Merger Deals in Europe Heat Up, DAX and CAC-40 Edge Higher

Lucy Stoeva
22 Dec, 2015
New York City

European markets traded slightly higher in a volatile session. Carrefour agreed to buy Romanian supermarket chain Billa Romania. Eurobank sells its 80% stake in Eurolife ERB Insurance. National Bank of Greece sells Finansbank to Qatar National Bank for

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – European markets traded slightly higher in a volatile session. Carrefour agreed to buy Romanian supermarket chain Billa Romania. Eurobank sells its 80% stake in Eurolife ERB Insurance. National Bank of Greece sells Finansbank to Qatar National Bank for €2.75 billion.[/R]

European stock markets edged higher on Tuesday, helped by a rebound in energy stocks and string acquisition announcements.

Market trading was volatile and volumes were low ahead of the Christmas holidays.

Energy stocks recorded gains, despite oil prices lost early gains and Brent crude plunged back to $36.14 a barrel.

The Italy-based ENI jumped 1.2%, Tullow Oil gained 0.6%, and John Wood Group rose 1.3%.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index increased 49.39 or 0.8% to 6,084 and in Frankfurt the DAX index gained 13.27 or 0.1% to 10,512.

In Paris, CAC 40 index added 6 or 0.1% to 4,571.

Carrefour SA slipped 1.3% to €26.08 after the France-based hyper and supermarket operator agreed to buy Romanian supermarket chain Billa Romania from Germany''s Rewe Group for an undisclosed amount.

Eurobank Ergasias SA, the Greek bank agreed to sell its 80% stake in Eurolife ERB Insurance Group Holdings S.A. to Canadian Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited for about €316 million.

The transaction is expected to close before the end of the third-quarter of 2016.

Ferrovial SA gained 0.6% to €20.51 after the Spanish transportation infrastructure provider’s takeover proposal for $692 million was rejected by the Australia-based detention centre operator Broadspectrum Limited.

Finansbank AS soared 12.8% to 6.60 Turkish lira after Qatar National Bank agreed to buy National Bank of Greece SA’s Turkish unit for €2.75 billion in cash.

The Qatari bank will acquire 99.8% stake of NBG in Finansbank and 29.9% of Finans Leasing. The deal comes as Qatar National Bank seeks expansion in the Middle East and Africa.

Fastjet Plc plunged 7.6% to 43.55 pence after the low-cost airline warned of lower than anticipated revenue in fiscal 2015 and 2016 due to challenging market conditions and currency fluctuations.

The airline had already said earlier this month that the prolonged presidential election in Tanzania led to lower demand from governmental and civil service traffic and resulted in weak passenger numbers.

USG People NV soared 28.2% to €17.2 on the news that it agreed to be acquired by the Japan-based Recruit Holdings Co Ltd for about €1.42 billion.