NY Post : Gas producer Samson Resources to break loan covenants

KKR-owned Samson Resources — one of the country’s biggest privately held natural gas producers — is expected within weeks to break its loan covenants, three sources close to the situation told The Post.
Samson — hit hard by falling oil prices — last month hired restructuring advisers to help get it out from under a heavy debt load.
The energy company is in talks with a JPMorgan-led group that holds a $1 billion revolving line of credit.
“The question is: Will JPMorgan give them a break?” a source said.
Last year, Samson broke the covenant in the same revolving line of credit, and JPMorgan gave the energy company a waiver while lowering the line of credit to $1 billion — from $1.8 billion — the source said.
“They will have a fully drawn revolver in 2015,” the source noted.
Samson needs to keep its consolidated total first lien debt to EBITDA ratio to not more than 1.5 to 1.0 at the end of the quarter, according to public filings.
Henry Kravis has much riding on Samson.
His firm led the biggest buyout in history — the $44 billion 2007 buyout of Energy Future Holdings — and EFH last year filed for bankruptcy.
KKR and the other equity sponsors could see their positions largely wiped out.
Kravis in 2011 doubled down on the energy space, leading the $7.2 billion buyout of Samson, and now it is trying to avoid a similar fate.
A Samson spokesman declined comment.

>>> US Early premarket gappers

Early premarket gappers
Gapping up: MELA +49%, PME +9.4%, NATH +7.5%, SURG +7.1%, EXPR +7%, CVTI +6.8%, ARCP +5%, SYX +5%, GERN +3.9%, SUPN +3.9%, NVTA +3.5%, PBR +3.2%, LL +3.1%, TCRD +3.1%, BIOC +3%, EOX +2.8%, MMI +2.7%, SCON +2.7%, FCEL +2.3%, SINA +2.2%, TSEM +2%, TXMD +1.8%, GNC +1.7%, NOR +1.7%, SNDK +1.7%, HOV +1.7%, STV +1.6%,BUD +1.3%, ARMH +1.2%, SNY +1.1%, PSO +1.1%, UN +1%, HCC +0.9%, NCS +0.9%

Gapping down: ZGNX -13.2%, HABT -8.6%, ERA -6.7%, HTBX -6%, SXL -5.5%, ONTY -5.1%, WB -4.6%, NBG -3%, BHP -3%, SPHS -2.8%, WEN -2.3%, STO -2%, SFUN -1.9%, MT -1.9%, EMC -1.3%, HAL -1.2%, HAL -1.2%, BP -1.2%, HMY -1.1%, SSRI -0.9%, MA -0.8%, GG -0.7%

(BFW) Alstom CEO Rejects Siemens CEO Offer to Consolidate Train Units

BN 03/11 10:29 *ALSTOM WILL BE DEBT-FREE AFTER GE DEAL IS CONCLUDED, CEO SAYS
BN 03/11 10:26 *ALSTOM CEO: SIEMENS CEO INTERVIEW COMMENTS WERE `UNACCEPTABLE'
BN 03/11 10:25 *ALSTOM CEO REJECTS SIEMENS CEO OFFER TO CONSOLIDATE TRAIN UNITS
Alstom CEO Rejects Siemens CEO Offer to Consolidate Train Units
2015-03-11 10:32:09.424 GMT


By Mathieu Rosemain
(Bloomberg) -- Alstom CEO Kron says interview with Siemens
CEO published in French daily Le Figaro included some
“unacceptable” comments. He was speaking to a parliamentary
committee in Paris.
* NOTE: Siemens CEO Says Alstom Rail Venture Possible: Le
Figaro


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

To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathieu Rosemain in Paris at +33-1-5530-6298 or
mrosemain@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Chris Reiter at +49-30-70010-6226 or
creiter2@bloomberg.net
Steve Rhinds

(BFW) Airbus Considers Buyback, Kepler Cheuvreux Says After Road Show

Airbus Considers Buyback, Kepler Cheuvreux Says After Road Show
2015-03-11 09:39:21.545 GMT


By Andrea Rothman
(Bloomberg) -- Airbus to revisit shareholder return policy
mid-year, buyback is an option, says Kepler Cheuvreux analyst
Christophe Menard in note following road show with co.
* Co. wants to soften impact of defense/space divestments on
EPS
* Airbus also may raise A320 production beyond announced 50/mo
by 2017/18 after evaluating supply chain
* A380 focus is on increasing capacity by putting passengers
11 abreast; A380neo can only be done if returns sound, more
than one customer needed: Kepler Cheuvreux (buy)
* NOTE yday: Airbus’s Multibillion-Dollar Bet: Whether to
Overhaul A380 Jumbo


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

To contact the reporter on this story:
Andrea Rothman in Toulouse at +33-5-6365-7668 or
aerothman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Benedikt Kammel at +49-30-70010-6230 or
bkammel@bloomberg.net

>>> Sika shareholder Ethos backs request filed by Gates Foundation and Cascade a

Sika shareholder Ethos backs request filed by Gates Foundation and Cascade at the Swiss Takeover Board
Ethos Foundation supports the request filed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and Cascade Investment last Friday at the Swiss Takeover Board.

This request demands the Swiss Takeover Board to rule on whether Saint Gobain needs to make a public offer to all shareholders when acquiring the 52% of voting rights sold by the Burkard Family. The articles of association contain an opting out clause (exemption from the obligation to make a public offer). Ethos and 11 shareholders filed a resolution last December to the next annual general meeting of Sika demanding the removal of this opting out clause.

In its recent decision on the request filed by Schenker Winkler Holding (SWH), the Swiss Takeover Board validated the general principle of the opting out contained in the articles of association. However, the Swiss Takeover Board did not make a decision on whether the opting out applies to the specific case of the acquisition by Saint Gobain of the shares of SWH. The shareholders Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and Cascade Investment are now asking for an answer concerning the validity of the opting out in this case.

Ethos supports the request of the American shareholders and, in general, every step taken to protect the long term interests of Sika and its minority shareholders. In particular, Ethos encourages the board to take every available measure to resist the hostile takeover of Sika which jeopardizes the demonstrated success of the company. This is even more important as shareholders holding more than half of Sika's capital have explicitly declared their support for the board and the executive management.

Last December, Ethos and 11 shareholders filed a resolution to the next annual general meeting demanding the removal of the opting out clause. This provision strongly penalises minority shareholders in the case of a sale of shares by a controlling shareholder. After the removal of the opting out clause, the buyer of the shares held by SWH will have to make an offer to the rest of the capital. In addition, the offer must be made at equal conditions to all shareholders as the payment of a control premium is prohibited by the Stock Exchange Act (SESTA). It is probable that, under such constraint, Saint Gobain will refrain from the purchase.

Ethos urges all shareholders, institutional or private, to join the support group for this resolution. Today, the group is composed of more than 50 institutional investors and close to 170 private shareholders that together hold 6.8% of the capital and 3.8% of the voting rights of Sika. The list of members is updated daily and published on the website of Ethos.

(UBS) Macro : The ultimate argument for European equity

A licence to kill debt
The level of QE announced by the ECB amounts to about 7.5% of Euro Area GDP. The public deficit this year in the Euro Area is expected to be around 2.2% of GDP. In short the ECB is not only purchasing all the net supply of Euro Area sovereign paper, but is also buying part of the existing stock. For the first time since WWII, the stock of public debt available for investors is declining.


The World (of Fixed Income) Is Not Enough
By definition, investors will be crowded out of the fixed income market by the ECB action. We show that the credit market is not large enough to absorb investments which means that the credit market could be heavily impacted and continue to rally. Also, part of the funds have to migrate to the stock market. We see that as unavoidable and as a very strong steady support for the European equity market.


The missing link: foreigners
The flaw this line of argument is that funds could be invested outside of Europe rather than in European equity. This, in theory, is true. However we highlight that recent international flows are telling us exactly the opposite: we find that foreign investors are actually increasing their allocation into Europe, making our flow argument even more powerful.