Hexion Raises Bid for Huntsman to $10.5 B

Elena
09 Jul, 2007
New York City

Diversified industrial manufacturing firm Sequa Corp. agreed Monday to be bought by the Carlyle Group in a deal worth $2.7 billion. According to the agreement, Carlyle will acquire all of the outstanding Class A and Class B shares of Sequa for $175.00 per share in cash. The transaction is a premium of 54% to the closing prices of Sequa''s Class A and Class B shares on July 6.

[R]8:00AM Hexion Specialty Chemicals raised its bid for Huntsman to $10.5 billion.[/R]

Hexion Specialty Chemicals, an Apollo Management L.P on Monday improved its acquisition offer for Huntsman Corp. ((HUN)) to $28 a share, or $10.5 billion, up from an earlier bid of $27.25 a share. Shares of Huntsman added 1.6% in pre-market trading.

Diversified industrial manufacturing firm Sequa Corp. ((SQA.A)) agreed Monday to be bought by the Carlyle Group in a deal worth $2.7 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Carlyle will acquire all of the outstanding Class A and Class B shares of Sequa for $175.00 per share in cash. The transaction is a premium of 54% to the closing prices of Sequa''s Class A and Class B shares on July 6.


[R]7:30AM NY-6:30PM Mumbai Sensex settles at record high on rally in banking, IT stocks.[/R]

The Sensex on BSE finished 81.61 points higher, or 0.55%, at 15,045.73.

The market-breadth was very strong as there were more than three advancers for every two decliners. As 1,610 stocks advanced, 1,055 declined and only 72 were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 21 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,551 crore as compared to Rs 5,878 on Friday. On NSE, the turnover amounted to Rs 9,762 crore, also much lower than 12,038 crore on Friday.

Economic news

India, which is the second largest producer of sugar in the world, is considering doubling the amount of sugar export in 2008 on domestic surplus, putting further pressure on domestic prices. India may export as much as 3 million tons next year.

The rupee was little changed today, already hovering at near nine-year highs, triggering speculation on the market that the Reserve Bank of India may intervene through state-owned banks to stop a drop in exports. The IT sector is the most vulnerable to the rupee’s rise.

Premier Oil, a U.K. explorer, made a discovery of either oil or gas in India''s northeastern state of Assam. The find is in the Cachar area, 320 kilometers from the state''s main city Guwahati, The company did not disclose the size of the discovery or whether it found oil or gas.

Trading highlights

New issue Roman Tarmat was the most active stock on the market with a turnover of Rs 269 crore followed by Vishal Retail and Divi''s Labs.

Advancers

Reliance Energy soared 3% to Rs 616. Reportedly Reliance Energy headed a consortium which won the Rs 6,400 crore business district project proposed in Hyderabad by the state-owned Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation. Reliance holds 66% in the project, to be completed in five years.

The prospect of the Reserve Bank of India reducing the cash reserve ratio in near future boosted banking shares. Union Bank of India rallied 12.1% to Rs 145.60, State Bank of India was up 1.5% to Rs 1,573, HDFC Bank gained 1.6% to Rs 1,171, and Bank of India rose 3.6% to Rs 230.

Larsen & Toubro and ONGC rallied around 2% each to Rs 2,416 and Rs 896, respectively. L&T intends to take three more companies, operating in infratech, infotech and finance, to the primary market in an effort to reorganize its corporate structure. Other gainers included Bharti Airtel which finished up 1.7% to Rs 881.

IT stocks surged on a rally in their ADRs on Friday, July 6 J 2007, and ahead of Q1 June 2007 results. Infosys Technologies advanced 1% to Rs 1,993, Wipro also added 1.1% to Rs 524, and TCS was up 1.5% to Rs 1,177. Infosys reports its first-quarter June 2007 results on Wednesday, July 11 2007.

Decliners

Hindustan Unilever led the decliners, plunging over 2.3% to Rs 195 on profit taking. ICICI Bank also dipped over 1.1% to Rs 970. The bank continued to be under heavy selling pressure for the second straight day. The stock lost after it reduced home loans rates under Rs 20 lakh for new customers by 50 basis points.

Mahindra & Mahindra shed 1% to Rs 779, replacing Hero Honda Motors in BSE Sensex from today. Index heavy Relance Industries finished virtually flat, down 0.03% to Rs 1,711.


[R]6:30AM European stocks markets gain on miners, Numico, Rolls-Royce.[/R]

European markets were higher in mid-day on Monday. The U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 0.4% at 6,719.40, the German DAX Xetra 30 index advanced 0.6% at 8,098.43 and the French CAC-40 index inched up 0.3% at 6,121.22. National benchmarks advanced in all of the 17 western European markets that were open, except Spain.

Advancers

Numico, Dutch baby foods group, soared to a six-year high amid reports that Danone of France was mulling a bid. PepsiCo was another name in the frame. Numico shares were up 11.4% in late morning trade. Univar NV, the largest distributor of chemicals in the U.S., surged 36 % to 53 euros after CVC Capital Partners offered to buy the company.

BHP, the world biggest mining company, climbed 1.1%. ThyssenKrupp AG advanced 1.8%. Deutsche Bank upped its price projection on shares of the largest steelmaker in Germany to 54 euros from 45.

Telekom Austria jumped 4.3%. The phone company improved its profit forecast through 2010, on higher earnings at its international mobile unit and cost cuts to compensate for European Union regulations.

Decliners

Bovis Homes Group sank 7.4%. The U.K. homebuilder may reduce its full-year sales target as higher interest rates and mortgage costs led to a decline in the number of potential buyers visiting sites.

In broker news, shares in U.K. clothing retailer Next lost 1.1% after it was downgraded to underweight from neutral by HSBC.

Commodities

Crude oil declined from near a 10-month high in New York. Crude oil for August delivery shed 80 cents, or 1.1%, to $72.01 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for August settlement fell as much as 71 cents, or 0.9%, to $74.91 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Gold rose in London on speculation higher prices may revive demand for the metal as a hedge against inflation. Gold for immediate delivery gained $1.08, or 0.2%, to $656.97 an ounce. Silver added 2 cents to $12.75 an ounce.

Copper rose to the highest in almost two months as workers at Dona Ines de Collahuasi, third- largest mine in Chile that produces the metal, plan to go on strike. Copper for delivery in three months gained $85, or 1.1%, to $7,945 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar was lower against other major currencies in European trading Monday morning. The euro traded at $1.3631, up from $1.3621 late Friday. The British pound traded at $2.0140, up from $2.0106. The dollar bought 123.29 Japanese yen, down from 123.40.