The first full week of the new Labour administration has started where the previous government left off, the take-out of a long-standing UK business by a foreign predator.
FTSE 250-listed soft drinks company Britvic has agreed to be taken over by Carlsberg, the Danish brewery for £3.1 billion, a 36% rise from the point talks started last month.
Otherwise, the FTSE 100 is 22 down at 8,181 after a KPMG survey showed starting salaries rising and casting doubt on early interest rate cut prospects.
Housebuilders are rising again as obvious beneficiaries of PM Keir Starmer’s plans for 1.5 million more houses along with the scrapping of many planning laws. Persimmon is up 1% alongside Barratt.
GSK is the largest faller after its RSV and legal setbacks in the US recently.
Also in the US over the weekend, Paramount, one of Hollywood's oldest companies, agreed to merge with independent film studio Skydance Media creating a new firm worth around US$28 billion.