>>> IATA reports 'healthy' April passenger demand, while air freight momentum sl

IATA reports 'healthy' April passenger demand, while air freight momentum slows

  • IATA announced global passenger traffic results for April showing robust demand growth compared to April 2014. Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 5.9%. April capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 6.1%, and load factor slipped 0.1 percentage points to 79.4%.Domestic demand grew by 7.2%, outpacing international demand which grew by 5.2% compared to April 2014.
  • IATA released data for global air freight markets showing a 3.3% increase in cargo volumes (freight tonne kilometers or FTKs) in April 2015 compared to April in the previous year. While there is growth compared to the same month in 2014, there has been no actual growth in aggregated global cargo volumes since late last year.
  • Airlines are mixed after seeing initial strength on DAL guidance/comments: SKYW +2.9%, CEA +1.9%, VLRS +1.5%, ZNH +1.2%, DAL +0.3%, LUV +0.2%, SAVE / RJET /AVH / ALK / VA flat, AAL -0.2%, JBLU -0.2%, JETS -0.2%, UAL -0.8%, HA -0.9%

>>> DJ Why Dish Could End Up in the Arms of Verizon

DJ Why Dish Could End Up in the Arms of Verizon

Shares of Dish Network Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. are rising after the Journal splashed the news that the two companies are in merger talks across the front page. Verizon Communications Inc.'s stock dropped in early trading.
Yet Citigroup analyst Michael Rollins argues that Dish may ultimately end up in the arms of Verizon.
"We increasingly see two options for DISH: buy T-Mobile US or sell to Verizon," Mr. Rollins wrote in a research note. In fact, he says a sale to Verizon is the more likely outcome.
Verizon, he argues, has the most to lose if Dish and T-Mobile join forces. "A merger could quickly catapult Dish into the wireless arena and strengthen T-Mobile's distribution, product bundling capabilities, and network capacity," he wrote.
Verizon was already facing a potential shift in the competitive landscape before news of the potential Dish deal broke. AT&T Inc.'s pending $49 billion acquisition of DirecTV, announced last month, would create a competitor with a "national wireless and national video footprint."
By buying Dish, Verizon could get "over-the-top video capabilities and and a large base of linear video customers from which it can extract programming scale and content for its emerging over-the-top platform."
Verizon, Mr. Rollins admits, may be wary of the cost of a Dish purchase. Verizon, he wrote, has already made it clear that it doesn't want to spend a large premium to acquire wireless spectrum. Dish outbid Verizon in the most recent auction. Yet by buying Dish, Verizon could instead use its stock to fund a deal, rather than debt, which it needed to use to buy spectrum.
[ EARLIER: Goldman Sachs to CEOs: Stop Buying Back Stock. Buy Companies Instead.]
Meanwhile, should T-Mobile get left at the altar again (remember it was long pursued by Sprint Corp. but Sprint gave up in the face of regulatory headaches), could Sprint return? Mr. Rollins said if there was a change in stance among regulators, T-Mobile would likely be interested.
T-Mobile has also had another suitor in France's Iliad SA. Iliad offered to buy a majority of T-Mobile last August but ultimately abandoned its plans. Investors will look to see whether Iliad could reemerge as a real buyer.
On its own, T-Mobile could be a "potential strategic partner to multiple companies in multiple forms," Mr. Rollins wrote.

(BGR) Xiaomi president claims Xiaomi ‘will acquire BlackBerry’

Xiaomi president claims Xiaomi ‘will acquire BlackBerry’

Xiaomi’s president says that his company “will acquire BlackBerry,” although we have a very hard time believing that will actually be the case. G for Games points us to remarks made by Xiaomi president and cofounder Bin Lin in which he flat-out states that Xiaomi will buy BlackBerry. Skeptical of a Google translation of the Xiaomi president’s remarks, G for Games looked at the original text and broke it down word by word and, lo and behold, it seems he really did say that his company would be buying BlackBerry.
Of course, it may just be that Xiaomi has intentions on buying BlackBerry but isn’t close to finalizing anything yet. And frankly, we have a very, very, very hard time believing the governments of North America would ever sign off on such a sale.

After all, BlackBerry still provides critical secure mobile communications services for several western governments — U.S. president Barack Obama, U.K. prime minister David Cameron and German chancellor Angela Merkel, for instance, all still use BlackBerry devices. Rumors from last year indicated that Chinese company Huawei was interested in buying up BlackBerry but officials in both the U.S. and Canada said they would never sign off on such a deal.
Because of this, it’s virtually impossible to see North American governments giving the green light to a BlackBerry-Xiaomi merger, especially since Xiaomi’s reputation for mobile security is even dodgier than Huawei’s is.

(BGR) Xiaomi president claims Xiaomi ‘will acquire BlackBerry’

Xiaomi president claims Xiaomi ‘will acquire BlackBerry’

Xiaomi’s president says that his company “will acquire BlackBerry,” although we have a very hard time believing that will actually be the case. G for Games points us to remarks made by Xiaomi president and cofounder Bin Lin in which he flat-out states that Xiaomi will buy BlackBerry. Skeptical of a Google translation of the Xiaomi president’s remarks, G for Games looked at the original text and broke it down word by word and, lo and behold, it seems he really did say that his company would be buying BlackBerry.
Of course, it may just be that Xiaomi has intentions on buying BlackBerry but isn’t close to finalizing anything yet. And frankly, we have a very, very, very hard time believing the governments of North America would ever sign off on such a sale.

After all, BlackBerry still provides critical secure mobile communications services for several western governments — U.S. president Barack Obama, U.K. prime minister David Cameron and German chancellor Angela Merkel, for instance, all still use BlackBerry devices. Rumors from last year indicated that Chinese company Huawei was interested in buying up BlackBerry but officials in both the U.S. and Canada said they would never sign off on such a deal.
Because of this, it’s virtually impossible to see North American governments giving the green light to a BlackBerry-Xiaomi merger, especially since Xiaomi’s reputation for mobile security is even dodgier than Huawei’s is.

(GS) Transatlantic M&A : US Ready, Willing and able Buyers of Europe

The tip of the iceberg 
Transatlantic M&A is surging and shows no signs of abating. We expect the recent trend of US buying Europe to continue driven by FX, overseas cash, improving relative growth, and valuation. We believe the sectors most ripe for potential activity are European 1) Aerospace, 2) Machinery and 3) Hotels. Areas such as HealthCare and Tech also appear poised for further consolidation, though the direction of deal flow could be two-way

The Multi-Trillion-Dollar Question: Why? 
Reasons behind the broad pick-up in M&A are well known with improved CEO confidence, declining policy uncertainty and record cash levels all contributing. 
Cheap leverage could also be a catalyst. We estimate $2.1 tn and $940 bn of firepower in the US/Europe, respectively, and list the firms with the highest potential. What is less clear is what is driving cross-border volumes. We find FX does matter, though has a lagged impact. For a US-to-Europe view, overseas cash, tax synergy potential and improving Euro growth could provide additional tailwinds.

Ready, Willing and Able 
We look for sectors that have (1) the motivation to transact (“willing”), (2) the financial means available (“able”), and (3) the presence of attractive candidates. On this last point, we utilize our departmental M&A framework and highlight stocks our analysts see as having at least 15% probability of strategic M&A over the next 12 months.

Taking the temperature of M&A 
• Hot: Global M&A volumes are on pace to be up 18% yoy, but at 5.8% of the world’s market cap it’s still below the 20-year average (6.7%). Further announcements of $650 bn would close the gap. 
• Hotter: Cross-border M&A volumes have comprised 26% of global activity YTD, significantly above the 20-year average of 21%. 
• Hottest: US acquisitions of European companies area trending to be up 32%, outpacing both overall global M&A volume growth (+18%) and total cross-border M&A volume growth (+27%).

TechCrunch; Alibaba Invests $194M Into China Business News To Build A Financial


Alibaba Invests $194M Into China Business News To Build A Financial Data Platform
Alibaba, the Chinese internet giant, is currently focused on investing internationally to grow its business, but is also continuing to build out operations at home. In the latest move, it has invested $193.6 million (RMB1.2 billion) into China Business News to create a new financial data and information services company.
“The era of Data Technology is here and it will surpass the Information Technology era. The DT era is about transparency, sharing of information and enabling others,” said Alibaba Group founder and executive chairman Jack Ma in a statement announcing the deal. “Alibaba is excited about the possibilities of the DT era and how it can bring value to society.” The deal was formalised earlier today in a signing ceremony in Shanghai involving Alibaba exec Tiger Wang and CBN chairman LI Rong.
On the face of it, it sounds like the idea will be to create a Bloomberg-style product for the Chinese market, but specifically catering to businesses rather than to investors. Alibaba describes the new venture as a “financial data and information services company that will help Chinese small and medium enterprises tap a rich mine of financial data.” So far it is unclear when the product might launch.
The investment is part of a wider strategic agreement Alibaba is making with CBN’s owner, Shanghai Media Group, and as part of it Alibaba will be providing the technology and cloud platform that will underpin this service, while CBN will be providing the news content.
“By utilizing Alibaba Group’s big data and cloud computing capabilities, both companies will jointly develop a comprehensive financial data and information platform that will provide users with timely financial news and information in order to enhance their investment and financial decision-making capabilities,” Alibaba notes.
This won’t be the first time Alibaba and CBM will be working together. As part of Alibaba’s strategy to forge partnerships with third parties to expand its business, CBN already uses Alipay to provide stock quote information and for a wealth management information product. It sounds like this and more services like it will be rolled into the new venture. Right now the service is on desktop but it will also be added to Mobile Taobao too, Alibaba says.
Since going public, Alibaba’s investments have included a nearly $600 million investment in smartphone maker Meizu, a stake in Snapchat, and a $120 million investment in gaming company Kabam. But it has also had an eye specifically for financial services, too. It powers a credit scoring service, it is buying into payment startups, and it has teamed up with Lending Club for a financing service.
Alibaba says the idea here will be to “raise the bar” on the kind of information Chinese business people have at their fingertips to make decisions, but you can also see how an international component to this could be interesting, too.
As China’s star continues to rise in the world of business, we’re seeing a growing number of foreign investors look to tap into its domestic market just as much as Chinese entrepreneurs may be looking to invest abroad.

(BFW) Goldman Says Transatlantic M&A Not Slowing Down, Lists Targets

  • Potential Europe targets (Goldman rank #1):
    • Energy: Africa Oil, Det Norske, DNO, Dragon Oil, Fugro, Genel Energy, Gulf Keystone, Lundin Petroleum, Tullow Oil
    • Industrials/Machinery: Meggitt, Mobileye, MTU Aero, Nexans, Oxford Instruments, Spectris, Vetas Wind
    • Consumer: Paddy Power, Remy Cointreau, Restaurant Group, SABMiller, Whitbread
Goldman Says Transatlantic M&A Not Slowing Down, Lists Targets
2015-06-04 13:25:33.799 GMT


By Arie Shapira
(Bloomberg) -- Recent trend of U.S. buying Europe to
continue driven by FX, overseas cash, improving relative growth
and valuation, Goldman’s Jessica Binder Graham writes in U.S.
and Europe Tactical Research note.

* Sectors “most ripe” for possible activity in Europe are
aerospace, machinery and hotels; tech, health care also
poised for further consolidation, though deal flow direction
may be “two-way”
* Potential Europe targets (Goldman rank #1):
*
* Energy: Africa Oil, Det Norske, DNO, Dragon Oil, Fugro,
Genel Energy, Gulf Keystone, Lundin Petroleum, Tullow
Oil
* Industrials/Machinery: Meggitt, Mobileye, MTU Aero,
Nexans, Oxford Instruments, Spectris, Vetas Wind
* Consumer: Paddy Power, Remy Cointreau, Restaurant Group,
SABMiller, Whitbread
* Potential U.S. targets (Goldman rank #1 or #2): ALGN, ANET,
BBRY, BCR, BLOX, BSFT, CALX, CIEN, EW, GIMO, GMED, HAE,
HOLX, HRC, HTWR, INFN, JNPR, NUVA, RKUS, SIRO, SSNI, THOR
* NOTE: June 1, SocGen listed likely European M&A targets
* NOTE: May 8, Goldman’s “PM Toolkit," co-authored by Binder
Graham, introduced new quality/value metric


For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO>
First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>

To contact the reporter on this story:
Arie Shapira in New York at +1-212-617-1488 or
ashapira3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Brad Skillman at +1-212-617-2763 or
bskillman1@bloomberg.net

(BFW) Worldpay Close to Choosing BofA, GS, MS for GBP6b IPO: Sky

TWT 06/04 13:07 Sky News: Worldpay Lines Up Banks for £6bn London Float news.sky.com/story/1496194/…
BFW 06/04 13:10 *WORLDPAY CLOSE TO CHOOSING BOFA, GS, MS FOR GBP6B IPO: SKY NEWS
Worldpay Close to Choosing BofA, GS, MS for GBP6b IPO: Sky
2015-06-04 13:15:45.220 GMT


By Caroline Schaberg
(Bloomberg) -- Worldpay’s owners close to appointing
BofAML, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley as global coordinators for
its GBP6b IPO, Sky News reports.

* Says Barclays, Credit Suisse, UBS also bookrunners on deal
* NOTE: May 24, Sunday Times said GS, Lazard already working
on float


For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO>
First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>

To contact the reporter on this story:
Caroline Schaberg in Washington, D.C. at +1-202-654-1248 or
cschaberg1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Clyde Eltzroth at +1-212-617-1879 or
celtzroth1@bloomberg.net

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance/SSS: NAV -4%, VRNT -3.3%, CYBX -1.7%, SJM -1.1%, DRWI -0.8%

Select Large Pharma names showing weakness: SHPG -1.4%, GSK -1.2%, AZN -1.1%, NVS -0.9%

Select metals/mining stocks trading lower: AU -3.3%, GFI -2.4%, HMY -2.1%, BHP -1.8%, SLV -1.4%, GDX -1.2%

Other news: SGMO -6.4% (Sangamo BioSci disclosed Philip Gregory, senior vice president, research and chief scientific officer, resigned ), NBG -5.5% (concern over lack of progress in Greece), OXLC -4.7% (announces an underwritten public offering of 2.25 mln shares of its common stock ), VLTC -3.7% (modestly pulling back following yday's 48% gain), RADA -2.8% (filed for $14.95 mln offering of ordinary shares), VWR -2.6% (prices public offering of 16,000,000 shares of common stock by selling stockholder Varietal Distribution Holdings at $26.25 per share), ZQK -2.4% (disclosed resignation of Elizabeth Dolan from the Board based on her belief that she was prevented from fulfilling her duties as a director), AAOI -2.4% (files for $140 mln mixed securities shelf offering), GRBK -2.3% ( files for $200 mln offering of common stock ), BLUE -2% (Celgene and bluebird bio to develop Anti-BCMA Product Candidates; bluebird bio regains rights to CAR T programs outside of BCMA), AER -1.2% (American Intl prices sale of ordinary shares of AerCap (AER); offers 71,184,686 ordinary shares and a private sale of 15,698,588 ordinary shares to AerCap), MOH -1% (prices its offering of 5 mln share of common stock at $67.75/share)

Analyst comments: VZ -2.2% (downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan), JWN -1.3% (downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse), DDS -1% (downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse), XLNX -1% (downgraded to Market Perform at FBR Capital), WEN -1% (downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush), OCR -0.5% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman)