>>> Finma Rejects Sika Offer Appeal by Gates, Cascade


BFW 05/04 16:16 Finma Rejects Sika Offer Appeal by Gates Foundation, Cascade
MORE: Finma Rejects Sika Offer Appeal by Gates, Cascade
2015-05-04 19:25:01.295 GMT


By James Kraus
(Bloomberg) -- FINMA Takeover Committee rejects appeal made
by William H. Gates III and Melinda French Gates, trustees of
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, and Cascade
Investment against TOB decision 598/01 in the matter of Sika AG,
Swiss financial markets regulator says in e-mail statement.
* Decision take in response to appeal of decision that opting
out clause set out in Article 5 of Sika’s articles of
association does apply to the transaction between Schenker-
Winkler Holding and Compagnie de Saint-Gobain whereby SWH,
Saint-Gobain, or any persons in concert with them aren’t
obliged to present a public takeover offer to the Sika
shareholders
* Schenker-Winkler Holding says in statement that Finma
decision shows opting-out clause was transparent for
everyone involved
* Procedural expenses of CHF45,000 imposed on parties to the
dispute, with SWH and Saint-Gobain awarded damages: SWH
* Finma decision can be appealed to the Swiss Federal
Administrative court: SWH

* NOTE: April 27, Sika Sees Disclosure Duty Breach by Burkard
Heirs, Saint-Gobain


Story Link:NSN NNU2KB6S9729<GO>

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

To contact the reporter on this story:
James Kraus in Geneva at +41-22-317-9232 or
jkraus2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Mariajose Vera at +49-89-244478-803 or
mvera1@bloomberg.net

(TechCrunch) Facebook & Nokia signed deal for Here to power mobile apps

Facebook And Nokia Quietly Ink Deal For Here To Power Maps On Mobile, Instagram And Messenger


One of the companies in the frame as a potential buyer of Nokia’s Here mapping division has quietly inked a deal with the Finnish company to power mobile maps. Facebook is now using Here maps for its mobile web version, and it is also running a test for Here to power location in native apps like Instagram and Messenger.

here facebookThe news comes as mobile company Nokia has confirmed that it is considering a sale of Here, which has an estimated value of $2 billion but some think it could go as high as double that because of the company’s current data set. Besides Facebook, sources tell us that other possible buyers for Nokia Here include Apple, a car consortium, Samsung, Uber, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and (wait for it) Yahoo. (Yes, some of these may be more likely than others.)

The news of the new Facebook/Nokia mapping partnership was not announced by either company, but contacted for comment, both confirmed the basic details to us:

“We are testing Nokia HERE maps across Facebook to give us more control and flexibility in delivering a consistent maps experience,” a Facebook spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch by email. “I can confirm that we’re testing HERE maps in Android versions of some of our standalone apps like Instagram and Messenger as well.”
“We’re excited that our maps can be enjoyed by Facebook users,” a Here spokesperson said.

From what we can see, there are Here maps appearing in the apps, but from what we have been told by reliable sources, Facebook is also using Here geocoding. The geocoding provides a significant amount of specific place data to both Facebook and users when tagging a location in Instagram, Messenger or in the main Facebook app.

While Facebook is not using Here maps currently in its native, flagship Facebook apps — on iOS for example these appear to be defaulting either to Apple iOS maps or Google Maps if you have the app installed on your device — if you visit Facebook’s mobile site through your browser and check out a map of a user’s location or that of a venue, you will see that there is a diagonal “here” logo in the bottom left-hand corner.

Facebook revisiting its mapping options and updating its partnerships for these should surprise no one.

First, having good location technology to tag where a person is helps Facebook be a richer service for its users who may want to update their status or post pictures from specific locations, especially considering how big a part mobile plays in Facebook’s business today.

Second, there is a very commercial angle here, too. Businesses use Facebook as part of their advertising and marketing operations and offering ads based on specific locations, or other location-based services, gives Facebook more ways to build up their relationships (and revenues) with these business.

Having better location data by way of Nokia is also logical for another reason. Facebook has long been making a play for having better location services, a strategy that you could argue has fuelled several acquisitions like Glancee, Tag Tile, Gowalla and Rel8tion to further its location technology and talent pool.

And more recently, an update to Facebook’s notifications enabled users to look at nearby places along with updates from their network of friends.

And yet, not all of Facebook’s forays to further its own location services platform have been met with massive success.

Remember the fire and brimstone when Facebook first swapped out Foursquare with its own Facebook Places location database? That’s another reason why partnering with a bigger provider of geolocation data like Nokia Here makes sense.

It’s not the first time that Facebook and Nokia have collaborated. Facebook is one of several social companies that feeds data into the Here maps. And years ago, well before Nokia sold its handset division to Microsoft and was still the world’s biggest handset maker, the two talked about collaborating on devices. The two have also worked on ways to better connect people in developing countries by way of Internet.org.

On the other side, there are a number of other large companies already using Here maps, including Amazon, Yahoo, Microsoft on mobile and Baidu.

One big question will be if Facebook doesn’t end up buying Here, what might happen to that relationship if someone else did?

>>> US Close Dow+0,26% S&P+0,29% Nasdaq+0,23% Russell+0,42%

Closing Market Summary: Stocks Creep Higher on Light Volume

The stock market kicked off the new trading week on an upbeat, albeit quiet, note. The Dow and S&P 500 gained 0.3% apiece while the Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%) slipped behind the broader market during afternoon action.

"Quiet" was the general theme on Monday as most global equity markets also posted gains while Japan's Nikkei and UK's FTSE were closed for holidays.

Seven of ten sectors finished in the green with financials (+1.0%) and utilities (+0.7%) ending in the lead. The countercyclical utilities sector lost the lead during the final hour while financials crept higher throughout the day, also overtaking the health care sector (+0.6%) during afternoon action.

Still, the health care space ended ahead of the broader market despite an intraday pullback in biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 345.19, +1.19) was up more than 2.0% at the start, but narrowed its advance to 0.4% by the close. Furthermore, the ETF was pressured back below its 50-day moving average (349.00) after spiking above that level at the start.

Turning to the cyclical side, only the financial sector (+1.0%) could finish the day ahead of the S&P 500 while the other five growth-sensitive groups underperformed. The top-weighted technology sector (unch) spent the day behind the broader market with large cap names trading in mixed fashion. To that point, Google (GOOGL 552.84, +1.68) and IBM (IBM 173.97, +0.30) posted respective gains of 0.3% and 0.2% while Apple (AAPL 128.70, -0.25) and Microsoft (MSFT 48.24, -0.41) registered losses. Similarly, chipmakers lagged with the PHLX Semiconductor Index shedding 0.2%. The semiconductor index underperformed even as ON Semiconductor (ON 12.50, +0.69) spiked 5.8% following better than expected results.

On the downside, the energy sector (-0.2%) was an early leader, but the group surrendered its early gain during the opening hour and remained in negative territory until the close. Crude oil weighed, but the energy component managed to trim its loss to 0.3% by the close. WTI crude settled at $58.92/bbl, likely seeing some pressure from the second consecutive advance in the Dollar Index (95.43, +0.14).

Treasuries climbed during morning action, but reversed to lows following today's economic data with the 10-yr rising three basis points to 2.14%.

Today's participation was on the light side with fewer than 680 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data was limited to the Factory Orders report for March, which increased 2.1% after declining a negatively revised 0.1% (from +0.2%) in February while the consensus expected an increase of 2.1%
  • The March gain was the first month-over-month increase since July 2014 with the bulk of the gain resulting from a 41.9% increase in March aircraft orders 
  • Durable goods orders were revised up to 4.4% from 4.0% reported in the advance estimate 
  • Excluding transportation, durable goods orders were revised up to +0.4% from -0.2% 
Tomorrow, the Trade Balance for March (consensus -$40.00 billion) will be released at 8:30 ET while the April ISM Services report (consensus 56.4) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.
  • Nasdaq Composite +5.9% YTD 
  • S&P 500 +2.7% YTD 
  • Russell 2000 +2.3% YTD 
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.4% YTD

(GO1) Fed Trade Cmsn: FTC Requires Cement Manufacturers Holcim and Lafarge to Divest Assets as a Condition of Merger


BN 05/04 20:16 *FTC: PACT INCLUDES HOLD ORDER TO ENSURE COS. ACT INDEPENDENTLY
BN 05/04 20:14 *FTC: HOLCIM TO ALSO SELL ASSETS IN MONTANA AND CANADA
BN 05/04 20:10 *FTC: LAFARGE TO SELL SOME ASSETS IN IA, MN, WI, TN, LOUISIANA
BFW 05/04 20:09 *FTC REQUIRES HOLCIM & LAFARGE TO DIVEST ASSETS
BN 05/04 20:09 *FTC:HOLCIM TO SELL EAGLE MATERIALS, ESSROC CORP.,BUZZI UNICEM
BN 05/04 20:08 *FTC REQUIRES HOLCIM & LAFARGE TO DIVEST ASSETS
BN 05/04 20:08 *FED TRADE CMSN: FTC REQUIRES CEMENT MANUFACTURERS HOLCIM &
Fed Trade Cmsn: FTC Requires Cement Manufacturers Holcim and Lafarge to Divest Assets as a Condition of Merger
2015-05-04 20:07:58.835 GMT

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/05/ftc-requires-cement-manufacturers-holcim-lafarge-divest-assets

PageExcerpt:
Holcim Ltd. and Lafarge S.A. have agreed to to settle would likely harm competition in the United States. According to a complaint filed by the FTC, the merger of Holcim, a Swiss company, and Paris-based Lafarge, would have harmed competition in 12 ...

HAL/BHI Said to Be Near Filing for EC Approval: DealReporter

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

HAL/BHI Said to Be Near Filing for EC Approval: DealReporter 2015-05-04 18:23:33.295 GMT

By Arie Shapira and Joshua Fineman (Bloomberg) -- Halliburton, Baker Hughes are finalizing Form CO after getting comments from European Commission case team, dealReporter says, citing person familiar. * Targets filing before end of May * EC said to still have some questions over some market definitions; review may slip into Phase II * NOTE: April 23, Bloomberg said CAT, HON, others considering HAL energy assets, citing people familiar * NOTE: March 27, HAL said on call sees deal closing in late 2H

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

To contact the reporters on this story: Arie Shapira in New York at +1-212-617-1488 or ashapira3@bloomberg.net; Joshua Fineman in New York at +1-212-617-8953 or jfineman@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Brad Skillman at +1-212-617-2763 or bskillman1@bloomberg.net

(TheVerge) Apple pushing music labels to kill free Spotify streaming ahead of Be

Link to article : http://bit.ly/1DPdPl8

Apple pushing music labels to kill free Spotify streaming ahead of Beats relaunch

Aggressive tactics from the music giant have garnered scrutiny from the Department of Justice

The Department of Justice is looking closely into Apple’s business practices in relation to its upcoming music streaming service, according to multiple sources. The Verge has learned that Apple has been pushing major music labels to force streaming services like Spotify to abandon their free tiers, which will dramatically reduce the competition for Apple’s upcoming offering. DOJ officials have already interviewed high-ranking music industry executives about Apple’s business habits.

Apple has been using its considerable power in the music industry to stop the music labels from renewing Spotify’s license to stream music through its free tier. Spotify currently has 60 million listeners, but only 15 million of them are paid users. Getting the music labels to kill the freemium tiers from Spotify and others could put Apple in prime position to grab a large swath of new users when it launches its own streaming service, which is widely expected to feature a considerable amount of exclusive content. "All the way up to Tim Cook, these guys are cutthroat," one music industry source said.


Sources also indicated that Apple offered to pay YouTube’s music licensing fee to Universal Music Group if the label stopped allowing its songs on YouTube. Apple is seemingly trying to clear a path before its streaming service launches, which is expected to debut at WWDC in June. If Apple convinces the labels to stop licensing freemium services from Spotify and YouTube, it could take out a significant portion of business from its two largest music competitors.


Apple has an antitrust monitor on its campus, courtesy of the DOJ after Apple was found guilty in an ebook antitrust case last year (Apple is appealing the decision), but it's not clear if that monitor is involved in this latest situation. The DOJ isn’t the only entity looking into Apple’s dealings with the music industry, either. According to the New York Post, Apple is being probed by the European Union’s Competition Commission to find out if the company is working with the labels to rid the industry of freemium services.

Apple declined to comment.

WWD : Can Elio Leoni Sceti Rebuild Coty?

Financial analysts and retailers await the first moves by Coty’s newly minted chief executive officer, Elio Leoni Sceti. Will he be the one who can restore the company to its former prominence in the fragrance and beauty industries, they ask?

Sceti, who will join Coty in July, was most recently ceo of Iglo Group, Europe’s leading frozen-brand food company (the company behind the Birds Eye brand), raising some eyebrows if there’s synergy between frozen foods, fragrance and foundations.

Wall Street’s View: Although noting Sceti is light in beauty experience, financial analysts think he has the right vision. “He’s known for implementing change to better align in the digital era by emphasizing digital marketing initiatives and brand investment productivity,” said Stephanie S. Wissink, senior research analyst, Piper Jaffray & Co. It doesn’t hurt that he knows his way around acquisitions — something the street expects from Coty on the horizon. On the day his new position was announced, Iglo was sold to Nomad Holdings Ltd.

Reestablishing Retail Connections: Retailers said Sceti’s first chore should be repairing ruptured buyer-seller relations. He also has to convince chain executives he’s the right man for the job. “Have they ever thought of getting someone from the industry to do the job,” one buyer questioned upon his appointment.

The trade’s major lament is that its Coty brands are “slow to go to market” in a business where flankers are not enough to move the sales needle. That said, they are willing to give him a chance, noting his ties to the music industry that bode well for further celebrity scent launches and his past experience at Procter & Gamble and Reckitt Benckiser.