A roundup of today's other stories.
Allianz makes £903m bid for Laing
Europe's largest insurance group, Allianz, yesterday made a £903 million (€1,344 million) cash bid for the schools, roads and hospitals builder John Laing, trumping a rival bid from Henderson, the fund management group.
The recommended offer of 385p compares with Henderson's 355p and represents a premium of almost 40 per cent to the UK infrastructure investor's share price on September 13th, the day before the first bid approach was confirmed.
When the Henderson deal was announced last month, industry watchers said the price was difficult to justify, a view reinforced by analysts yesterday: "The only way [ Allianz] can justify the price is if they have big expansion plans for John Laing," said Geoff Allum, from KBC Peel Hunt. Laing's business is focused on public-private partnerships, in which private finance initiatives are used to fund public infrastructure projects. - (Financial Times service)
African Diamonds demerges assets
AIM-listed exploration company African Diamonds demerged its Sierra Leone and Guinea assets yesterday into a separate company called West African Diamonds. West African Diamonds Plc intends to seek admission to the AIM this year.
US economic growth slows
US economic growth slowed to an annualised rate of just 1.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2006, figures revealed yesterday, as a brutal correction in housing construction and an oil-fuelled rise in imports dragged down economic activity.
The news of the sharper-than-expected slowdown comes at a bad time for the Republican party, which has been leaning on its economic record to shore up support damaged by the war in Iraq in the run-up to mid-term elections for Congress on November 7th.
Growth in the quarter was the lowest since early 2003, when the economy was still struggling to emerge from the aftermath of the dotcom bust. However, strong consumer spending - particularly on automobiles - ensured the economy continued to expand, though below its potential growth rate. - (Financial Times service)
RPS appoints Goodbody broker
International consultancy group RPS has appointed Goodbody Stockbrokers as its joint broker. This is the first time that an Irish broker has been selected by a FTSE 250 company. RPS has become the leading planning, engineering and environmental consultancy in the State through a series of acquisitions and has offices in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Galway and Waterford.
Phantom signs radio contract
Phantom FM has signed a 10-year broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland to provide a 24-hour alternative rock music service to the Dublin region.
Phantom FM will begin broadcasting on 105.2 FM on October 31st.
Building firm offer worth $12.8bn
Cemex, the Mexican cement manufacturer that owns Readymix, has offered to buy Australian building materials company Rinker in a deal worth about $12.8 billion (€10.05 billion) including debt. The purchase would be the largest acquisition in the building materials industry to date. - (Financial Times service)
