Additional European Equity News

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) – To acquire Fusion (FUSN) for USD 21/shr (prev. close 10.64/shr) in cash closing plus a non-transferable CVR of USD 3/shr in USD 2.4bln deal. (Newswires)

Atos (ATO FP)/Airbus (AIR FP) - Airbus has ended discussions with Atos on the potential acquisition of BDS. (Newswires)

Bouygues (EN FP) – Colas Rail and TSO have been selected for the mechanised renewal of the ballast on the Atlantique Nord and Paris Sud-Est lines, worth EUR 200mln. (Newswires)

Bayer (BAYN GY) - Positive topline results from Phase 3 long-term study Oasis 3 support submissions for marketing authorisation for Bayer's Elinzanetant. (Newswires)  

BPER Banca (BPER IM) – S&P assigned a BBB-/A-3 rating with a positive outlook. “BPER's established nationwide franchise in Italy, its restored asset quality, and good profitability prospects will support the bank's creditworthiness, in our opinion.” (S&P)

Close Brothers (CBG LN) – H1 (GBP): adj. EBIT 94mln (prev. 12mln), PBT 93mln (prev. 11mln), adj. EPS 0.46 (prev. 0.06). (Newswires)

Continental (CON GY) - Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) is reportedly considering the acquisition of Continentals electronics business. (MT)

Crest Nicolson (CRST LN) - Q1 Trading Update: Achieved reservation in line with expectations and delivered a year-to-date open market SPOW rate of 0.44. (Newswires)

Diageo (DGE LN) – Appoints John Manzoni as Chair, effective Feb 5 2025. (Newswires)

Galderma IPO – Bookrunners report that orders below CHF 53/shr risk missing, via Reuters. IPO books multiple times covered at a level with very limited price sensitivity across book. Institutional investor books to close on 19th March. Close of retail offering remains 20th March. (Newswires) Galderma earlier in the month announced a price range of CHF 49-53/shr for its Swiss IPO; IPO is of note for EQT (EQT SS)

Haleon (HLN LN) – Pricing & upsizing of secondary global offering; offering by Pfizer (PFE) at a price to the public of GBP 3.08/shr and USD 7.85/ADS. Pfizer’s interest within Haleon will reduce from 32% to circa. 22.6%. (Newswires)

Lindt & Spruengli (LISN SW) – Completed buyback of own shares. Will request a capital reduction via the cancellation of further registered shares and participation certificates bought back at the next ordinary general meeting. (Newswires)

ThyssenKrupp (TKA GY) – Co. and Carlyle (CG) evaluation cooperation on the planned separation of the Marine business. Activity of Carlyle does not rule out the parallel examination of further separation options on the capital market. Talks are being held with the German gov’t on the states participation within the Marine business. (Newswires) Shares +2.3% in pre-market trade

Unilever (ULVR LN) – To separate Ice Cream business into stand-alone firm. Launches major productivity programmes, to impact around 7.5k predominately office-based roles globally. Targets mid-term mid-single digit underlying sales growth and modest margin improvement, restructuring with EUR 800mln savings over 3 years. (Newswires)

19 Mar 2024 - 07:10- EquitiesResearch Sheet- Source: Newsquawk