M&A

Hi All...

I am starting this new thread, where I will keep try to keep updating on some BIG mergers/acquisitions deals that are taking place globally & some not so Big Indian deals also. I dunno if this is the right place to start this thread. Mods do let me know if there's any prob.

Lets start with most recent.

Ferrovial's agreed takeover of BAA

BAA agrees to Ferrovial takeover
Airports operator BAA has confirmed its support for a takeover by Spanish building group Ferrovial.
BAA, which runs seven UK airports, has agreed to an offer of 950.25 pence a share offer, valuing it at £10.3bn.

Ferrovial beat off competition from a consortium led by US bank Goldman Sachs, which said it had made an offer worth a total of 955.25p a share.

Goldman Sachs urged shareholders "to take no action" and promised a further announcement "in due course".

On Tuesday, the Takeover Panel extended the deadline for a bid from the Goldman Sachs consortium to 16 June.

Update: Goldman gives up BAA takeover bid
US investment bank Goldman Sachs has announced that it will no longer proceed with a takeover bid for UK airports operator BAA.
Its comments came after BAA said it "ceased" talks with the Goldman Sachs.

The news appears to leave Spain's Grupo Ferrovial free to complete its £10bn ($18bn) takeover of BAA, which has been backed by the UK firm's board.

The UK Takeover Panel had given Goldman Sachs until June 16 to make a rival offer for BAA or withdraw its interest.

Airports have become an attractive investment target because of the surge in air travel worldwide.


Cheers!

This is an update on Mittal's offer for Arcelor. Arcelor has again rejected the offer and is expecting a better offer. This is atleast an improved position by Arcelor. Initially it did not even want to discuss the matter with Mittal Steel. Lets c how this saga ends

Arcelor Rejects Mittal Offer, Expects Improved Bid
June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Arcelor SA, the world's second- largest steelmaker, said it rejected a revised offer by hostile suitor Mittal Steel Co. and will meet Mittal again to discuss the prospect of a higher bid.

Mittal indicated it may further improve its proposal, Luxembourg-based Arcelor said in an e-mailed statement today. The companies met for face-to-face talks on June 8, the first since Rotterdam-based Mittal announced its initial offer Jan. 27. Mittal declined to comment today other than to say its bid still offers ``superior value'' and is the ``best combination.''

Arcelor, led by Chief Executive Officer Guy Dolle, last month agreed to buy most of OAO Severstal, Russia's No. 3 steelmaker, in a 13 billion-euro transaction that values itself at 44 euros a share. The deal would give Russia's Alexei Mordashov up to 38 percent of the combined company. Billionaire Lakshmi Mittal is seeking to convince Arcelor's investors to accept his offer instead.

``If Mittal wants Arcelor it will have to pay 44 euros,'' said Frederic Plisson, a fund manager with Financiere de l'Echiquier in Paris, which oversees $1.9 billion in assets including Arcelor shares.

Shares of Arcelor rose 35 cents, or 1 percent, to 34.05 euros as of 10:02 in Paris. Mittal's shares dropped 19 cents, or 0.8 percent, to 24.05 euros in Amsterdam.

No New Meeting

Arcelor ruled out calling a new meeting requested by some shareholders that would allow them to block the Severstal deal with a two-thirds majority. It would have given a ``fraction'' of them the ``right to eliminate'' it, Arcelor said today.

An investor meeting to be held June 30 will require at least 50 percent of the company's entire shareholder base to travel to Luxembourg or send a representative if they want to reject it, Arcelor said.

Last week's meeting between Arcelor and Mittal may signal that Arcelor is softening its stance, billionaire Wilbur Ross, a director at Mittal, said in an interview June 9.

Mittal's offer closes July 5 to Arcelor shareholders in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Spain and the U.S. Mittal on May 19 sweetened the cash-and stock offer for Arcelor by 34 percent.

Credit Agricole Offers to Buy Greece's Emporiki Bank

June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Credit Agricole SA, France's largest bank, offered to buy Emporiki Bank SA for about 2.8 billion euros ($3.5 billion) in cash to expand in Greece, where the economy is growing three times faster than its home market.

Credit Agricole bid 23.50 euros for each Emporiki share, or 0.3 percent more than the June 9 closing price, the Paris-based lender said today. The French bank already owns 8.9 percent of Emporiki and the offer values the entire company at 3.1 billion euros.

``The deal is excellent for the growth outlook,'' said Alain Tchibozo, an analyst at ING Groep NV in Paris, who has a ``buy'' recommendation on the French bank's stock. ``Agricole used to suffer from low growth potential as its retail unit is mainly settled in mature markets. Greece will add some growth potential.''

Credit Agricole Chief Executive Officer Georges Pauget said last month the company had more than 5 billion euros to expand abroad and was looking for a ``large'' purchase. The bank joins competitors such as Dexia SA and Societe Generale SA in expanding into faster-growing countries such as Greece, Turkey, and Russia. Credit Agricole says it's also still considering a bid for U.K. mortgage lender Alliance & Leicester Plc.

Credit Agricole shares fell 92 cents, or 3.4 percent, to 26.72 euros as of 2:11 p.m. in Paris, leaving the gain this year at less than 1 percent. Emporiki shares rose 1.16 euros, or 5 percent, to 24.60 euros in Athens.

``The fact there's no premium leaves room for potential other bidders and that's moving the share price higher,'' said George Satlas, a fund manager at Diethniki SA in Athens, which has more than 6 billion euros under management.

This is also an hostile offer made by Bayer for Schering AG.

Bayer Raises Schering Stake, Prepares New Offer

June 14 (Bloomberg) -- Bayer AG is preparing a new bid for Schering AG after German rival Merck KGaA derailed its first attempt to buy the world's largest maker of birth-control pills for 16.5 billion euros ($20.8 billion).

Bayer bought the shares held by German insurer Allianz AG, bringing its Schering holding above the 30 percent threshold that triggers an offer to all investors, the Leverkusen, Germany-based company said today in a statement to the stock exchange.

Merck has built up a 21.8 percent stake in Berlin-based Schering, forcing Bayer to pay 88 euros a share on the open market to support its offer, which expires tonight. Bayer earlier this year outbid Merck to win Schering and become Germany's largest drugmaker by adding the best-selling multiple sclerosis treatment and Yasmin birth control pills.

``We're ready for the second round,'' Bayer Chief Executive Officer Werner Wenning said in the statement. ``We will do everything we can to clarify the situation as quickly as possible and prevent Merck's tactics from harming the future development'' of Schering.

Merck spokesman Steffen Mueller declined to comment. Schering Chief Executive Officer Hubertus Erlen backs Bayer and has called on Merck to explain its plans. The Darmstadt, Germany- based drugmaker doesn't have to spell out its intentions under German stock exchange rules.

``They have to sit down at a table to solve this,'' Ludger Mues, an analyst at Sal Oppenheim in Cologne, said in an interview.

Share Holdings

Bayer's offer of 86 euros a share accepted by Schering's board in March, beating a 77 euro offer from Merck.

Merck bought 2.1 million Schering shares yesterday, the company said in a regulatory filing. Schering investors with 29.77 percent of the company pledged to bring their shares to Bayer, down from 36.78 percent 24 hours earlier.

Shares of Bayer have declined 11 percent since June 8, when Merck said it had a 6 percent stake in Schering. Bayer shares rose 21 cents, or 0.7 percent, to 30.77 euros at 9:10 a.m. in Frankfurt, while Merck shares rose 90 cents, or 1.3 percent, to 69.35 euros. Schering shares rose to 88.33 euros, above the offer price.

The spread on Bayer bonds widened. The extra yield investors demand to hold Bayer's 6 percent euro-denominated bond due in 2012 instead of government bond widened to 70 basis points, according to RBC Capital. This is more than the 68 basis points the spread hit when Standard & Poor's put the company on credit watch for downgrade on March 24 of this year.

In Talks?

Merck is in talks with Bayer to sell its stake, which would raise the cost of the offer by about 1.1 billion euros for Bayer, Die Welt reported without saying where it got the information.

Deutsche Bank is advising Merck, while Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein are advising Schering. Bayer is being advised by Credit Suisse and Greenhill.

Bayer filed a lawsuit in New York yesterday alleging that Merck violated U.S. law by failing to publicly disclose that it was acquiring shares of Schering. The company asked U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand in Manhattan to block Merck from voting its shares of Schering and to force Merck to divest its stake.

Nokia, Siemens to Merge Units to Take on Ericsson

June 19 (Bloomberg) -- Nokia Oyj and Siemens AG agreed to combine their telecommunications network-equipment units to close the gap with Ericsson AB in the $65 billion market for phone switches, routers and base stations.

The merger will create a company with annual sales of about 15.8 billion euros ($19.9 billion), equally owned by Espoo, Finland-based Nokia and Munich-based Siemens and named Nokia Siemens Networks, they said.

Shares of Siemens and Nokia, the world's largest mobile- phone maker, jumped after the companies said they'll eliminate as many as 9,000 jobs, or 15 percent of the combined workforce. The venture will have 21 percent of the wireless-equipment market, which may grow 8.8 percent next year, against 26 percent for market leader Ericsson AB, according to Credit Suisse Group. The German engineering company's chief executive officer, Klaus Kleinfeld, sold the handset unit last year.

``It's a good solution for Siemens and for the industry as a whole because it means less competition,'' said Michael Vieker, who manages about $460 million at Muenchener Kapitalanlage GmbH in Munich, including Siemens shares. ``There is too much capacity and we haven't seen any major consolidation so far because the players were too strong to go bankrupt.''

Nokia shares rose 47 cents, or 3 percent, to 16.12 euros in Helsinki today. Siemens jumped 6.7 percent to 66.99 euros in Frankfurt, the biggest gain since March 2003. The stock rose as much as 9.6 percent earlier today.

wow its a real healpful site i too shall be part of it

Originally Posted by bonddonraj

wow its a real healpful site i too shall be part of it

R u talking abt Bloomberg.com

hey Shrijit,
Thanks for this thread...could u plz keep us updated on the Arcelor-Mittal hostile bid??wonder whether the deal will finally come thru at all.....

Originally Posted by j_ritu

hey Shrijit,
Thanks for this thread...could u plz keep us updated on the Arcelor-Mittal hostile bid??wonder whether the deal will finally come thru at all.....

Your wish is my command

as of now d latest update has already been posted...It does seem tat Arcelor has reduced its hostile stance slightly ..n it may well agree to d merger..provided tat Mittal Steel will increase its offer...

Cheers

Latest Update on the Mittal-Arcelor deal: It seems that finally Arcelor is relenting. Some rumours state that Arcelor's CEO Guy Dolle may recommend Mittal's offer to the board. Some say that Mittal will increase his bid. It seems the 5 month long saga may be reaching its climax soon.

Mittal Says It's Approaching Agreement With Arcelor (Update3)
June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Mittal Steel Co., the world's largest steelmaker, said it's approaching an agreement to buy Arcelor SA that would end a five-month struggle and lead to the biggest steel-industry merger.

The two companies will continue talks on Mittal's 24 billion-euro ($30 billion) offer today and tomorrow, Sudhir Maheshwari, Mittal's managing director for business development and treasury, said in an interview today. Luc Scheer, a spokesman for Arcelor in Luxembourg, declined to comment. Arcelor's board is scheduled to meet June 25.

``Talks are ongoing and constructive'' and some parts of the offer ``in principle have been agreed,'' Maheshwari said by mobile phone. Mittal is considering offering more stock or cash or both, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.

Arcelor Chief Executive Officer Guy Dolle, after months of resistance, is moving closer to Mittal as shareholders object to a defense strategy that includes an agreement to combine with Russia's OAO Severstal. Mittal wants to buy Arcelor to cut raw material costs and increase bargaining power with customers to create a steelmaker three times bigger than any rival.

``Now it's just a question of a little bit more money,'' said Frederic Plisson, a fund manager with Financiere de l'Echiquier in Paris, which oversees $1.9 billion in assets including Arcelor shares.

Shares of Mittal rose 30 cents to 26.29 euros at 10:57 a.m. in Amsterdam. Shares of Arcelor are suspended in Paris pending clarification on its talks with Mittal and Severstal.

Higher Offer

Based on Mittal's closing share price in Amsterdam yesterday, its offer is worth 36.04 euros per Arcelor share, according to Bloomberg calculations.

Mittal may increase its offer by 3 billion euros, the Financial Times said yesterday, citing unidentified people familiar with the deal. That would value each Arcelor share at 40.62 euros, according to Bloomberg calculations.

Dolle said in New York on June 20 he wants a higher offer from Mittal, signaling he may yet recommend an agreement. Arcelor has valued its accord with Severstal at 44 euros a share.

Mittal has already increased its offer, first made Jan. 27, by 34 percent. As part of the improved terms, billionaire Chairman Lakshmi Mittal agreed to eliminate his preferential voting rights in the combined company.

Arcelor, the world's second-biggest steelmaker, on May 25 recommended investors accept a deal with Severstal that would make Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov the biggest shareholder in the new company. Mordashov on June 20 offered to cut his proposed stake in the combined company to 25 percent, from 32 percent previously, as investor opposition grew.

New Company

Mittal is now offering to give Arcelor shareholders more than half the new company's shares and keep Dolle as CEO, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Lakshmi Mittal would probably be chairman or president, according to the report.

According to the La Tribune, Joseph Kinsch will remain as chairman of the new company, with Lakshmi Mittal as co-chairman, until Kinsch, 73, retires in April 2007. La Tribune didn't say where it got the information.

Mittal needs Arcelor to control 10 percent of global steel production. If Arcelor merges with Severstal, it will replace Mittal as the world's biggest producer.