The European financial markets have closed lower Monday, investors still fearing a slowdown in the global economy, but the exchanges were, however, supported by numerous mergers and acquisitions in progress.
The Paris CAC 40 index finished the session with losses, yielding 20.43 points (-0.58%) to 3487.01.
Trade volumes were particularly weak during this meeting due to a holiday in Britain.
The pharmaceutical values showed the strongest gains, taking Sanofi-Aventis 0.66% after the rejection of its proposal for redemption by Genzyme.
Intel announced on Monday the takeover of the division of components for mobile equipment of Germany's Infineon Technologies for $ 1.4 billion, pushing back the title of the latter 3.69% at closing.
Other declining value, the title Safran lost 2.3%, the group had denied preparing a bid for Capital of Zodiac, whose title has however jumped 10.45%.
Lagardère was shown on Thursday determined to see Canal + France go public by March 2011 because of disagreement on the sale of its 20% stake in Vivendi, the controlling shareholder group of pay TV.
Shaken last spring with a campaign of shareholder activist Guy Wyser-Pratte, the media group accelerates the sale of its minority, who constitute a conglomerate discount to its stock price.
Arnaud Lagardère, general partner of the group inherited from his father, was more cautious for the next big sale expected by analysts, that of its 7.5% remaining in the group of aerospace and defense group EADS.
During the presentation of interim results of his group, Arnaud Lagardere seemed more eager than ever to clean up these minority, among which 25% of Amaury, the owner of Parisien and L'Equipe, and 42% of media group Marie Claire.
He particularly stressed his determination to introduce Canal + France in stock while analysts saw it as far a new negotiating tactics of Lagardère, began several months in a poker game with Vivendi, which owns the remaining 80%.
"We go through the process (…), we will not turn on the road," he said during a conference call during the half year results.
GO QUICKLY TO CANAL +
Arnaud Lagardere wants to move quickly to avoid being caught by the tender provided during 2011 for the rights of Ligue 1 for the period 2012-2016, during which an initial public offering by Canal +, the main stakeholder, would the least sensitive.
The chief financial officer Dominic D'Hinnin, responsible for leading the operation, said that if it was not buckled before the end of the year, should wait until March because investors would know the results of Canal + in 2010 before committing.
Lagardère values in its accounts its 20% interest in Canal + France to 1.5 billion euros, or the proportional value of sales options exercised this year by TF1 and M6, which together held 15% of Canal + France.
Analysts doubt that Lagardère, which has no option, can achieve such a valuation at an IPO.
Under a shareholders agreement forged in 2007 when the merger between CanalSat and TPS, without an agreement between two parties on the price of participation, Lagardere could sell its shares on the market.
The Figaro had been reported that Vivendi had refused an offer of 1.35 billion euros Lagardère. Neither group had reviewed the information.
Vivendi has not made any proposal when we gave them (our) money.Their response was: we prefer to keep our money and invest in telecoms, "said Dominic D'Hinnin.
MORE TIME TO LEAVE OF EADS
Regarding EADS, the equation is more complicated. The action has returned 27% since the beginning of the year to close at 17.95 euros on Thursday, but still low and many analysts are convinced that Lagardere will not sell to under 20 euros.
Arnaud Lagardere also said he wanted to first ensure that the program of the future Airbus A350 was well underway before leaving the group's capital.
"There may be delays, or maybe not, we know nothing," he explained."But to be in position to sell those shares in EADS, we want to be 100% comfortable with the development of this aircraft, which means a little more time."
He added that he had the green light from the French government to withdraw and that the issue of the French-German balance in the capital of EADS was not within its jurisdiction.
"I do not expect sales at the end of this year, but if we have an opportunity, it is clear that we will seize this opportunity," he added.
Arnaud Lagardere also said that his discussions with Marie-Odile Amaury, which owns the namesake newspaper group, for a withdrawal had not been completed, while hoping to achieve in 2011, see this year.
He argued that a sale of the Parisien and Aujourd'hui en France, refocusing the group on the organization of sporting events and L'Equipe, increase conflicts of interest with Lagardere, also present in this area Marie-Odile Amaury placed in an "awkward position".
"It is important that we sell," he said. "We're trapped in a company we have no control and which we do not draw virtually no dividend".
The Japanese Minister of Finance has honed his arguments Wednesday on the strength of the yen after the Nikkei newspaper had reported that Tokyo would consider unilateral intervention on the foreign exchange market if speculators push the yen upwards.
While it should meet in the day Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other members of the Government, the Minister of Finance Yoshihiko Noda told reporters that he would intervene appropriately whether to do so, speech he had not taken up.
"When necessary shall have to act appropriately," he said in response to a question about the evolution of the yen.
Market participants, however, questioned the ability of unilateral intervention to contain the strong yen, which hit a high Tuesday of 15 years against the dollar and nine years against the euro and weighs heavily on the Stock Exchange Tokyo which closed Wednesday at a low of 16 months.
"The dollar fell to 83 yen, the probability of intervention has increased, but it would take more than intervention," said Kiichi Murashima, an economist at Citigroup Global Markets.
"This must be accompanied by an easing (of monetary policy) of the BoJ (Bank of Japan) to have any effect."
DOUBTS ON MEASURES TAKEN the radical
The soaring yen and the decline of the Tokyo Stock Exchange have increased the probability of announcing a further easing of monetary policy the Bank of Japan before its next meeting on interest rates scheduled for 6 and 7 September, Reuters said sources familiar with the matter.
Speculators doubt however that the BoJ is ready to take drastic measures.
"If they really want to do something about the yen (…) they must create the conditions to anticipate inflation," said Martin Schulz, senior economist at Fujitsu Research Institute.
"But I do not think the BoJ will move in that direction."
While it took nearly 10% since the beginning of the year against the greenback, against which it was trading around 5:45 GMT at 84.28 dollars, some investors believe the greenback could fall to a record high against the Japanese currency, at least 80 dollars.
So far the Japanese authorities tried to contain the strong yen by simple oral statements, the Minister of Finance stressed on Tuesday the growing irritation of Tokyo against the Japanese currency rise.
Now, about Yoshihiko Noda had the opposite effect to that intended, because dealers have so wanted to test the determination of Japanese authorities to stem the yen's appreciation.Why he decided to get tough on Wednesday.
EMERGENCY MEETING
Tokyo should be difficult to convince the United States and Europe to join its efforts on the foreign exchange market, weakening their own currencies being favorable to their exports.
Yoshihiko Noda declined to comment on rumors suggesting a possible meeting with Secretary of U.S. Treasury Timothy Geithner. The U.S. Treasury has not made any comments.
Japan is no longer intervened on the foreign exchange market since 2004.But the situation is becoming even more worrying than the Japanese export growth slowed to an annual rate in the fifth consecutive month in July.
According to an estimate of Nomura Securities, every increase of one yen against the dollar will result in a decrease of 0.9% of current earnings of major Japanese manufacturing groups for fiscal year 2010-2011, which will close in March.
According to sources close to the situation, the most likely scenario is that the BoJ will increase the size, or prolongs the duration of its mechanism of short-term financing in place in December.
The Nikkei newspaper wrote Wednesday that the BoJ intends to take further monetary easing and could do so in the context of an emergency meeting.
Concerns persist about the state of the U.S. economy have overshadowed the optimism caused by the slight recovery evident on the face of mergers and acquisitions, leading U.S. stock indexes finished down on Monday night.
The Dow Jones closed with a loss of 39.21 points, or 0.38%, to 10,174.41.The Standard & Poor's 500 largest, fell 4.33 points, or 0.40%, to 1067.36 while the Nasdaq Composite ended down 20.13 points (-0.92%) to 2159 63.
The technology has largely underperformed other sectors, driven down by Hewlett-Packard and Dell are waging a fierce battle to take 3PAR, data storage specialist.
HP closed down 2.03% to 39.04 dollars and Dell lost 1.08% to 11.94 dollars, while 3PAR has jumped 44.62% to 26.09 dollars.
These offers are in addition to announcements made last week by Intel that is preparing to resume McAfee and BHP Billiton who covets the Canadian expert potash Potash.
On Monday, sources have reported that Campbell Soup paying serious attention to the British United Biscuits.
Campbell Soup took 0.70% 36.90 dollars.
As the CEO of 3M, he announced Monday that his group would invest about two billion dollars in acquisitions in 2010, double its previous estimate. 3M closed up 0.52% to 81.08 dollars.
"Setting the background of the phenomenon of mergers and acquisitions, which has very little seniority, due to the weakness of economic statistics," said Bucky Hellwig, Vice President of BB & T Wealth Management .
Analysts also point out that activity on the front of M & As is explained primarily by the willingness of companies to generate profits through cost savings rather than through growth in sales.
The European financial stability, to assist Member States in the euro area experiencing solvency problems, became fully operational Wednesday after weeks of uncertainty about the ratification of its Statute.
European fund, which can now raise up to 440 billion euros with the security of countries in the euro area, is part of an overall mechanism developed in the emergency early May, during the debt crisis of the European and capable of raising up to 750 billion euros with the involvement of the IMF.
The mechanism became fully operational on August 4 when Italy has confirmed its commitment to provide its guarantee for any loans issued by the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV or "mutual fund assets"), said the representatives of the European Stability financial (FESF).
'I am pleased that Member States of the euro area have reached the final stage in the development of FESF, said in a statement Klaus Regling, Director General of the fund.
"The FESF is now fully operational and can if necessary, issue bonds with the assistance of the Office of the German debt, which would be guaranteed by member states of the eurozone."
No financial score has yet been assigned to the SPV, based in Luxembourg.This step constitutes an essential element for the cost it would have to agree to issue debt, if ever he has to do.
The funds should in theory receive the maximum "AAA" by the major rating agencies, the same rating as that assigned to debt securities issued occasionally by the European Commission with support from EU Member States.
END OF THE PROCESS OF RATIFICATION
The mechanism of financial stabilization, which had been agreed by Heads of State and Government of the eurozone at a special summit in Brussels on May 9, would then be transposed National in each participating state.
Its application has been suspended, however long the ratification of Slovakia, who was crossing a tense election period in which the issue of financial support to Greece's participation in the stabilization fund arose as European.
The new Slovak Minister of Finance appointed in early July has finally ratified the European Agreement on July 16.The surprise of the notification without approval of Italy August 4 marks the end of the process of ratification of 16 member states of the euro area.
After the recovery of financial markets, halting the fall of the euro and the favorable report of the EU and the International Monetary Fund on Greece, it is possible that the Fund, whose life is in principle limited 3 years, will ultimately not used.
The NYSE has ended in a disorganized meeting Friday after a nondirectional, two indicators found reassuring on industrial activity and consumer confidence offset the announcement of a slowdown in growth in the second quarter.
The Dow Jones closed down on a symbolic point of 1.22, or 0.01%, to 10,465.94.
The S & P 500 is broader, was also virtually unchanged at 1101.60 points (0.01%).
The Nasdaq Composite Index was on his side of 3.01 points (+0.13%) to 2254.70.
For the week, the Dow Jones rose 0.40%, the S & P 500 lost 0.1% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.65%.
Mattel announced Friday a lower than expected earnings in the second quarter, a weak euro offset the benefits of licensed Toy Story 3 and strong sales of Hot Wheels.
The manufacturer of the Barbie doll has reported a profit of $ 51.6 million, or 14 cents per share, against 21.5 million (six cents) a year earlier.
Turnover increased 13.4% to $ 1.02 billion but the effects of unfavorable exchange slashed three points to this growth.
The Thomson Reuters consensus I / B / E / S gave an EPS of 15 cents and revenue of $ 1.02 billion.
Sales in the U.S. increased by 17% and 9% in the rest of the world.
Sales of Barbie and Hot Wheels were up 6% and 11% respectively, while those of American Girl fell 4%.
Wendel and his former Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Lafonta subject of proceedings before the Sanctions Committee of the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) on the climb to the capital of Saint-Gobain, writes Le Figaro.
The procedure relates the position that Wendel indirectly held in Saint-Gobain, through derivatives, where the investment firm said to have crossed the threshold of 5% stake in the building materials group in September 2007 by daily.
It would be of Wendel was whether the market informed of the existence of its position in derivatives that indirectly strengthened its position in round of Saint-Gobain.
Grievances reported several months ago by the College of the MFA will be reviewed promptly by the sanctions committee, said Le Figaro.
A spokesman declined to comment Wendel information Friday morning.
The AMF was not immediately available to provide comment.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the economic recovery of the United States proves stronger than expected but still weakened by high unemployment and a moribund housing market.
The IMF has slightly raised its outlook for U.S. growth to 3.3% for 2010 and 2.9% for 2011, but he added that unemployment would remain above 9% for two years, with inflation still low.
In a statement released Thursday after annual consultations with the U.S. authorities, the IMF considers that the recovery from the recession is affirmed by an efficient reaction of the authorities in monetary and fiscal policy.
"The outlook has improved with the recovery but weaknesses remain in household balance sheets and financial services, combined with high unemployment may slow private spending," observes the Fund.
Angela Merkel said Wednesday that the euro had stabilized and he had a better basis than before the debt crisis of the Greek through measures to reduce the debt established in the euro area.
"The euro has stabilized," Merkel said in an interview with German television station N24, according to the text released by the media.
"This is an important signal that banks are conducting stress tests and we have more transparency in the system.And it is gratifying that in contrast with what was in the spring, almost all European countries are now saying that we need to reduce deficits and reliance has structural reforms. "
She added: "Once fully implemented the measures decided reliance has, it will mean that the euro is a stronger base than before the crisis. We must await the results of resistance testing. But we are ready, aves rescue measures of the euro, to stabilize the euro at any time. "
