Bollore Lifts Vivendi Stake, Playtech Acquires TradeFX for

Nigel Thomas
02 Apr, 2015
New York City

Bollore increased its stake in Vivendi SA to 12.01% to fend off a hostile takeover. Marks and Spencer sales in fourth-quarter jumped 2%. Playtech agreed to acquire 91.1% stake in TradeFX for

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt –Bollore increased its stake in Vivendi SA to 12.01% to fend off a hostile takeover. Marks and Spencer sales in fourth-quarter jumped 2%. Playtech agreed to acquire 91.1% stake in TradeFX for €208 million. Tate & Lyle lowered pretax profit outlook from earlier estimate.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index gained 0.5% or 34.76 to 6,844.26 and in Frankfurt the DAX index edged up 0.02% or 2.36 to 12,003.74.

In Paris, CAC 40 index rose 0.3% or 15.66 to 5,077.88.

For the week, in London the FTSE 100 index declined 2.7% and in Frankfurt the DAX index slipped 0.5%.

In Paris, CAC 40 index fell 0.4%.

Associated British Ports Holdings Ltd, the U.K.-based port operator approached by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Hermes Infrastructure to acquire stake of 30% for about £1.6 billion or $2.4 billion. The news was first reported by Reuters.

Bollore SA slipped 0.6% to €4.86, the France-based diversified company’s chairman Vincent Bollore invested €568 million to increase its stake in Vivendi SA to 12.01% from 10.2% or acquired 24.6 million shares at €23.08 per share.

Bollore acquired additional stake to fend off hostile takeover from the U.S.-based Peter Schoenfeld.

On March 26, the company increased stake in Vivendi to 10.2% from 8.15% or acquired 27.7 million additional shares at the price of €22.85 for an investment of €632 million that represented market value of €3.2 billion.

Marks and Spencer Group Plc surged 5.1% to 557.70 pence after the U.K.-based specialty retailer said group sales in fourth-quarter ending on March 28 jumped 1.9% and sales from general merchandise increased to 1.3% while comparable store sales rose 0.7%.

Marks and Spencer Group is scheduled to release its full-year results on May 20.

Playtech Plc increased 1.6% to 789.16 pence after the U.K.-based online gaming and sports betting software provider agreed to acquire 91.1% stake in TradeFX Ltd for €208 million in cash and payment of up to €250 million based on earnings milestones.

The transaction is expected to close on May 31.

Tate & Lyle Plc jumped 2.7% to 624.50 pence after the U.K.-based food and industrial ingredients provider forecasted adjusted pretax profit for the year ending in March to be less than the previous estimate between £230 million to £245 million released on September 2014.

The company said net debt may increase to £500 million at the end of March, higher than the £466 million at the end of December quarter, on rebuilding inventories.