Greene King PLC (LON:GNK) announced an agreement to acquire four pub restaurants from Punch Taverns PLC (LON:PUB) for £5.3 in cash, financed from the funds raised by the company's recent rights issue, the deal is expected to complete on 8 July 2010.
Dragon Oil (LON:DGO) has reported the completion and initial testing of the Dzheitune (Lam) B/145 development well in the Cheleken Contract Area, in the Caspian Sea off-shore Turkmenistan. It is the second well to be drilled from the new Dzheitune (Lam) B platform. It was drilled to a depth of 3,344 metres and it tested at an initial rate of 1,054 bopd (barrels of oil per day).
In a letter to its shareholders, BHP Billiton (LON:BLT, ASX:BHP) called for Australia’s proposed super-tax to be abandoned, due to the proposal’s "fundamental failings". According to BHP chairman Jac Nasser, the current proposal requires a substantive re-design and, like with Australia’s previous major tax reforms, the Australian government should consult the mining industry "to find a solution in Australia's best interests".
Hammerson (LON:HMSO) has acquired a long leasehold interest in the Leadenhall Court office building in the City of London from Alan Bloom and Alan Hudson of Ernst & Young (NYSE:EY) for £65 million.
Homebase and Argos owner Home Retail Group PLC (LON:HOME) reported an 8.1 percent drop in like-for-like sales from its Argos chain in the first quarter from a year earlier, saying economic conditions remain both challenging and uncertain, with this quarter proving difficult in terms of consumers' willingness to spend.
Shares in BP (LON:BP., NYSE:BP) took a hammering again in London trading on Thursday, falling more than 8% in the first thirty minutes of trading, but were higher than pre-market trading which pointed to a fall of at least 10% from the start.
London’s FTSE 100 is set to increase its weighting towards commodity focused businesses after African Barrick Gold (LON:ABG) and Essar Energy (LON:ESSR) were confirmed as the two newest entrants to the blue chip index.
BlueBay Asset Management PLC (LSE: BBAY) said it has hired Mark Dowding to lead the development of a European government bond business at the firm. He joins from Deutsche Asset Management, where he was European head of Institutional Fixed Income; and was previously at Invesco, where he worked closely with Raphael Robelin - BlueBay's head of Investment Grade Credit.
Compass Group PLC (LSE: CPG) said it bought Southeast Service Corporation (SSC) for US$65 million in cash, or £45 million. SSC is a provider of soft support services operating in the education and business & industry sectors in the US. Revenue in the year to 31 December 2009 was US$153 million.
G4S (LON:GFS) is arguably the most acquisitive company on the FTSE 100, continually snapping up smaller organizations in markets or territories were it is keen to build its presence. This morning the international security solutions group confirmed that it had acquired Instalarme, a Brazilian electronic security solutions company predominantly working in the banking sector.
Britain’s leading supermarket group, Tesco (LON:TSCO) confirmed this morning that after 14 years at the helm of the company, Terry Leahy will retire at CEO in March 2011.
Swiss based automation and power technology giant ABB Limited (NYSE:ABB) has trumped a previous offer for London listed Chloride (LON:CHLD) from Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR).
Tullow Oil PLC LON:TLW) said the Mahogany-5 well has continued the successful appraisal of the area immediately to the southeast of the Jubilee Field offshore Ghana.
IG Group (LON:IGG) said that client activity increased due to higher volatility in the markets and it now expects its full year revenues for the financial year to 31 May to show a 16% growth and a profit hike of 25% as well as a like for like revenue growth of 20%.
SOCO International (LON:SIA) told investors at ita AGM that it has begun a new exploration/appraisal programme. The company said that the next six months will be the most significant period since the company’s inception, as it plans to crystallise both its largest exploration programme and its biggest development project.