France Telecom Sells Orange for

Arthi Gupta
27 Dec, 2011
New York City

European markets edged higher. The European Central Bank allotted

[R]1:30 PM Frankfurt – European markets edged higher. The European Central Bank allotted €144.755 billion in 7-day tender. France jobless rate rose to a 12-year high in November. France Telecom agreed to sell Orange Communication to Apax Partners for €1.6 billion.[/R]

The European indexes gained after a string of U.S. positive economic data last week and on the growing expectations that the latest central bank tender offer will help in dampening sovereign bond market yields.

The European Central Bank allotted €144.76 billion to banks for one week at a fixed rate of 1% and 171 banks were looking for the one week loan. The loan period is between December 28 and January 4.

In Paris trading, the CAC-40 Index gained 13.20 or 0.4% to 3,115.24 and in Frankfurt the DAX Index edged higher 24.87 or 0.4% to 5,903.69 and markets in UK are closed to celebrate the Boxing Day.

For the year, CAC-40 index is down 18% and the DAX 30 index has fallen 14.6%.

Italian 10-year bond yields increased and traded at 7.08% in thin trading before the last auction on December when the Treasure is expected to raise €8.5 billion. The yield on 10-year German bond declined to 1.94% and 2-year German notes fell to 0.184%.

The euro traded at $1.3075 from $1.306 in Friday’s session.

German Public Debt Rises

Germany''s public debt increased modestly in the third quarter, preliminary data released by the Federal Statistics Office showed.

Total debts in public finances climbed 0.5% to €2,027.47 billion at the end of the third quarter from a revised €2,017.08 billion in the second quarter.

Greek Deficit Narrows

Greece''s merchandise trade deficit, excluding oil products and including the value of ships, declined to €1.11 billion in October from €1.58 billion in September, data released by the Hellenic Statistics Authority showed.

French Jobless Rate Climbs

The number of jobless people in France rose to a 12-year high in November amid economic slowdown, data from labor ministry showed.

The number of unemployed rose 29,900 or 1.1% to 2.85 million in November. From the prior year, unemployment increased 5.2%. The jobless total reached the highest level since November 1999.

French Sept-Nov. Housing Starts Up

French housing starts rose 3.1% during September to November from the prior three months, data from the housing ministry showed today. At the same time, dwelling permits gained 0.9% over the last three months.

On a yearly basis, housing starts surged 16.5% in September to November and housing permits advanced 27%.

Dutch Producer Sentiment Improves

Dutch producer confidence rose to -1.3 in December from -4.8 in November, Statistics Netherlands said.

Swiss Consumption Index Drops

Switzerland''s UBS consumption indicator fell 0.09 points to 0.81 in November, data from UBS bank showed today. The current forecast for private consumption growth in 2012, however, is slightly higher at 1.1%.

UK Home Prices Fall

Home prices in the UK fell in December, the latest survey results from Hometrack showed.

Prices fell 0.2% from a month ago in December, the same pace of decline recorded in November. Annually, prices declined 2.1% in December, slower than the 2.3% fall reported in November.

Gainers & Losers

Électricité de France SA gained 0.4% to €18.50 after the France-based integrated energy operator signed a preliminary deal to increase its stake in Edison SpA, the Italian energy company to 80.7% from 50% for €700 million.

France Telecom SA climbed 0.2% to €11.99 after the mobile operator said it agreed to sell its Swiss mobile subsidiary, Orange Communication S.A, to a private equity investment group Apax Partners for an enterprise value of Sfr2.0 billion or €1.6 billion.

LM Ericsson Telephone Co. gained 1% to $9.97 after the Swedish telecom equipment maker said it expects to close the acquisition of telecom software firm Telcordia Technologies, Inc. only in the beginning of 2012, as approvals from certain government authorities are still outstanding.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc increased 0.3% to 2,327 pence after the energy company said that an oil spill from the Bonga deepwater oil field in Nigeria has ""largely dispersed.""