US to put conditions on Tarp repayment The White House is moving to tighten criteria for banks that wish to repay their government bail-out loans, saying repayment proposals would have to pass three basic tests to determine whether they are in the national economic interest, a senior official told the FT. The comments come as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and other relatively strong banks are pressing to be allowed to repay their bail-out funds. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54836/us-to-put-conditions
| Darling to admit £60bn bail-out bill UK chancellor Alistair Darling will concede for the first time that the government will not recoup the full costs of its banking interventions and that the bill could be as high as £60bn. Following the US example, the chancellor will make a provision in the Budget for taxpayer losses from the banking sector, which will be added to last year's public borrowing totals and public sector debt. The provision will come in a Budget likely to be dominated by forecasts of huge public borrowing, with the Treasury expected to project a peak deficit of £170bn-£180bn. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54835/darling-to-admit-60b
| Pepsico in $6bn deal for bottlers PepsiCo launched a $6bn takeover bid for its two largest independent bottlers late Sunday, in a strategy shift that signals an overhaul of the manufacturing and distribution of its products, reports the WSJ. The offers for Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas value each company's shares at about 17% above their Friday trading price. PepsiCo is offering $29.50 in cash and stock for each share of Pepsi Bottling, valuing it at about $6.4bn; the offer for PepsiAmericas, at $23.27 per share, values that bottler at about $2.9bn. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54837/pepsico-in-6bn-deal-
| GSK in talks to acquire Stiefel GlaxoSmithKline is nearing a deal to acquire Stiefel Laboratories, a US maker of skin care pharmaceuticals, for about $3bn. A deal between UK-based GlaxoSmithKline and privately-held Stiefel, controlled by the Stiefel family and part-owned by buyout group Blackstone, could be announced as early as Monday, although the two companies were still discussing terms of an agreement on Sunday. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54834/gsk-in-talks-to-acqu
| Carlyle to stop using 'finders' US buyout group Carlyle has decided to stop using placement agents to solicit money from public pension funds after the indictment of a New York state political figure to whom it paid $12m in finder's fees. The policy change is the latest fallout from a probe by the SEC and New York's attorney-general into alleged kickbacks paid to secure money from New York's $105bn Common Retirement Fund. The case has involved several private equity and hedge fund managers and raised questions about the means they use to gain assignments from public pension funds. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54833/carlyle-to-stop-usin
| First Reserve raises £9bn fund First Reserve will on Monday strengthen its position as the energy sector's biggest private equity investor by announcing it has raised almost $9bn for its new buy-out fund, even though the year-long fundraising fell short of its $12bn target, William Macaulay, co-founder and chief executive, told the FT. The US company managed to garner investments from some of the world's biggest investors including Calstrs and Calpers. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54832/first-reserve-raises
| GM could 'sell Opel' stake for nil General Motors is prepared to part with a controlling stake in Opel/Vauxhall for nothing but a pledge to invest directly in a new company formed from its European operations, said people close to its plans. GM, which might file for bankruptcy in the US, was talking to more than six financial and industrial groups about acquiring a stake in its regional arm, Fritz Henderson, GM's chief executive, said last week. It wants a firm indication of buyers' interest in the next two to three weeks. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54831/gm-could-sell-opel-s
| Candover board to discuss bids The board of Candover will meet early this week to discuss bids received for the buyout group, which put itself up for sale after suspending the €3bn fund it raised last year. The UK-based group had received "a small handful" of early indicative offers to buy Candover Investments, its listed arm, said a person close to the group. One possible bidder is Coller Capital, the secondary private equity investor; others include Blackstone and Paul Capital. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54830/candover-board-to-di
| Heineken mops up Globe debt Heineken, the Dutch brewing group, has bought up 30% of the senior debt in Globe Pub Company, the struggling pub operator owned by UK invesetor Robert Tchenguiz, at a sizeable discount. The surprise purchase - announced at the weekend - sees Heineken acquire £60.2m of Globe's Class A1 securitised debt at an undisclosed discount. It gives the Dutch company a blocking stake in the senior bonds, and a say over Globe's future. It marks the first time Heineken has built up an economic interest in a pub operator. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54829/heineken-mops-up-glo
| Ross and Molson Coors eye Cobra Wilbur Ross, the US investor, and Molson Coors, the brewer, have emerged as possible buyers for Cobra Beer as the sale process of the Indian-themed lager – created in the late 1980s to introduce UK drinkers to an 'authentic' Indian beer - draws near to a close. Cobra, which has been seeking a buyer since last summer, hopes to get as much as £185m for the group, which is not profitable. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54828/ross-and-molson-coor
| Europe rushes to exit hedge funds Rich Europeans, who were the first to invest in hedge funds and comprised the majority of investors, have been the first to exit in the downturn, according to a study by the Bank of New York Mellon and research firm Casey Quirk. High net worth individuals last year accounted for 80% - or more than $500bn - of hedge fund redemptions, although they only held two-thirds of the assets. The outflows were disproportionately European, the study found. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54827/europe-rushes-to-exi
| Steel Partners riles investors Investors owning more than half the assets in Warren Lichtenstein's largest hedge fund have asked to pull out, resisting a push to convert the fund into a publicly traded partnership, reports the WSJ (via Reuters). Lichtenstein had proposed spinning Steel Partners II into WebFinancial, a public company controlled by his firm Steel Partners that aims to be a holding company for entities such as small banks. Despite lack of substantial support, Lichtenstein told clients he would still proceed with the conversion See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54826/steel-partners-riles
| LSE to use Baikal platform The London Stock Exchange plans to use its Baikal block trading platform to spearhead a push across continental Europe and will try to boost its UK market by attracting high-frequency electronic trader to its SETS order book. The two-pronged strategy is the first sign of how the LSE, under Xavier Rolet, its new chief executive, will tackle arguably the biggest competitive challenge in its history. The LSE will this week unveil the technology providers for Baikal. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54825/lse-to-use-baikal-pl
| Weekend catch-up In case you missed these stories: Results boost for Citi, GE
Citigroup and General Electric, two of the biggest corporate victims of the economic crisis, on Friday won some respite by reporting better-than-expected profits in the first three months of the year. German state launches HRE offer
Germany's government launched its takeover bid for Hypo Real Estate on Friday, warning the troubled lender's shareholders to accept the €1.39 a share offer or face expropriation at a lower price. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54824/weekend-catch-up-29
| Overnight markets: Shaky start Asian stocks declined on Monday, dragging the regional benchmark index from a three-month high, on speculation that companies will take advantage of a six-week rally to sell shares and shore up their finances. Futures on the S&P 500 Index lost 0.8% after the gauge rose 0.5% last Friday as the Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment reached its highest since September. Asian markets (Mon)
03:00 BST
Nikkei down 85.29 (1.02%) at 8,822.29
Topix down 6.52 (0.81%) at 839.05
Hang Seng down 160.78 (1.25%) at 15,440.49 US markets (Fri)
S&P500 up 4.30 (0.50%) at 869.60
DJIA up 5.90 (0.07%) at 8,131.33
Nasdaq up 2.63 (0.16%) at 1,673.07 European markets (Fri)
FTSE100 up 39.82 (0.98%) at 4,092.80
Eurofirst 300 up 12.67 (1.58%) at 814.69 Currencies
03:10 BST
€/$ 1.2996 ( 1.3204)
$/¥ 98.83 (99.08)
£/$ 1.47250 (1.4991) Commodities
00:35 BST
Brent Crude (ICE) down $0.8 at $52.52
Light Crude (Nymex) down $0.75 at $49.58
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down $0.20 at $867.70
Copper (Comex) down $2.80 at $216.60 10-year government bond yields (%)
02:50 BST
US 2.91 (2.83)
UK 3.25 ( 3.23)
Germany 3.15 ( 3.15)
Japan 1.47 (1.45) Sources: FT, Bloomberg See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/04/20/54823/overnight-markets-sh
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