*DIJSSELBLOEM: NO AGREEMENT WITH GREEK PROGRAM TO EXPIRE TUESDAY

OOPS!!!!

*DIJSSELBLOEM: PROGRAM EXPIRATION IS `ABSOLUTELY CLEAR'
*DIJSSELBLOEM: THERE ARE MAJOR PROBLEMS ALREADY FOR GREECE
*DIJSSELBLOEM: AIM IS TO UPHOLD, STRENGTHEN EUROZONE CREDIBILITY
*DIJSSELBLOEM: WE ARE DETERMINED TO WORK CLOSELY TOGETHER
*DIJSSELBLOEM: GREEK GOVT FACES `BIG PROBLEM' OF RISK MANAGEMENT


*GREEK FINANCE MINISTER YANIS VAROUFAKIS SPEAKS TO REPORTERS
*VAROUFAKIS SAYS TOLD EUROGROUP WHY ITS AID OFFER UNACCEPTABLE
*VAROUFAKIS: GREEK GOVERNMENT HAD NO MANDATE TO ACCEPT AID OFFER
*VAROUFAKIS SAYS GREEK GOVERNMENT DETERMINED TO FIND A SOLUTION
*VAROUFAKIS SAYS GREECE FIND ITSELF AT `HISTORIC MOMENT'
*VAROUFAKIS SAYS CREDITOR AID OFFER `BAKED IN' NEW AID PROGRAM
*VAROUFAKIS SAYS CREDITOR AID OFFER WAS RECESSIONARY
*VAROUFAKIS SAYS TOLD EUROGROUP WHY ITS AID OFFER UNACCEPTABLE

(BFW) Eurozone Fin Mins Said to Reject Greek 1-Mo. Bailout Request:WSJ


TWT 06/27 14:46 WSJ Asia: Breaking: Eurozone finance ministers reject Greek request for one-month bailout extension, officials say
BFW 06/27 14:48 *EURO FIN MINS SAID TO REJECT GREEK 1-MO. BAILOUT REQUEST: WSJ
Eurozone Fin Mins Said to Reject Greek 1-Mo. Bailout Request:WSJ
2015-06-27 14:49:59.876 GMT


By Christopher Kingdon
(Bloomberg) -- Eurozone finance ministers reject Greek
request for one-month bailout extension, WSJ reports in Twitter
post, citing officials.

* Link to Tweet

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To contact the editor responsible for this story:
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ckingdon@bloomberg.net

>>> US Close Dow+0.32% S&P-0.03% Nasdaq-0.62% Russell-0.27%

Closing Market Summary: Technology Sector Leads Market Lower Amid (Gr)exhaustion

The stock market ended the week on a mixed note with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.3%) posting a modest gain while the Nasdaq Composite (-0.6%) spent the day in negative territory. For its part, the S&P 500 ended flat, locking in a 0.4% decline for the week to end ahead of the Nasdaq (-0.7% week-to-date).

To little surprise, the trading day began with more rhetoric but little tangible progress between Greek leaders and the country's creditors. With that in mind, the talks are set to enter the eleventh hour with both sides sticking to their own proposals. This morning, Germany's Handelsblatt reported that creditors have offered Greece EUR15.50 billion in bailout funds over the next five months if Greek representatives can agree to the requested reforms; however, that offer was turned down by the Greek delegation. European markets appeared unconcerned with the lack of progress as France's CAC, Germany's DAX, and Italy's MIB spiked between 4.0% and 4.8% for the week. Not to be outdone, Greece's Athens General Composite surged 13.8% for the week, returning into the middle of this year's range.

Domestically, investors appeared to suffer from a case of Grexhaustion, showing little concern about the possibility of a Graccident as it now becomes imperative to reach a deal on Saturday if Greece is to make the June 30 debt payment to the International Monetary Fund. Failing to meet that deadline would put the ‘Grexit' talk back on the table. That being said, U.S. Treasuries retreated into the afternoon with the 10-yr yield spiking eight basis points to 2.48%. Also of note, selling in the long bond ran the 30-yr yield higher by ten basis points to 3.25%, representing the highest level since September.

Six of ten sectors registered gains, but daylong weakness in the technology sector (-0.8%) was today's main story and the primary reason for Nasdaq's underperformance. Specifically, it was the high-beta chipmaker industry group that suffered from widespread losses after Micron (MU 19.66, -4.36) reported disappointing results and issued uninspiring guidance. Shares of MU plunged 18.2% to levels not seen since late 2013 while the PHLX Semiconductor Index lost 2.4% with all 30 components ending in the red.

That significant weakness weighed on the technology sector while the Nasdaq also had to contend with losses among biotechnology names. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 372.70, -3.13) lost 0.8% while the health care sector (-0.1%) spent the day near its flat line with hospital names offsetting the weakness in biotechnology.

Similar to the health care sector, the S&P 500 spent the day near its unchanged level. The index benefited from relative strength in just about every sector other than technology. Most notably, financials (+0.3%), consumer discretionary (+0.4%), and industrials (+0.2%) kept the benchmark index little changed throughout the day.

Of the three influential groups, the discretionary sector was underpinned by apparel retailers after Finish Line (FINL 28.25, +1.25) and Dow component Nike (NKE 109.71, +4.49) reported better than expected results. The two names gained 4.6% and 4.3%, respectively.

Elsewhere, the industrial sector rallied behind Deere (DE 96.44, +3.04), which spiked 3.3%, breaking out to a four-year high. There was no news to account for the move and other manufacturers of heavy machinery ended little changed. As for transport stocks, the Dow Jones Transportation Average (+0.1%) eked out a slim gain for the day, but not before notching a fresh eight-month low during morning action.

Today's participation was well above average as rebalancing of the Russell indices led to increased churn. As a result, nearly two billion shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data was limited to the final reading of the Michigan Sentiment Index for June, which was revised up to 96.1 from a preliminary reading of 94.6 while the consensus expected no change. The June reading was up from 90.7 in May, representing the highest level for the index since hitting 98.1 in January.

Monday's data will be limited to the 10:00 ET release of the Pending Home Sales report for May.
  • Nasdaq Composite +6.8% YTD
  • Russell 2000 +5.9% YTD 
  • S&P 500 +2.0% YTD 
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.7% YTD 

>>> John Wood Group expects improved M&A environment in 2H15; bolt-ons in focus

Deal Reporter

John Wood Group expects improved M&A environment in 2H15; bolt-ons in focus

John Wood Group (LON:WG), the UK-based international energy services company, anticipates it will see an improvement in the bolt-on acquisition landscape later in the year, according to CFO David Kemp.

On the company's 2Q15 sales and revenue call, the CFO said the company’s net debt was at the lower end of its preferred net debt-to-EBITA range of 0.5x to 1.5x and that it expected strong cash flow generation for the full year.

“M&A remains a focus and is our preferred use of cash,” Kemp said. “And we expect the environment for completing smaller bolt-on M&A to improve in the second half of 2015.”

In the Q&A session, Barclays Capital Securities analyst Haley Mayers asked the CFO to comment on the M&A pipeline and what type of businesses Wood Group was looking to add to its portfolio.

“[B]ack in February, we flagged that our appetite for M&A was undiminished,” Kemp replied. “But actually, we were seeing a slowdown in the market.”

He said the company typically bought private businesses, with fewer assets for sale at the height of the slowdown and deals harder to conclude. However, the CFO said the pipeline had improved as the year progressed, with Wood Group now having more visibility regarding the deals that are available.

“In terms of the types of deals we do, it’s largely as before,” he said. “We’re seeing a number of potential bolt-on acquisitions, which either give us more capability in a region or niche services or extend our geographic footprint.”

Asked by the same analyst if the company’s M&A efforts would be focused on Engineering or PSN, Kemp said its pipeline was across both areas.

Later on the call, Canaccord Genuity analyst Alex Brooks asked the CFO if there were further US onshore assets available in terms of acquisition.

Kemp said Wood Group’s transaction multiples had typically been in the 4x to 6x EBITDA range.

“We’re still seeing deals in that space,” he said. “We’ve been going through a buy-and-build strategy in key geographies. We feel as though we have good service lines in the geographies we have. But there still are some gaps.”

Wood Group is an independent services provider for the oil & gas and power generation markets. Services include engineering, procurement and construction management, facility operations & maintenance, and the repair & overhaul of turbines and other high-speed rotating equipment. It is comprised of three businesses: Wood Group PSN, Wood Group Kenny and Wood Group Mustang.

The company’s last notable acquisition was the late 2014 purchase of Oregon-based Swaggart Brothers, a provider of civil construction and fabrication services, for USD 36m.

Wood Group announced in mid-July it had reached an agreement with Agility Group to acquire Agility Projects, a Norway-based engineering, procurement, construction management, installation and commissioning company, for approximately NOK 1bn (USD 128m). The deal closed in September.

In addition to Agility and Swaggart, Wood Group made a number of smaller bolt-ons last year, including North Dakota-based welding repair shop Meester’s Welding, Texas-based Cape Software and Calgary-based pipeline consultancy Sunstone Projects.

Wood Group has used in-country law firms for numerous deals in the past decade, including Norway-based Wikborg Rein & Co for the Agility transaction. Texas-based firms Baker Botts and Haynes and Boone have each been used for multiple US-based buys, with the latter used for Meester’s.

For its late 2010 purchase of PSN, Wood Group used Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Cazenove, Slaughter and May and Clayton Utz. Wood Group’s 2014 annual report names Slaughter and May as its solicitor.

Wood Group has a market capitalisation of GBP 2.5bn (USD 4bn).

>>> DS Smith sees itself as ‘consolidator of choice’ in fragmented European mark

Deal Reporter

DS Smith sees itself as ‘consolidator of choice’ in fragmented European market

DS Smith (LON:SMDS), the UK-based provider of corrugated and specialist plastic packaging, expects the fragmented state of its industry in Europe to provide opportunities, CEO Miles Roberts said Thursday.

The CEO noted on the company's 4Q15 earnings call that the DS Smith’s customers had steered it towards companies acquired in the past year.

“We like to say we are the consolidator of choice,” Roberts said. “A lot of these are family-owned companies, some of them are owned by venture capital. It is showing how we can work with a variety of owners and a variety of cultures; consolidator of choice driven by customer demand.”

He noted DS Smith’s purchase of Duropack and its first Spain-based corrugated venture, Andopack, as examples. The CEO also referred to the company’s announcement earlier Thursday of its agreement to buy Spain-based Grupo Lantero’s corrugated activities.

“Not only do we think we can grow this business quite strongly organically, but it’s also with 10% market share now, it’s an excellent platform for further acquisition-led growth,” Roberts said regarding the latter asset.

Beyond Europe

In the Q&A session, JPMorgan Cazenove analyst Alexander Mees asked the CEO at what point DS Smith would be ready to make some material acquisitions outside of Europe. Roberts said the company asked itself the same question, noting that it had a strong customer pool that it was exploring.

Roberts added that its clients had been surprised by the effect DS Smith’s services could have on markets beyond Europe and the potential improvements that could be seen.

“[B]ut I think we really do have to see just how well it goes, competitor response, et cetera. So, we’ll keep a very, very watching brief on it,” he concluded.

DS Smith has been active on the buy and sell side in the past year, including the disposals of its Scandinavian Foams business and Nantes paper mill, as well as the purchases of Kaplast and Italmaceri.

The company has agreed to pay EUR 190m for the Lantero deal, and spent approximately EUR 300m on Austria-based corrugate boards manufacturer Duropack, which closed earlier this month. Andopack was bought for GBP 35m (EUR 49m) in November last year, while a 50% stake in Italmaceri was acquired for an undisclosed sum in July.

DS Smith announced in September that its Plastics division had acquired Croatian injection moulding company Kaplast. Deal terms were not disclosed.

DS Smith’s corrugated packaging operations are supported by a recycling business that collects used paper and corrugated cardboard. These are then used to make its corrugated packaging. The company also designs and manufactures certain types of plastic packaging.

In 2012, the company acquired Sweden-based SCA’s packaging division for around GBP 1.3bn. This was its most sizeable deal for the past decade, with its other acquisitions typically valued less than GBP 250m.

DS Smith used Credit Suisse and JPMorgan Cazenove for the SCA transaction. The latter advisor was also used on an earlier France-based acquisition.

Allen & Overy has been used for most of DS Smith’s acquisitions in the last 10 years, including SCA, according to the Mergermarket M&A database. DS Smith has a long standing relationship with Allen & Overy, according to the law firm's website, with the company naming the law firm as its solicitor in its 2014 annual report. Sumeet Chadha, legal counsel at DS Smith, is a former associate at Allen & Overy.

Eversheds provided the company with employment and pensions support on the SCA transaction. The firm was used in the same capacity in 2011 for DS Smith’s sale of Spicers, its office products wholesaling division.

On the call, DS Smith reported net debt of GBP 651m, resulting in a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 1.49x. The company has a market capitalisation of GBP 3.7bn.

>>> K+S peers have rationale to consider rival bid to Potash Corp

Deal Reporter

K+S peers have rationale to consider rival bid to Potash Corp - bankers

Global potash and fertiliser companies could have rationale to consider rival bids to Potash Corp’s [TSE:POT] move for K+S Aktiengesellschaft [ETR:SDF], two sector bankers said.

K+S’ announcement that Potash is considering a bid does not come as a surprise, the bankers said. A number of industry players have been looking at K+S, which is thought to have been on the market for “some time”, one said.

Interest could come from several industry players, the bankers said. North American firms, Agrium [TSE:AGU], Mosaic [NYSE:MOS] and CF Industries [NYSE:CF], Norway’s Yara International [STO:YARO], Russia’s Phosagro [MCX:PHOR] and potentially China’s ChemChina, could consider it, the first banker said.

For the North American firms and ChemChina, K+S would provide a platform to get a European footprint, the first banker said. For Mosaic, the deal would follow on from its expansion in South America, where it bought Archer Daniels Midland’s [NYSE:ADM] fertiliser distribution business in Brazil and Paraguay last year.

Yara is known for looking at large transformational deals, the first banker said. Its talks to merge with CF to create the world’s largest maker of nitrogen-based fertiliser fell through last year, he noted.

Potash has a strategy to build supply and capacity outside its native Canada, a sector analyst said. It could have an eye on K+S’ Legacy project in Canada, the analyst said. Potash should be able to significantly lower the capex of Legacy due to its existing infrastructure, he said.

Potash Corp is the world’s third biggest potash producer by sales volume behind Uralkali [MCX:URKA] and Belaruskali, whilst K+S is the seventh biggest, according to a Uralkali presentation based on 2014 figures.

Potash and K+S would have combined annual sales volume of 13.9m tonnes, leapfrogging Uralkali (12.3m tonnes) and Belaruskali (10.2m tonnes) to become the biggest producer by sales volume, based on the presentation.

Potash, Agrium and Mosaic export their potash through a marketing organisation, Canpotex. Uralkali and Belaruskali had a similar arrangement to sell through the Belarusian Potash Company until 2013, when a dispute between the two ended their arrangement.

Reports have suggested Potash Corp could offer K+S shareholders EUR 40 per share. K+S was trading at EUR 29 per share before the rumours. It closed Friday up 29.6% at EUR 37.65, giving a market capitalisation of EUR 7.21bn.

>>> K+S peers have rationale to consider rival bid to Potash Corp

Deal Reporter

K+S peers have rationale to consider rival bid to Potash Corp - bankers

Global potash and fertiliser companies could have rationale to consider rival bids to Potash Corp’s [TSE:POT] move for K+S Aktiengesellschaft [ETR:SDF], two sector bankers said.

K+S’ announcement that Potash is considering a bid does not come as a surprise, the bankers said. A number of industry players have been looking at K+S, which is thought to have been on the market for “some time”, one said.

Interest could come from several industry players, the bankers said. North American firms, Agrium [TSE:AGU], Mosaic [NYSE:MOS] and CF Industries [NYSE:CF], Norway’s Yara International [STO:YARO], Russia’s Phosagro [MCX:PHOR] and potentially China’s ChemChina, could consider it, the first banker said.

For the North American firms and ChemChina, K+S would provide a platform to get a European footprint, the first banker said. For Mosaic, the deal would follow on from its expansion in South America, where it bought Archer Daniels Midland’s [NYSE:ADM] fertiliser distribution business in Brazil and Paraguay last year.

Yara is known for looking at large transformational deals, the first banker said. Its talks to merge with CF to create the world’s largest maker of nitrogen-based fertiliser fell through last year, he noted.

Potash has a strategy to build supply and capacity outside its native Canada, a sector analyst said. It could have an eye on K+S’ Legacy project in Canada, the analyst said. Potash should be able to significantly lower the capex of Legacy due to its existing infrastructure, he said.

Potash Corp is the world’s third biggest potash producer by sales volume behind Uralkali [MCX:URKA] and Belaruskali, whilst K+S is the seventh biggest, according to a Uralkali presentation based on 2014 figures.

Potash and K+S would have combined annual sales volume of 13.9m tonnes, leapfrogging Uralkali (12.3m tonnes) and Belaruskali (10.2m tonnes) to become the biggest producer by sales volume, based on the presentation.

Potash, Agrium and Mosaic export their potash through a marketing organisation, Canpotex. Uralkali and Belaruskali had a similar arrangement to sell through the Belarusian Potash Company until 2013, when a dispute between the two ended their arrangement.

Reports have suggested Potash Corp could offer K+S shareholders EUR 40 per share. K+S was trading at EUR 29 per share before the rumours. It closed Friday up 29.6% at EUR 37.65, giving a market capitalisation of EUR 7.21bn.

>>> K+S peers have rationale to consider rival bid to Potash Corp - bankers

K+S peers have rationale to consider rival bid to Potash Corp - bankers

Global potash and fertiliser companies could have rationale to consider rival bids to Potash Corp’s [TSE:POT] move for K+S Aktiengesellschaft [ETR:SDF], two sector bankers said.

K+S’ announcement that Potash is considering a bid does not come as a surprise, the bankers said. A number of industry players have been looking at K+S, which is thought to have been on the market for “some time”, one said.

Interest could come from several industry players, the bankers said. North American firms, Agrium [TSE:AGU], Mosaic [NYSE:MOS] and CF Industries [NYSE:CF], Norway’s Yara International [STO:YARO], Russia’s Phosagro [MCX:PHOR] and potentially China’s ChemChina, could consider it, the first banker said.

For the North American firms and ChemChina, K+S would provide a platform to get a European footprint, the first banker said. For Mosaic, the deal would follow on from its expansion in South America, where it bought Archer Daniels Midland’s [NYSE:ADM] fertiliser distribution business in Brazil and Paraguay last year.

Yara is known for looking at large transformational deals, the first banker said. Its talks to merge with CF to create the world’s largest maker of nitrogen-based fertiliser fell through last year, he noted.

Potash has a strategy to build supply and capacity outside its native Canada, a sector analyst said. It could have an eye on K+S’ Legacy project in Canada, the analyst said. Potash should be able to significantly lower the capex of Legacy due to its existing infrastructure, he said.

Potash Corp is the world’s third biggest potash producer by sales volume behind Uralkali [MCX:URKA] and Belaruskali, whilst K+S is the seventh biggest, according to a Uralkali presentation based on 2014 figures.

Potash and K+S would have combined annual sales volume of 13.9m tonnes, leapfrogging Uralkali (12.3m tonnes) and Belaruskali (10.2m tonnes) to become the biggest producer by sales volume, based on the presentation.

Potash, Agrium and Mosaic export their potash through a marketing organisation, Canpotex. Uralkali and Belaruskali had a similar arrangement to sell through the Belarusian Potash Company until 2013, when a dispute between the two ended their arrangement.

Reports have suggested Potash Corp could offer K+S shareholders EUR 40 per share. K+S was trading at EUR 29 per share before the rumours. It closed Friday up 29.6% at EUR 37.65, giving a market capitalisation of EUR 7.21bn.