(BFW) Greek Minister Says Not Aware of Any Plans for Bank Mergers

BN 07/09 06:32 *GREEK ALTERNATE FINANCE MINISTER MARDAS COMMENTS ON MEGA TV
BFW 07/09 06:31 *GREEK MINISTER SAYS NOT AWARE OF ANY PLANS FOR BANK MERGERS
Greek Minister Says Not Aware of Any Plans for Bank Mergers
2015-07-09 06:39:07.896 GMT


By Nikos Chrysoloras
(Bloomberg) -- “Our target is to allow for more banking
services to be carried out after Monday,” Greek alternate
finance minister Dimitris Mardas says in interview with Athens-
based Mega TV.

* Easing of restrictions will be laid out in new ministerial
decree on capital controls on Monday
* “There will be an agreement,” Mardas says on whether banks
will reopen as of Tuesday even if there’s no agreement with
creditors
* Mardas says not aware of any plans for mergers between Greek
banks
* NOTE: Greek finance ministry issued decree Wednesday
extending bank holiday and capital controls through Monday


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Nikos Chrysoloras in Athens at +30-210-7419022 or
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To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Tugwell at +30-210-74-19-073 or
ptugwell1@bloomberg.net

(BFW) Yoigo Drops Out of Bid for Surplus Orange Assets, El Pais Says

BFW 07/09 05:29 *YOIGO DROPS OUT OF BID FOR ORANGE ASSETS: PAIS
Yoigo Drops Out of Bid for Surplus Orange Assets, El Pais Says
2015-07-09 06:15:42.334 GMT


By Maria Tadeo
(Bloomberg) -- Yoigo SA drops out of bid for surplus assets
that Orange will give up under terms of acquisition of Jazztel,
El Pais reported, without saying where it got the information
from.

* Yoigo argues assets aren’t good enough to bid for because
only 5% of them include fiber connection
* Masmovil is only bidder, continues to be interested in
acquiring Orange’s assets: Pais
* NOTE: Orange must sell certain assets in order to comply
with European rules to acquire Jazztel
* For story link, click on: Link

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Maria Tadeo in Madrid at +34-91-700-9624 or
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To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Charles Penty at +34-91-700-9654 or
cpenty@bloomberg.net

>>> Altice's ONI and Cabovisao attracts Chinese strategic bidder

Deal Reporter

Altice's ONI and Cabovisao attracts Chinese strategic bidder
Altice [AMS:ATC] has attracted an offer from a Chinese strategic bidder for Oni and Cabovisao, this news service has learned.

As previously reported, Altice has to sell Cabovisao and Oni as a condition of the European Commission’s (EC) clearance of its acquisition of PT Portugal.

In addition to bids from local players Vodafone [LON:VOD] and NOS [ELI:NOS], there is a Chinese telecoms company in the running, a private equity firm and another strategic player bidding only for Oni, it is understood.

It is understood that the due diligence stage has ended and that the process has entered a stage whereby the advisers plan to shortlist candidates.

NOS, the local cable telecoms operator controlled by conglomerate Sonae and Angolan investor Isabel dos Santos, is expected to face the most serious competition issues, it was said.

Cabovisao is reportedly worth about EUR 300m and Oni about EUR 80m.

Altice is being advised by Perella Weinberg Partners and Uria Menendez.

An Altice spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

>>> K+S assumes Potash Corp will not make a hostile offer

K+S assumes Potash Corp will not make a hostile offer (translated)  

K+S, the listed German potash and salt producer, assumes that Canadian rival Potash Corp will not make a hostile offer, according to an interview in Boersen-Zeitung.

As part of a conversation with the German-language daily, K+S Chief Financial Officer Burkhard Lohr said he believes Potash Corp will continue to consult with the German company's management if it plans a new offer.

Regarding the recent EUR 41 per-share offer from Saskatchewan-based Potash, which K+S considered too low, Lohr denied the newspaper's suggestion that K+S had set a “lower limit” of EUR 50 a share. He said the company had publicized this estimated value figure by way of illustrating why Potash Corp's offer was declined.

Lohr said K+S will examine a new offer from Potash Corp if one arrives, and assumes that Potash Corp leaders want agreement with the management of K+S in any such matter. Asked whether K+S would likely receive support from German politicians should a hostile bid be mounted, he said that ever since Potash Corp had expressed intentions, the German company has experienced much support from the political sphere.

To a question as to whether K+S is seeking a white knight, which the newspaper defined as an investor prepared to pay a suitable price and offering a future vision more attractive to the company, Lohr said K+S is examining all available options in order to act in its shareholders' best interests.

On being asked whether K+S would do well to gain an anchor shareholder to make takeovers more difficult, Lohr said the management is principally concerned with implementing its corporate strategy.




Source Boersen-Zeitung

>>> BMPS chairman rules out break-up of bank

BMPS chairman rules out break-up of bank (translated)

Alessandro Profumo, the chairman of BMPS, the listed Italian bank, has ruled out breaking up the lender, Italian language daily Il Messaggero reported. The reported cited Profumo as noting that in terms of M&A the only thing he would rule out was BMPS being broken up and sold.

The report cited Profumo as noting that BMPS had until 26 July to report on its progress in regard to a merger with another bank to the European Central Bank (ECB). However, Profumo said it was highly unlikely that BMPS would find a merger partner by 26 July.

BMPS recently carried out a EUR 3bn capital increase.

Il Messaggero

>>> Visa Europe to sell down its 5.3% stake in Monitise

Visa Europe to sell down its 5.3% stake in Monitise
Update on Visa Europe relationship and shareholding

Monitise plc (LSE: MONI, "Monitise" or the "Company") has been notified by Visa Europe Limited ("Visa Europe") that it will reduce its shareholding over time while continuing to work with the Company throughout the duration of its current commercial agreement.

Visa Europe Limited has been a beneficial shareholder in Monitise since October 2011. Visa Europe currently holds 115,750,000 shares, which represents 5.3% of Monitise's issued share capital.

Monitise and Visa Europe will continue to work together on a number of projects and services under the three-year commercial agreement which runs until 31 March 2016. Both parties look forward to working together for the duration of this commercial agreement and will assess on an ongoing basis opportunities to work together in future.

>>> Spanish government urges Banco Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank to acquire medi

Spanish government urges Banco Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank to acquire medium-sized rivals

Spanish government has met in private the country's largest banks – Banco Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank – to encourage them to acquire medium-sized banks, El Confidencial reported.

Several sources from the three entities acknowledged informal talks with the Minister of Economy Luis de Guindos and the Governor of Bank of Spain Luis Linde, the report noted.

Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank have been asked to analyse Ibercaja, Banco Mare Nostrum, Liberbank, Unicaja, Abanca, Kutxabank and Cajamar as potential targets, the Spanish-language article said.

Banco Santander is the only one of the three that has not taken part in nationalisations and is seen as the most potential candidate to go ahead.

The report's sources, however, said there would not be any significant moves until the forthcoming general elections in Spain.

FT : German carmakers lead €3.5bn race to buy Nokia mapping unit

German carmakers lead €3.5bn race to buy Nokia mapping unit
BMW, Daimler and Audi covet Here’s high-def system for in-car navigation and autonomous vehicles

The race to acquire Nokia Here has entered its final stages, with a consortium of three German carmakers in pole position to acquire the highly-prized mapping business.

According to several people familiar with the matter, a group of three German carmakers — BMW, Daimler and Audi, a unit of Volkswagen — last month tabled a second-round bid for the business, which bankers say could sell for as much as €3.5bn.

At least one other bidding group is thought to be in the running, made up of North American private equity companies.

No decision between the rival groups has been made by Nokia, which is conducting a wide-ranging strategy review. The Finnish group has not committed to selling the unit, having made it clear to bidders that it would only offload Here if the price offered met its expectations.

But people familiar with the matter said the likelihood that Nokia would sell the asset was more than 90 per cent. It has, however, discussed with bidders the potential of keeping a small stake in the company, according to two of the people.

Nokia, Audi, BMW and Daimler all declined to comment.

The Here division is seen as non-core to the wider telecoms business, which has rapidly moved away from consumer devices towards infrastructure. Nokia is in the process of completing a €15.6bn all-share takeover of Alcatel-Lucent.

The carmakers want to get their hands on the unit’s high-definition mapping software not only because it powers the navigation systems in vehicles made by almost all of the top 20 manufacturers, but because it is crucial to the operation of autonomous cars, which require a deep understanding of their surroundings to function.

The Here unit, which earns well over half its €944m in annual sales from the car industry, is running 10 automated driving projects with leading manufacturers.

Nokia’s maps also provide the basis for a number of the connected-car services that carmakers hope will eventually provide a fresh source of revenues. These include concierge services — such as hotel bookings — as well as traffic updates and roadside assistance.

Numerous parties have been linked to the bidding process, including Uber and Baidu, sparking fears among carmakers that they could lose access to a vital piece of technology.

“It’s not so much about the having GPS system,” said one motor industry analyst. “It’s about not having the GPS system.”

Here is working on technology that would enable maps to be built in real-time, with the cameras and sensors delivering updates to the cloud. Analysts say that only Google and TomTom can rival Here’s coverage and detail.

Here — which was known as Navteq when it was bought by Nokia in 2007 — is the leading map supplier to carmakers, ahead of TomTom. The company’s maps are in four out of every five cars sold in North America and Europe that have integrated in-dash navigation.

In 2014, more than 13m new cars were sold with the company’s maps on board — equal to total new car registrations in the EU last year.