logo

At least two institutions - Fidelity ITV's biggest shareholder and SVG Capital - support

Posted by admin   ·     ·   Jump to comments

At least two institutions - Fidelity, ITV's biggest shareholder, and SVG Capital - support the approach. The Goldman consortium believes many shareholders are unhappy with ITV, which has lost out in the London stock market rally over the past two years, but a full-blown cash offer for the company could not work financially for a private-equity bidder.One City source said: "It's a question of whether shareholders are happy with the status quo, in which case this approach will fail, or do they want something different." The deal is so complex there is not much room for the bidders to alter the proposition.. Williams de Bro?one of the oldest names in City stockbroking, may soon be under fresh ownership. Its Dutch parent ING is sounding out potential buyers, and is understood to have issued memoranda of sale to at least half a dozen interested parties. They are thought to include the investment bank Evolution Group, Iceland's Kaupthing, which owns the Singer & Friedlander merchant bank, and Jon Moulton's private-equity business, Alchemy Partners.The process is believed to be in the early stages, with no deal likely until June at the earliest.Williams de Bro?s expected to fetch about £30m, after a string of well-publicised problems. Last year, ING was forced to set aside £56m against a black hole in the 137-year-old broker's accounts.The accountancy firm Deloitte was called in to pick through the books and Williams De Bro? chief executive, John Miller, and its chief operating officer, David Whistance, were suspended.Richard Charnock, a former executive at Lloyds TSB bank and head of private client investment at the broker, took charge. Since then, a rash of key staff have left including the head of corporate finance and Nick Sperring, its head of institutional sales. Mr Sperring's replacement, Adrian Barwick, resigned this week.Evolution, one of the potential buyers, owns the Christow's private client business, which manages the finances of the wealthy.

This could be merged with Williams de Bro? private client arm, which is widely seen as the jewel in its crown, if a deal between the two goes through.Results from Evolution this week were impressive, with annual pre-tax profits rising 33 per cent to £63.6m.The chief executive, Alex Snow, promised to return some of the £138m spare cash to shareholders by buying back Evolution shares. Part could be used to snap up Williams de Bro?Another potential buyer, Alchemy, owns 30 per cent of the broker Seymour Pierce. Since it backed a management buyout led by the chairman, Keith Harris, in April 2003, the value of its holding has rocketed amid a booming market in London for smaller companies.Mr Moulton, it is said, had long coveted Williams de Bro?In 2001, Alchemy discussed financing a management buyout of the firm, which failed to proceed.Meanwhile, Kaupthing, which snapped up Singer & Friedlander for £547m almost a year ago, has long been hunting for a broking business in London. Numis, WH Ireland, Close Brothers, Evolution and the market-making and research divisions of Shore Capital are all said to have caught its eye in the past.ING has owned Williams de Bro?ince 1998, when it swallowed Banque Bruxelles Lambert.

The Belgian bank had held a stake in the City stockbroker since 1984.. Babcock International shares leapt yesterday as it emerged that a joint takeover bid from BAE Systems and VT Group, which could value the group at up to £625m, is on the cards. As news of a possible offer spread, Babcock shares climbed 11p to 270p, leading analysts to suggest a takeover price of more than 300p a share. Babcock, a support services operation, specialises in maintaining naval bases and flight training It also owns Rosyth Dockyard in Scotland. Babcock, BAE and VT are part of an alliance that is tasked with building Britain's biggest warships.There has long been talk that consolidation in the sector would improve the efficiency of the £2.9bn shipbuilding efforts. VT said: "VT and BAE Systems are exploring the possibility of a potential joint acquisition of Babcock. Discussions are at a very preliminary stage and no approach has yet been made to the board of Babcock."VT insists there is no certainty an offer will be made, but notes that naval equipment suppliers believe a restructuring of the industry is necessary. Any deal is likely to have the support of the Ministry of Defence, which said in a White Paper in December that consolidation would benefit the UK's defences.The companies are working together on the manufacture of the two gigantic warships.

readers comments

Comments are closed.

NBA

NBA

MLB

MLB

NFL

NFL

NHL

NHL

WWE

WWE

Your sideblock text goes here