.3%

Qatar Holding increases stake in London Stock Exchange Group to 10.3% - pdf attached

The sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holding has disclosed that it has increased its shareholding in London Stock Exchange Group [LON:LSE] to 10.321%. The stakebuilding was disclosed in a stock exchange announcement by Qatar Holding, which can be viewed here.

London Stock Exchange Group’s share price closed 18p up at 2808p in London on Wednesday, valuing the company at GBP 9.78bn (EUR 12.29bn).


see press release attached

>>> Asian Update

Asian Market Update: Austalia unemployment rate falls to 2013-lows, reducing outlook for more RBA cuts; Singapore central bank eases policy

***Economic Data***
- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR EMPLOYMENT CHANGE: 26.1K (4-month high) V 17.0KE; UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 5.7% (lowest since Sept 2013) V 5.9%E
- (AU) AUSTRALIA APR CONSUMER INFLATION EXPECTATION: 3.6% V 3.4% PRIOR
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND FEB MANUFACTURING PMI: 54.7 V 55.9 PRIOR; 2nd straight month of sequential decline and 5-month low
- (SG) SINGAPORE Q1 ADVANCED GDP Q/Q: 0.0% V 0.0%E; Y/Y: 1.8% V 1.7%E
- (UK) MAR RICS HOUSE PRICE BALANCE: 42% V 50%E; 9-month low

***Index Snapshot (as of 04:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 +3.1%, S&P/ASX +1.2%, Kospi +1.3%, Shanghai Composite +0.1%, Hang Seng +0.9%, Jun S&P500 -0.1% at 2,075

***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Apr gold -1.1% at $1,234/oz, May crude oil -1.2% at $41.28/brl, May copper -0.3% at $2.16/lb
- SLV: iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings fall to 10,396 tonnes from 10,455 tonnes prior; first fall since Mar 23rd
- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings fall 5.0 tonnes to 810.1 tonnes; 3rd straight decline
- USD/CNY: (CN) PBOC SETS YUAN MID POINT AT 6.4891 V 6.4591 PRIOR; weakest Yuan setting since Mar 29th; first weaker setting in 4 sessions
- (CN) PBOC to inject CNY40B in 7-day reverse repos
- JGB: (JP) Japan's MOF sells ¥730B in 0.8% 30-year bonds; Avg yield: 0.388% (record low) v 0.765% prior; Bid to cover: 3.39x v 4.21x prior; Tail: 0.67 (widest since April 2013) v 0.03 prior
- (JP) Japan investors sold net ¥1.2T in foreign bonds v sold ¥1.6T in prior week; Foreign investors bought net ¥147B in Japan stocks v bought ¥415B in Japan stocks in prior week

***Market Focal Points/FX***
- Asian equity markets are generally positive, though investors on the mainland are notably more cautious going into tomorrow's Q1 GDP and March economic data points. Nikkei225 is leading the charge higher amid continued weakness in JPY currency, as USD/JPY has now tested a 1-week high above 109.50. Australia's mining names are also benefiting from the prevalent risk-on sentiment this week, even though commodity prices - precious metals in particular - were lower in electronic trade. Aussie banks are seeing more modest gains amid speculation of bad debt exposure from some of the troubled mining names. In other FX majors, AUD/USD was volatile in a 40-pip range above 0.7620 as Aussie employment report was more mixed than implied in the headline. AUD was also weighed by cautious remarks from Moody's, as was NZD/USD which fell some 80pips below 0.6840.

- A surprise currency policy easing by Singapore central bank was a notable ripple that was also felt in significantly weaker Yuan fix by the PBoC. In its semiannual statement, MAS set the rate of appreciation of SGD nominal effective exchange rate (S$NEER) at 0% effective Apr 14th, thus removing its bias of slight SGD appreciation. Policymakers said this does not signify that MAS prefers SGD depreciation, but also noted that headline CPI would remain negative this year and economic growth would be more modest. This marked the 3rd policy easing by the MAS since 2015, sending USD/SGD pair up well over 100pips above S$1.36, while STI index rose about 1%.

- Australia March employment change above 26K was a 4-month high, and unemployment rate of 5.7% was the lowest since Sept 2013. Initially, the figures sent AUD/USD up over 30pips above 0.7660. However, inside those numbers were a negative full-time employment component (-8.8K v +13.9K prior) as part-time labor growth signified uneven transition in the economy. Participation rate also did not grow as expected, remaining at a 6-month low of 64.9%. Lastly, the aggregate hours worked marked their biggest sequential decline since mid-2012. Nonetheless, fixed income markets reduced the expectations of another RBA cut in May below 20%. Still, AUD promptly retreated from the initial spike on jobs numbers, remaining pressured by earlier comments from Moody's calling for higher taxes in addition to lower spending in order for Australia to retain its AAA rating.

- BOJ Gov Kuroda spoke extensively on the central bank policy, largely remaining optimistic about achieving inflation target with the current policy framework. As usual, Kuroda reiterated that the central bank is prepared to cut rates further, but generally sees underlying trend of inflation improving and economy recovering. He also defended the use of negative rates, stating the economy would have been worse without negative rates. Later in the day, BOJ's Amamiya was somewhat more practical, calling for close monitoring of the impact of negative rate policy on Japanese financial market. The distortions of BOJ's NIRP on JGBs was evidenced by a particularly soft demand in today's 30-year auction, where the average yield of 0.388% was much lower than the 0.8% coupon and the tail was the widest in 3 years.

***Equities***
US equities / ADRs:
- LUB: Reports Q2 -$0.03 v -$0.07 y/y, R$92.1M v $91.0M y/y; +5.4% afterhours
- WYNN: CEO Stephen Wynn buys 72.8K shares at $98.78 - filing; +2.3% afterhours
- PIR: Reports Q4 $0.39 (adj) v $0.21e, R$542M v $533Me; -5.2% afterhours
- STX: Reports prelim Q3 R$2.6B v $2.72Be, gross margin 23% (prior forecast R$2.7B, gross margin 25.6%); -6.2% afterhours

Notable movers by sector:
- Consumer discretionary: China Eastern Airlines 600115.CN +2.3% (guidance); Luk Fook Holdings 590.HK -0.9% (Q4 result); Aeon Mall Co. 8905.JP +4.5% (FY15/16 result); Lawson Inc 2651.JP -3.6% (FY15/16 result); Aeon Co 8267.JP +4.7% (FY15/16 result)
- Financials: COFCO Property Group Co 000031.CN +1.0% (Q1 guidance)
- Industrials: GUD Holdings GUD.AU +7.2% (sells interest in Sunbeam and Jarden business)
- Materials: Whitehaven Coal WHC.AU +12.7% (Q3 production); Sandfire Resources SFR.AU -2.8% (Q3 production)