>>> Eni stake sale by Italian government on hold due to market conditions (trans

Eni stake sale by Italian government on hold due to market conditions

The Italian government is to put on hold the sale of a stake in listed Italian petroleum group, Italian-language daily Milano Finanza reported.

The report cited Prime Minister Matteo Renzi who said that the sale of a stake with the present market conditions would not give a sufficient return.

As previously, the Italian government is looking to sell a 4-4.5% stake in Eni through a share placement.

Eni has a market cap of EUR 52.1bn


Source Milano Finanza daily edition

(BFW) Emerging-Markets Portfolio Outflows Biggest Since June 2013: IIF

Emerging-Markets Portfolio Outflows Biggest Since June 2013: IIF
2014-12-30 16:18:51.286 GMT


By Scott Lanman
(Bloomberg) -- Outflows estimated at $11.5b in Dec.,
Institute of International Finance says in monthly report.
* Debt outflows at $7.8b, equity outflows at $3.7b
* First month of net outflows after 17 months of inflows
* Emerging Europe most affected, followed by Africa/Middle
East and Latin America; flows to Emerging Asia were
“slightly positive on net”
* “Investor sentiment towards emerging markets appears to
have taken a significant turn for the worse in the last few
weeks,” IIF economist Robin Koepke says
* Outflows may reflect higher risk aversion amid Russian
currency crisis, oil-price drop: Koepke
* June 2013 outflows reflected “Taper Tantrum”

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Scott Lanman in Washington at +1-202-654-4379 or
slanman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Chris Wellisz at +1-202-624-1862 or
cwellisz@bloomberg.net

>>> Sotogrande takeover offer from Cerberus and Orion Capital declared admissibl

Sotogrande takeover offer from Cerberus and Orion Capital declared admissible by securities regulator

The Spanish securities market regulator CNMV has declared admissible the takeover offer presented by the investment funds Cerberus and Orion Capital, via their vehicle Sotogrande Luxco, for NH Hoteles' property company Sotogrande. According to the regulatory filing on 29 December, the CNMV will process the offer and other documents filed on 19 December and 22 December.

The admission to process the offer does not imply that the offer or its terms have been authorised.

As per the relevant fact announcement dated 10 December, NH Hoteles is selling all its 43.5m shares Sotogrande representing a 96.997% stake in the Spanish property business. Sotogrande Luxco has offered EUR 4.47 per Sotogrande share.

RTR- Benettons ready halve World Duty Free stake to lure partner

Benettons ready halve World Duty Free stake to lure partner
Dec 30 (Reuters) - Italy's Benetton family is ready to halve its 50 percent stake in World Duty Free to make the travel retailer more attractive to a potential partner in the industry, two sources close to the matter said.

A merger with a rival company would help the world's second-largest travel retailer cope with the rising costs of airport concessions, which is set to hit its profitability in Spain. A merger would also give the retailer more bargaining power in dealing with suppliers.

Analysts also said a diluted stake in World Duty Free (WDF) would be easier to manage for the Benettons as the family prepares to hand over to a large number of heirs a business empire ranging from motorway concessions to the eponymous clothing retailer.

World Duty Free, which expects sales of between 2.38 billion and 2.43 billion euros ($2.89-$2.95 billion) this year, up around 15 percent from 2013, runs shops in some of Europe's busiest airports including Heathrow and Gatwick in London.

The Benettons, who control WDF through their Edizione Holding vehicle, spun off the airport business from caterer Autogrill in October last year paving the way for a possible tie-up.

The family is now willing to give up control, the sources said.

"The Benettons are not against diluting their stake under 30 percent," a source with knowledge of the family thinking said. The source added the family would be happy with a 15-20 percent stake in a well-managed, larger group.

WDF had no comment.

WDF's portfolio of airport concessions has an average length of nine years, longer than rivals, thanks to its ability to negotiate an extension of the contracts ahead of their expiry.

The group reaps 60 percent of its core profits from its British business, which has emerged unscathed from the euro zone crisis.

However, its Spanish business is under pressure because of the rents it pays for airport shops are set to rise significantly next year due to a specific term in its contract.

At the end of September, WDF had net debt of four times its cash core earnings, higher than market leader Dufry's 3.3 percent level.

WDF is set to approve by mid-January a three-year budget as it seeks to turn around its Spanish business, make its U.S. operations more profitable and reduce any overlap between its British and Spanish business.

"Once the multi-year budget is approved, the group will focus on searching for an industrial partner," the source close the family said.

WDF's newly appointed Chief Executive Eugenio Andrades has pledged to look at alliances in the sector.

WDF has had contacts with some rivals, including Dufry which last year bought smaller rival Nuance, the second source said.

South Korea's Lotte Duty Free has also looked at WDF, according to press reports.

But finding a partner could take some time and valuation could be a hurdle.

"The Benettons think WDF is worth nearly 3 billion euros based on the discounted cash flow method," the source close to the family said.

WDF is valued at around 2 billion euros at current market prices.

(BFW) Songbird Says Qatar Offer Doesn’t Reflect Full Value of Co.

BFW 12/30 14:39 *SONGBIRD SAYS QATAR OFFER DOESN’T REFLECT FULL VALUE OF CO
BN 12/30 14:39 *SONGBIRD SAYS OFFER DOESN'T REFLECT FULL VALUE OF CO
BN 12/30 14:38 *SONGBIRD BOARD BELIEVES OFFER DOESN'T REFLECT FULL VALUE
BN 12/30 14:38 *SONGBIRD RESPONDS TO FORMAL OFFER DOCUMENT
BN 12/30 14:38 *SONGBIRD ESTATES SBD RESPONDS TO FORMAL OFFER DOCUMENT
Songbird Says Qatar Offer Doesn’t Reflect Full Value of Co.
2014-12-30 14:45:41.759 GMT


By Heather Burke
(Bloomberg) -- Notes announcement by Qatar Investment
and Brookfield Property made today that they have posted their
offer document containing the full terms and conditions of their
final offer to acquire co. at a price of 350p/shr.
* Board believes the offer from QIA and Brookfield doesn’t
reflect the full value of the co.
* Plans detailed response to offer within 14 days
* Earlier: Songbird Investors With 32% of Free Float Back
Takeover Bid Link

Link to Statement:Link
Link to Company News:{SBD LN <Equity> CN <GO>}
Link to Company News:{BPY-U CN <Equity> CN <GO>}
Link to Company News:{908865Z QD <Equity> CN <GO>}

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To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Heather Burke at +44-20-7673-2044 or
hburke2@bloomberg.net

WSJ : Europe Keeps Fingers Crossed Over Abenomics

There’s a modest but building disenchantment with Abenomics. This could prove dangerous for the eurozone.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s eponymous program designed to lift Japan out of deflation and into steady long term growth captured investors’ imaginations. It triggered a sharp slide in the yen and a boom in Japanese equities and helped to push inflation into positive territory, seemingly well on the way to providing a solution to the economy’s long term problems.

Abenomics was temporarily derailed by a consumption tax hike at the start of April, which caused Japanese consumers to bring purchases forward into the first quarter. As a result, demand then fell back sharply and the Japanese economy contracted during the following six months.

Plenty of people expect Mr. Abe’s program to pick up where it left off at the end of the first quarter by adding positive impetus to both growth and inflation through monetary and fiscal stimulus. But doubts are creeping in. Foreign inflows into Japanese equities have collapsed. And a few economists argue that Japanese monetary and fiscal policies can’t cure what really ails the economy, which is poor demographics, while the government still falls short with the third prong of Abenomics: structural change.

So why should this matter for the eurozone?

Because investors are also placing enormous faith in the European Central Bank to find a way around the single currency region’s equivalent problems with slow or no growth and incipient deflation. If Abenomics is seen to fail in its primary objectives, doubts will settle on the European project as well. That’s because the eurozone also faces Japanese-style demographics of ageing populations and falling fertility rates.

What’s more, Japan, at least, has a largely unified and homogenous population able to pull together in tough times. By contrast, Europe’s is much more likely to fragment into constituent nations.

If Abenomics doesn’t manage to cure Japan’s economic ills, the pressure on European governments to seek solutions outside of the eurozone will become enormous. This is already starting to show up with Greece. Years of austerity, the economy’s contraction by around a quarter and no sign of where solid recovery might come from means Greek voters are starting to wonder about the benefits of eurozone membership–to judge by political developments. What hope there is rests with the belief that a Japan-style round of quantitative easing by the ECB will come to the rescue.

But if unlimited QE fails to work for Japan, fatal doubts will loom over Europe’s efforts too. Much more than Japan’s economic fate rests on Abenomics.

NY Post : Shake Shack files for IPO, plans massive expansion

Shake Shack has some very big plans.
The New York gourmet burger chain filed papers to go public on Monday, saying it would use the as-yet-undetermined amount of proceeds from the stock sale in part to grow the number of US stores from 36 to about 450.
The Danny Meyer-led company will also use the cash proceeds to grow internationally — from its current footprint of 27 non-US stores, it said in the regulatory filing.
A timeline to reach the 450 stores was not given.
However, Shake Shack, where a single burger at its Grand Central Terminal store goes for $4.95 and a shake sells for $5.15, said it plans to open at least 10 new US company-operated Shacks each year, beginning in fiscal 2015, for the foreseeable future.
Profits at the chain fell 20 percent in the nine months ended Sept. 20, to $3.5 million, despite a 39 percent rise in revenue in the period compared to the year-earlier period. Same-store sales rose 3.0 percent, down from 5.5 percent a year earlier
In 2013, net profits grew 31.2 percent to $5.4 million on a 41.4 percent rise in revenue. Same-store sales grew by 5.9 percent, according to the filing.
To compare, Nasdaq-traded Red Robin Gourmet Burgers has about 500 locations and a $1 billion market cap. Red Robin’s shares have risen 350 percent over the last five years, but only 5 percent in the last 12 months.
Private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners in 2010 bought 40 percent of Shake Shack and stands to benefit handsomely from a stock listing and fast growth.
“We open Shacks in areas where communities gather, often with high foot traffic and substantial commercial density such as New York City’s Theater District, London’s Covent Garden and Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates,” Shake Shack said in the Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
“We will continue to not only fill in existing markets such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago and South Florida to leverage operational effectiveness as we cluster in high-density markets, but also enter new markets, such as Austin, where we have signed leases,” it added.
Meyer, 56, who founded the chain and serves as its chairman, is a New York high-end restaurant fixture. He also owns and operates the Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, The Modern, Maialino, Untitled, North End Grill and Marta.
As is typical of early IPO filings, the Shack Shack papers on Monday did not disclose Meyer’s stake in the company not the equity interest of other large owners. It also did not list how much money the chain expected to raise or if Meyer would be cashing out by selling shares into the IPO.
JPMorgan is leading the underwriting with Latham & Watkins giving legal advice.