LSE to Raise

Nigel Thomas
22 Aug, 2014
New York City

Arcadis agreed to acquire 15.6% stake in Hyder Consulting on a revised offer of

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Arcadis agreed to acquire 15.6% stake in Hyder Consulting on a revised offer of £288 million. LSE plans to raise £938 million to fund the purchase of Frank Russell. RSA Insurance agreed to sell its Singapore and Hong Kong operations for £130 million. Vodafone agreed to buy 72.7% stake in Hellas Online.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slid 0.07% or 4.69 to 6,772.97 and in Frankfurt the DAX index fell 0.3% or 32.25 to 9,369.28.

In Paris, CAC 40 index dropped 0.6% or 26.10 to 4,266.83.

AGA Rangemaster Group Plc jumped 2.6% to 158 pence after the U.K.-based kitchen products maker said revenue in the first-half ending in June increased 3.3% to £123.5 million from £119.5 million from a year ago period.

Net loss in the period narrowed from a year ago to £0.6 million compared to £2.4 million and loss per share dropped to 0.9 pence from 3.5 pence.

Henry Boot Plc surged 10.4% to 207 pence after the U.K.-based property and construction company stated revenue in the first-half ending in June declined 20% to £65.8 million from £81.8 million from a year ago period.

Net profit in the period double from a year ago to £9.7 million compared to £4.7 million and earnings per share jumped to 7.3 pence from 3.6 pence.

Hyder Consulting Plc climbed 4.4% to 738 pence after the Netherlands-based Arcadis NV agreed to acquire 15.6% stake of the U.K.-based engineering consultant for revised deal of £288 million.

London Stock Exchange Group Plc rose 0.2% to 2,010 pence after the U.K.-based exchange operator plans to raise £938 million or $1.56 billion in a rights issue of three-for-eleven shares to fund its $2.70 billion acquisition of the U.S. based index manager Frank Russell.

RSA Insurance Group Plc slid 0.07% to 436.20 pence after the U.K.-based insurance company agreed to sell its Singapore and Hong Kong operations to Allied World Assurance Company for £130 million or $215.5 million in cash.

Vodafone Group Plc gained 1.3% to 205.20 pence after the U.K.-based mobile company agreed to acquire 72.7% stake in Greece-based Hellas Online SA, broadband and fixed-line telephony provider from the Intracom Group and World Equities Investments Holdings SA for about €72.7 million or $97 million in cash.

Vodafone Greece currently owns 18.4% stake in the company. The transaction is expected to complete in fourth-quarter of 2014.