Dow Chemical-Target of $50 B Buyout

Elena
09 Apr, 2007
New York City

A consortium of Middle Eastern investors and American buyout companies is reportedly preparing a bid offer valued at $50 billion. Half of the capital is being provided by investors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman. A number of U.S. buyout firms including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts are responsible for contributing the rest of the financial resources.

[R]8:15AM Dow Chemical soars on bid speculations of $50 B.[/R]
Dow Chemical ((DOW)) jumped 10% in pre-market trading, driven by news that it could be target of the biggest leveraged buyout of all time. A consortium of Middle Eastern investors and American buyout companies is reportedly preparing a bid offer valued at $50 billion. Half of the capital is being provided by investors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman. A number of U.S. buyout firms including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts are responsible for contributing the rest of the financial resources. According to reports, a financing package has been put in place for a break-up bid of between $52 to $58 a share and an approach valuing the company at least $50 billion could come by the end of this week.


[R]8:00AM NY-7:PM Mumbai Sensex zooms more than 300 points on a broad rally.[/R]
The Sensex on BSE finished 321.66 points, or 2.50%, higher at 13,177.74. The market-breadth was very strong as there were more than three gainers for each decliner. For 1,915 stocks that advanced, 613 stocks declined, and only 71 stocks which remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, only one stock declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,075 crore, slightly lower than Rs 3,182.14 crore on Thursday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 6,286.86 crore, lower than Rs 6946.16 crore on Thursday.

Economic news

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated on Monday that Assam remains top priority for the UPA government and projects such as the gas cracker will bring development opportunities for the state. PM demanded that project be put on super fast track and a specific time-table be drawn for completing it, even before the its target of five years.

Trading highlights

Tata Steel was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 133.50 crore followed by MindTree and Indiabulls Real Estate.

Advancers

Steel stocks rose on reports that cold rolled steel makers are set to raise prices by Rs 4,200 - Rs 6,500 a ton, next week, over the ruling price of Rs 32000 - Rs 33000 a ton. Tata Steel led the advancers, soaring 6% to Rs 493. ITC surged 5% to Rs 155. Hindustan Lever gained 2% to Rs 204.

Banking shares edged higher under the reckoning that an increase in lending rates will protect their profit margins. State Bank of India added 4.3% to Rs 988.7, on lifting the benchmark prime lending rate by 50 basis points to 12.75% per annum with effect from Monday (9 April).

Maruti and Reliance Communications rallied around 4.5% each to Rs 790 and Rs 416, respectively. Last week, Maruti reported record monthly sales in March 2007. Reliance Communications advanced after adding 1.2 million new wireless subscribers in March 2007. Reliance Communications said its average revenue per user was expected to rise by 12%, as a result of the re-verification exercise, making it one of the top-three players in India in terms of average revenue per user.

Cement stocks advanced for the second day in a row today, as cement makers refused to reduce cement prices despite the government last week banning import duties on the product. Grasim gained 3.88% to Rs 2,195, ACC rose 2.4% to Rs 739.90 and Gujarat Ambuja Cements added 2.4% to Rs 108.50.

Hindalco, BHEL, ONGC gained nearly 3% each at Rs 136, Rs 2,425, respectively. Other included Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, TCS and Wipro surging 2% each to Rs 1,384, Rs 761, Rs 1,217 and Rs 562, respectively. Infosys rallied 2.5% to Rs 2,044.

Decliners

Bajaj Auto was the sole decliner among the index stocks today, off 0.5% at Rs 2,297.


[R]7:00AM Asian markets finished higher on Monday with Japan upbeat on exporters.[/R]
Asian markets finished higher on Monday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 258.98 points, or 1.48%, to finish at 17,743.76. Upbeat figures showing U.S. non-farm payroll on Friday cheered optimism about the U.S. economy, the biggest export market for Japan. The weakness of the yen also buoyed sentiment. Advancers included Advantest, climbing 4.17% and Toyota Motor rising 1.89%. Machinery stocks also advanced with Komatsu rising 4.26%.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index in South Korea gained 16.91 points, or 1.1%, to 1,501.06, in the third record close in four sessions. Hyundai Engineering & Construction gained 3%, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction rose 3.8% on rising order news and Doosan Infracore rallied 8.4% on increasing demand for excavators in China.

In China, banks bounced back, after declining Friday on the latest reserve requirement ratio increase, supporting the country key stock indexes to a record finish for the sixth straight session. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.3% to 3,398.95 and the Shenzhen Composite Index added 2.1% to 907.82.