(BN) China Said to Plan $16.3 Billion Fund to Revive Silk Road

China Said to Plan $16.3 Billion Fund to Revive Silk Road
2014-11-04 07:31:48.752 GMT


By Bloomberg News
Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- China plans a $16.3 billion fund to
finance construction of infrastructure linking domestic and
overseas markets as President Xi Jinping pushes forward with his
plans to revive the centuries old Silk Road trading route.
The money will be used to build and expand railways, roads
and pipelines in Chinese provinces that are part of the strategy
to facilitate trade over land and shipping routes, according to
government officials who participated in drafting the plan. The
fund will mainly be overseen by China’s policy banks.
More policies will be rolled out soon to encourage Chinese
lenders to finance infrastructure in countries along the route
connecting China to Europe, said the officials. They asked not
to be identified as they weren’t authorized to speak publicly
about the plans. Chinese companies will also be urged to invest
in the countries.
The New Silk Road plan, comprising a land-based belt and a
maritime route, has been referred to as a Chinese national
strategy after Xi first proposed the idea in Kazakhstan a year
ago. The plan is for an economic cooperation bloc through to the
Mediterranean that revives the old Silk Road.
The plan signals “a shift in China’s strategic thought,”
said Zhang Yunling, director of the Institute of Asia-Pacific
Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The past
three decades of China’s development have been focused on
“absorbing foreign investment” and the next step will be about
the outflow of Chinese development to its neighbors, he said.

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To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Ting Shi in Hong Kong at +852-2977-4845 or
tshi31@bloomberg.net;
Steven Yang in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7724 or
kyang74@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Rosalind Mathieson at +65-6231-3654 or
rmathieson3@bloomberg.net
Neil Western

(BFW) Altice Is a Private Equity Firm On The Stock Mkt, Goldman Says

Altice Is a Private Equity Firm On The Stock Mkt, Goldman Says
2014-11-04 07:43:24.419 GMT


By Sam Chambers
Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Altice has shown an ability to buy
and sell assets at the correct time in the economic cycle and
increased the Ebitda margins of its targets by an avg. of 24pct
points, Goldman says.
* Goldman: With Numericable, Altice can achieve the targeted
EU1b cost synergies within 3 yrs and extract another EU1.3b
synergies by 2018, based on historical precedent
* Margin expansion at SFR-NUM should generate up to EU20b
of additional debt funded M&A resources over next 4 yrs
* Reinstates Altice as conviction list buy with EU75 PT
(53% upside) and Numericable as buy with PT EU40 (37%
upside)
* Reinstates Altice as conviction list buy with EU75 PT
(53% upside) and Numericable as buy with PT EU40 (37%
upside)</li></ul>
* Nov. 2: Altice made $8.8b offer for Oi’s Portugese assets;
Oi confirmed the proposal will be assessed by its board
* NOTE: Altice shrs are up 74% since its Jan IPO
* NOTE: Co. reports 3Q results on Nov. 14


For Related News and Information:
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To contact the reporter on this story:
Sam Chambers in London at +44-20-7673-2021 or
schambers7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Ludden at +44-20-7673-2645 or
jludden@bloomberg.net

Les Echos : Tax Cut for Air France

The Le Roux report recommends to cuts taxes in the airline sector.
More than 100 million of potential savings for Air France.
Air France-KLM, Santa Claus could be called Bruno Le Roux. President of the Socialist Group in the Assembly has indeed returned last night to the Prime Minister's proposals to improve the competitiveness of air transport, which could result in tens of millions of euros in savings for Air France.
The most newsworthy proposal concerns the so-called solidarity tax "tax Chirac", which should be applied to areas other than air transport, such as banking, insurance and retail. In 2013, this tax to fund the fight against AIDS in African countries, represented a drain of 100 million euros on French companies, including two-thirds supported by Air France.
However, another proposal in the report Le Roux could allow Air France to save as much. It would exempt transit passengers from paying tax of Civil Aviation, collected by the State. The levy on transit traffic without equivalent in other European countries, has in fact cost 65 million euros to Air France in 2013. And according to the company, and Aéroports de Paris, campaigning together for deletion, this surcharge on airline tickets would have helped to reduce the market share of Roissy-CDG in connecting traffic. Last July, the CEO of Air France-KLM, Alexander Juniac and his counterpart Aéroports de Paris, Augustin de Romanet, had also written to the government asking for the exemption measure, likely to increase the most profitable for connecting traffic, ADP and Air France.
Enhance the attractiveness of the hub at Roissy-CDG
If, as is likely, Manuel Valls follows the recommendations of the report, Air France and save each year to EUR 135 million. What allow him to return to profit. Especially at these two measures would add an in-depth review of the calculation of Aéroports de Paris royalties, in a more favorable direction to Air France. ADP decrease its prices on long-haul and medium-haul incentive for companies to rotate as fast as possible, which should also do the business of the second best customer, easyJet. This new tariff structure, designed to enhance the attractiveness of the hub at Roissy-CDG to its competitors in Europe and the Middle East, would take effect in 2015.
However, the hypothesis raised at the completion of the report a decrease in ADP charges offset by the reinstatement of the revenue from shops and other related activities in their calculation, remains highly controversial. For now, funding for aviation activities, unprofitable, shall be provided solely by the charges, ancillary revenues whose function is to ensure the margin. But this system of "dual till done" has always been challenged by companies that consider the profits generated by parking lots or shopping are with their passengers.
The only problem is a challenge to this system would greatly reduce the profitability of ADP and thus its market value, it is argued airport source. Which would be contrary to the interests of its majority shareholder, the state. Especially at a time when it plans to sell shares in airports.

Les Echos : Michelin victime de « l’arnaque au président

Le fabricant de pneumatiques s’est fait dérober 1,6 million d’euros au moyen de l’arnaque dite « du président ».
L’arnaque est désormais bien rôdée, et Michelin en est la dernière victime. Le fabricant de pneumatiques s’est fait dérober 1,6 million d’euros via une escroquerie reposant sur de faux ordres de virement, a-t-il indiqué lundi à l’AFP, confirmant une information du journal « Le Parisien ». La méthode employée est celle de « l’arnaque au président », qui sévit de plus en plus dans les entreprises.
Modus operandi
Un individu se fait généralement passer pour le président ou l’un des directeurs d’une société ou d’un groupe, et appelle un comptable de niveau assez bas dans hiérarchie , à qui il demande, dans le cadre d’une opération très confidentielle, un virement urgent vers un pays étranger. Bien souvent, il s’agit de la Chine, ou de Chypre, mais cette fois, le pseudo directeur financier a réclamé que les règlements soient effectués sur le compte d’un banque en République tchèque. « Cet homme connaissait parfaitement la procédure à suivre et la personne à contacter au sein du groupe Michelin pour pouvoir effectuer cette modification en toute discrétion », a rapporté une source proche de l’affaire. Une enquête a été ouverte et confiée à la police judiciaire de Clermont-Ferrand.
Lire aussi >> La « fraude au président » en recrudescence depuis début 2014
Michelin n’est pas le premier groupe à être victime d’une telle escroquerie, « la plus redoutable » et qui requiert « une autorité naturelle, un certain aplomb et [...] un don pour la comédie », expliquait récemment aux « Echos » le SRPJ de Clermont-Ferrand. Pour le service régional de police judiciaire, les arnaques de ce type sont de trois types : outre « l’arnaque au président », on trouve l’escroquerie « à la nigériane » ou encore le détournement de la nouvelle norme Sepa , l’espace de paiement unique européen

(BN) Apple Said to Plan First Euro Bond Offering: Corporate Finance

Apple Said to Plan First Euro Bond Offering: Corporate Finance
2014-11-04 00:46:27.646 GMT


(To be sent this column, click SALT CF. For credit-market
news, click on TOP CM.)

By Sridhar Natarajan, Katie Linsell and Adam Satariano
Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is gearing up for its
first bond offering in euros as the iPhone maker seeks to fund
another round of shareholder rewards without using overseas cash
that would be subject to U.S. repatriation taxes.
The world’s most valuable technology company has hired
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG to manage the sale
and the money would be used for share buybacks and dividends,
said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Banks have
started gauging investor interest in the offering, according to
investors at two firms who have been approached.
By borrowing in euros, Cupertino, California-based Apple
can take advantage of a market that’s offering the lowest yields
in six years relative to dollar-denominated debt. Apple, which
has the biggest corporate cash hoard at $155 billion, has raised
$29 billion from bond sales since 2013 to give back cash to its
owners instead of repatriating its overseas reserve.
“All-in funding levels in euros are so low for corporates
at the moment it makes sense to issue here,” said Jens
Vanbrabant, the lead money manager at London-based ECM Asset
Management Ltd., which oversees $8 billion. “It’s much lower
than dollars. There is no doubt investors will like the name.”

Stock Buybacks

A London-based spokesman for Apple declined to comment on
whether the securities would be denominated in euros.
Apple, which holds more than 88 percent of its cash
overseas, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, has been
pushed by activist investor Carl Icahn to accelerate its stock
repurchase program.
The company sold $12 billion of bonds in April after
issuing $17 billion in 2013 in the largest corporate bond sale
at the time, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Its $2.5 billion of 3.45 percent notes sold this year have
gained 2.9 percent, index data compiled by Bloomberg show. The
securities coming due in May 2024 traded at 102.9 cents on the
dollar yesterday to yield 3.1 percent, according to Trace, the
bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority.
The average yield that investors demand to hold investment-
grade corporate bonds in euros fell to 1.22 percent, or 0.02
percentage point from a record low, according to Bank of America
Merrill Lynch index data. That’s widened the yield gap with
dollar notes to 1.87 percentage points, which is close to the
biggest discount since October 2008, the data show.

Cash Holdings

The company is forecasting a record holiday sales quarter
after introducing new bigger-screen iPhones and slimmer iPads.
Apple’s cash accounted for 10 percent of the $1.65 trillion
held by U.S. non-financial companies through the first half of
the year, according to an Oct. 20 report by Moody’s Investors
Service.
Under current law, U.S. companies can defer federal income
taxes on most overseas earnings indefinitely. When they do bring
back the money to the U.S., they’re taxed at the corporate rate
of 35 percent, with credits for foreign income taxes paid.
Companies paying little in overseas levies face higher U.S. tax
bills upon repatriation and can save money by borrowing instead.
Billionaire Icahn wrote an open letter last month to Apple
Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook to increase share repurchases
and boost the value of the stock, which he said was trading at
half its value.

‘Great Rates’

“They’ve got so much cash, and generate so much cash, that
they can incrementally increase shareholding funding activity
and they will still be fine,” Lon Erickson, a Santa Fe, New
Mexico-based money manager at Thornburg Investment Management
Inc., said in a telephone interview.
The company, which had authorized a $90 billion share
buyback program, has repurchased $67.9 billion of shares as of
Sept. 27, according to a regulatory filing last week. Apple also
increased its quarterly dividend to 47 cents earlier this year,
resulting in a capital returns program that has increased to
$130 billion, according to the filing.
“They will probably be able to lock in great rates but
investors need to be wary that they could reach a point when
credit spreads start to leak wider, especially if interest rates
start to rise,” Erickson said.

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--With assistance from Hannah Benjamin in London and Katherine
Chiglinsky in New York.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Adam Satariano in San Francisco at +1-415-617-7204 or
asatariano1@bloomberg.net;
Sridhar Natarajan in New York at +1-212-617-0624 or
snatarajan15@bloomberg.net;
Katie Linsell in Madrid at +34-91-700-9631 or
klinsell@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Shelley Smith at +44-20-3525-2020 or
ssmith118@bloomberg.net
John Parry, Faris Khan

>>> Banca Carige may be targeted by Credit Agricole

Banca Carige may be targeted by Credit Agricole

Banca Carige, the listed Italian bank, could be acquired by French financial services group Credit Agricole, Italian language daily Milano Finanza reported. The report cited unspecified rumours claiming that Investindustrial, the Italian private equity firm, could also make an investment.

The report noted that Carige shares rose sharply on the rumours following a slump after Carige was found to be inadequately capitalised by tests carried out by the European Central Bank (ECB).

The report noted that Carige will have to present a capital strengthening plan to the ECB by 9 November.

The report added that the entry of a new shareholder in Carige could be facilitated by banking foundation Fondazione Carige selling a 7% stake in the lender. Fondazione Carige presently holds 19% of Carige. The report said that the new shareholder would have to be willing to take part in a capital increase being drawn up by Banca Carige.

The report added that the Fondazione Carige stake could be placed on the market via an accelerated bookbuilding programme.

Banca Carige has a market cap of EUR 704m.


Source Milano Finanza daily edition

>>> PT Portugal: Apax Partners ramps up efforts to launch rival bid

PT Portugal: Apax Partners ramps up efforts to launch rival bid - report (translated)
Story
Apax Partners, the UK private equity firm, is meeting various parties today (4 November) in Lisbon to prepare a rival offer for PT Portugal to Altice's bid of just over EUR 7bn, reported Diario Economico. Sources familiar with the situation told the Lusophone paper that Apax executives have been sent to Portugal because the UK firm is readying a rival bid for PT Portugal.

Altice announced a binding offer on 3 November that valued the Portuguese operations of Brazilian telco Oi at EUR 7.025bn. Analysts in Lisbon said the offer from the French telco could face anti-trust issues in Portugal, but Altice CEO Patrick Drahi said recently that his firm would consider the measures imposed by Portuguese competition authorities. These measures could include the divestiture of Portuguese cable operator Cabovisao by Altice, some analysts said.

Elsewhere, Jornal de Negocios reported that Portugal Telecom (PT) shareholders could still veto the sale of PT Portugal using voting rights enshrined in the PT merger with Oi.


Source Diario Economico, Jornal de Negocios