>>> Cepsa hires Deutsche Bank for Salamander Energy bid

Cepsa hires Deutsche Bank for Salamander Energy bid 

Cepsa, the Spanish oil company, has hired Deutsche Bank to advise on a possible takeover bid for the UK exploration and production company Salamander Energy, reported Expansion.

Cepsa is preparing a joint bid with Jynwel Capital, the Spanish-language report said, citing market sources. According to the item, the deal could be worth EUR 300m.

The consortium is competing with a rival bid from Ophir Energy, which is being advised by Morgan Stanley, the report noted.

Goldman Sachs is advising Salamander, the report noted.


Source Expansion

>>> Saipem could attract interest from Fincantieri and Cdp

Saipem could attract interest from Fincantieri and Cdp –

Saipem, the listed Italian oil industry services group controlled by petroleum giant Eni, may attract interest from the Italian financial groups Fincantieri and Cdp, reported CorrierEconomia.

The unsourced report noted that the two potential buyers could create a consortium to bid for Saipem.

The report added that other likely bidders are Chinese and Russian groups including the listed oil giant Rosneft, which recently confirmed an interest in Saipem.

Saipem has a market cap of EUR 5.5bn.


Source Corriere della Sera

(MKR) Makor - Special Situations - Bouygues Eur 27.55 tgt: 30-36

Makor - Special Situations - Bouygues Eur 27.55 tgt: 30-36
2014-11-03 08:15:20.874 GMT


What price for Bouygues Telecom? What discount for Bouygues

EN FP: Eur 27.55

October 31, 2014

With Iliad not closing on T-Mobile, the focus has returned to Bouygues and
Bouygues Telecom. We know that the French telecom sector is under significant
price pressure from too much competition (too many operators) and significant
capex outlays to come. Bouygues Telecom is the most vulnerable company in that
space, and a deal with another operator is in the works, particularly since the
French government seems to favor such outcome and a reduction of operators from
4 to 3. Iliad, and Orange are the potential bidders. Numericable, whose deal
with SFR just got approved might be overstretched to bid for Bouygues Telecom,
particularly given the high probability that Altice, Numericable's parent
company, might bid for Portugal Telecom. In our October 14 report, our
recommendation was not to rush into Bouygues, arguing there were better plays in
the Euro telecom space. Our recommendation remains the same – not to rush,
although between our last note and now, markets have rebounded, and with them
valuations thus increasing the relative valuation appeal for Bouygues Telecom.


FULL REPORT ATTACHED


Contributed via: Bloomberg Publisher WEB Service

Provider ID: cb4b5813ea2a4057b1d2b7f7c3c57663


-0- Nov/03/2014 08:15 GMT

FT : LVMH set to end Hermès dispute in December

It's no longer a case of designer handbags at ten paces.

LVMH, the world's biggest luxury group behind fashion brands Louis Vuitton and Dior, has set a date of 17 December to redistribute its shares in rival Hermès to end a long-running dispute.

LVMH started building a holding in its smaller rival in 2010, amassing a 23 per cent stake which rattled Hermès, who feared a hostile takeover. In September, the two houses buried the hatchet and LVMH finally agreed to offload this stake.

In Paris on Monday, the company outlined the terms of the distribution, which will be voted on at a combined general meeting on 25 November, and if approved, paid on 17 December.

The deal that brought about this truce will see LVMH investors receive one Hermès share for every 21 LVMH shares they currently hold. The group's main investors include Christian Dior, which holds 42 per cent of LVMH, and the Groupe Arnault, a family holding company, which owns 5 per cent. On Monday, the two sides said:

LVMH has agreed to distribute to its shareholders all of the Hermès shares held by the LVMH group on the understanding that Christian Dior, which currently holds 40.9% of LVMH's share capital through Financière Jean Goujon, will distribute the Hermès shares that it receives from LVMH to its own shareholders.

LVMH, Financière Jean Goujon and Christian Dior and their respective subsidiaries have agreed not to acquire any Hermès shares during a five-year period as from the date on which all of the Hermès shares representing rights to fractional shares or non-distributed Hermès shares have been sold.

Mr. Bernard Arnault has agreed over the same aforementioned five-year period, on his own behalf and that of the companies which he controls directly or indirectly . . . not to hold, either on his own or jointly, directly or indirectly, a number of Hermès shares exceeding that which he will receive under the distributions, which will represent approximately 8.5% of Hermès share capital.

>>> Heidelberg says not to buy Lafarge, Holcim assets

Bankers working on the cement industry mega-merger between Lafarge and Holcim may be disappointed to hear this.
HeidelbergCement has confirmed it will not buy any of the businesses that must be sold off as part of its rivals' merger.
In a brief statement, the German company told its shareholders it had now stopped looking at the assets being put on the block by its rivals, as it wanted to fortify its balance sheet and put cash into its own projects instead.
Given the importance of cement to developing economies - and Lafarge and Holcim's dominant positions in the market - their merger has come under enormous scrutiny from regulators worldwide, with a suite of asset sales required for the deal to complete.
The €40bn of assets that have been put up for sale by the French and Swiss groups include businesses in Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and the UK.
The Heidelberg statement in full:
After a thorough analysis, HeidelbergCement has decided to refrain from the ongoing bidding process for the assets offered for sale of Lafarge and Holcim in the frame of its merger proceedings.
The company intends to use the anticipated proceeds from the announced sale of its building products business in North America and United Kingdom for debt reduction and for its own high quality growth projects.

WWD : Anthony Ledru to Head Louis Vuitton Americas

NEW YORK — Louis Vuitton named Anthony Ledru president and chief executive officer of the Americas, effective Jan. 1.

Ledru was most recently senior vice president, North America, at Tiffany & Co. Prior to that, he served as global vice president of sales for Harry Winston International and was at Cartier in Latin America and then in the U.S., where he held the role of vice president of retail at the house’s North American business.

At Vuitton, he is succeeding Valérie Chapoulaud-Floquet, who left the luxury leather-goods house in August to join French alcoholic-beverage company Rémy Cointreau Group as ceo.

In the interim period, Christopher Zanardi-Landi, Louis Vuitton’s executive vice president, commercial activities, oversaw the Americas region and worked closely with senior management executives.

“The U.S. is a very strategic market for us,” Zanardi-Landi told WWD. “It is, and always has been, one of our biggest markets in the world. We have a 130-store network, and it’s one that we concentrate on very strongly.”

Zanardi-Landi added that Ledru is joining Vuitton after a strong 2014 and “tremendous success with the launch of Nicolas Ghesquière.” There is currently significant brand activity in the works, including the unveiling of the revamped Fifth Avenue maison at the end of the month, a new Peter Marino-designed store on Rodeo Drive that will bow in February and the opening of a unit in Miami’s Design District the following month.

“When we went out to look for a president in the U.S., we wanted someone who, first of all, had a very strong understanding of the industry in the U.S.,” Zanardi-Landi noted. “Anthony is coming to us with nearly 20 years of experience in the U.S. and in Latin America. But also very important to us, we were looking for a strong retailer, someone who is going to be very close to the stores. That is the thing we feel very strongly about in Anthony. He is someone who is close to the store teams and can inspire them.”

Last May, Ledru was named in a racial-discrimination lawsuit filed against Tiffany & Co. The suit was dismissed in August after Michael McClure, a group director with Tiffany, and the jewelry retailer reached an agreement.

“My understanding is that all of those issues were solved, and so we move on,” Zanardi-Landi noted when asked if the suit was at all a consideration in the hiring process. “We were looking at someone who has had a very strong career, and everybody we have spoken to in the market, from a retailing point of view, has been very, very positive, so that was not a bearing in our discussion.”

FT : Altice makes €7bn offer for Portugal Telecom

The holding company founded by billionaire Patrick Drahi has confirmed it will make an offer for the Portuguese telecoms group.

Portugal Telecom merged with Oi, the Brazilian telecoms group, last year. Altice said it had made "a binding, fully financed offer to purchase the Portuguese assets of Portugal Telecom from Oi."

It added in its statement:

The offer submitted by Altice values these assets at an enterprise value of €7.025 billion on a cash and debt free basis, which includes a €400 million earn-out related to the future revenue generation of Portugal Telecom and a €400 million earn-out related to the future generation of Operating Free Cash Flow (EBITDA less Capex). If this offer is accepted, the transaction net of financial debt and other purchase price adjustments would be financed by new debt and existing cash from Altice.

Altice recently concluded a deal to buy SFR, the French mobile phone operator. It already owns cable businesses Cabovisao and Oni in Portugal and a purchase of Portugal Telecom would enable it to drive consolidation in the market.

>>> Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 2nd of November 2014

>>> Up
*ENI RAISED TO HOLD VS UNDERPERFORM AT JEFFERIES
*O’KEY RAISED TO OVERWEIGHT VS EQUALWEIGHT AT BARCLAYS
*STATOIL RAISED TO HOLD VS UNDERPERFORM AT JEFFERIES
*ZURICH INSURANCE UPPED TO OUTPERFORM VS NEUTRAL: CREDIT SUISSE

>>> Down
*AVEVA CUT TO SELL VS NEUTRAL AT GOLDMAN
*CREDIT SUISSE CUT TO SELL VS HOLD AT SOCGEN
*GLENCORE CUT TO REDUCE VS NEUTRAL AT NOMURA
*PATRIZIA IMMOBILIEN CUT TO HOLD FROM BUY AT BANKHAUS LAMPE
*SNAM SPA CUT TO SECTOR PERFORM AT RBC CAPITAL
*TAG IMMOBILIEN CUT TO NEUTRAL VS OVERWEIGHT AT HSBC

>>> PT Changes
*AB INBEV PT RAISED TO EU92 FROM EU87 AT ING

>>> Initiation
*AA RATED NEW BUY AT LIBERUM, PT 417P
*SAIPEM RATED NEW UNDERPERFORM AT RAYMOND JAMES, PT EU11.5O

>>> Call

>>> What to look at today : 2nd of November 2014

US MArket Closed Higher on Friday, Finishing October with a broad rally that sent the S&P 500 higher by 1.2%. The benchmark index extended its October advance to 2.3% and ended at a fresh record high, while the Nasdaq Composite (+1.4%) outperformed to end October with a 3.1% gain. volume were high, above 1bil shares for this last day of the month...A triple-header of China PMI releases remain indicative of a pullback in the world's 2nd biggest economy. China official manufacturing PMI released over the weekend slowed for the 3rd time to a new 5-month low, though it still remained above expansion threshold. Stats bureau economist added the "current economic growth is still showing some downward pressure", though he would not expect deterioration in the overall trend of PMI figures. Non-manufacturing PMI hit a 9-month low, falling for the 2nd straight month. Finally, the HSBC manufacturing PMI matched consensus and hit a 3-month high, but was also below the official print. HSBC economist said "manufacturing sector continued to stabilize in October, however the sequential momentum likely weakened."...Nikkei closed today...Hnag Seng -0.34%...Shanghai +0.09%

Eur$ 1.2488 S&P -0.02% EuroStoxx +0.06% DAX -0.03% FTSE +0.26% SMI+0.10%

Macro
- Euro Area Recovery Slower Than Expected, IMF's Vinals Tells ABC
- France to Mull Extending Airline Tax to Banks, Retailers: Echos
- HSBC China Oct. Manufacturing PMI 50.4; Est. 50.4

Keep an eye on :
- AIR FP : Rumors Air France could sell 100 planes to chinese firm for €10b
- ATC NA : Altice Makes Offer for Portuguese Assets of Portugal Telecom
- BMPS IM : KKR, Cerberus May Consider Investing in Monte Paschi: Messaggero
- BMPS IM : Paschi Board to Meet on ~EU1b Rights, Asset Sales: Repubblica
- BNP FP : CEO: French banks should only pay €10B of the €16B they are requested to pay to a proposed EU bailout fund
- AN FP : Canal Plus CEO Meheut Says African Market Is a Priorty
- CBK GY : Mentioned in the BArrons as an interesting Buy After passing easily the stress test
- CRG IM : Carige May Sell Creditis, Banca Ponti, Raise ~EU150m, Sole Says
- CPR IM : Campari May Sell Sella & Mosca, Zedda Piras Brands, Sole Say
- CSR LN : CSR targeted for stakebuilding by hedge funds amid speculation of counterbid 
- DGE LN : Diageo, Jose Cuervo Near Agreement to Swap Liquor Brands: WSJ
- DUFN SW : Dufry 3Q Revenue, Ebitda Beat Estimates
- ENE SM : Endesa Board to Meet This Week on Stake Sale, Expansion Says
- HOLN VX : Holcim 3Q In Line, FY Consensus Still Likely Cut, Berenberg Says
- INGA NA : Mentioned in the BArrons as an interesting Buy After passing easily the stress test
- KPN NA : America Movil CFO Sells EU275,000 of KPN Shares, Filings Show
- MEO GY : Metro Says Held ‘Loose Talks’ With Karstadt on Acquisition
- NISSAN(7201) : To lower its FY14/15 China sales volume target to 1.22M (flat y/y) vehicles from 1.43M prior target due to slowing China market
- PNL NA : PostNL 3Q Rev EU988m, Est. EU886m
- PUB FP : Publicis Groupe to Buy Sapient in $3.7b All-Cash Transaction, offer $25/share, 44% premium vs Friday Close
- REP SM : Said to be accelerating acquisitions due to lower oil prices
- CFR VX : Richemont named as top pick to play emerghing mkt in cover story of the BArrons
- RYA LN : Ryanair Raises Full-Year Profit Forecast
- SIE GY : Siemens to Propose EQT as Hearing-Aids’ Buyer, Tagesspiegel Says
- SKYD GY : Sky Deutschland 1Q Ebitda Up 86%; Reiterates FY15 Outlook
- SMDR LN : Salamander Holder RS Investments Backs Ophir Offer: Sunday Times
- STAN LN : U.S. Said to Probe Standard Chartered Banking in Dubai: Reuters
- STAN LN : Aberdeen Asset Backs Standard Chartered Management: Sunday Times
- TSCO LN : Tesco explores part sale of banking subsidiary; hires Lepe Partners for blinkbox disposal - Sunday Telegraph

(BFW) Publicis Buys Sapient in All-Cash Deal for $25/Shr

MORE: Publicis Buys Sapient in All-Cash Deal for $25/Shr
2014-11-03 06:39:53.332 GMT


By Blanche Gatt
Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Publicis says premium is 44% to
Sapient’s closing price on Oct. 31; expects transaction to close
in 1Q 2015.
* Says no need for new equity; to pay with cash, bank/capital
mkt debt; has firm financing commitment from Citi
* Sapient to be delisted from Nasdaq; will merge with Publicis
unit, become wholly-owned subsidiary of Publicis
* Sapient founder Jerry Greenberg to join Publicis supervisory
board as independent member; Sapient CEO Alan Herrick to as
part of Publicis senior management team Directoire+
* Acquisition expected to be accretive to Publicis’ headline
EPS
* Will generate run-rate annual cost synergies of EU50m
* Will generate run-rate annual cost synergies of EU50m</li></ul>
* Conference call: 8:00am CET +44 (0)20 3147 4818
* NOTE earlier: Publicis Groupe to Buy Sapient in $3.7b All-
Cash Transaction

Link to Statement:NSN NEG8O0MEQTXI <GO>
Link to Company News:PUB FP <Equity> CN <GO>
Link to Company News:SAPE US <Equity> CN <GO>

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

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Blanche Gatt at +44-20-7392-0351 or
bgatt@bloomberg.net