The pharma research firm Parexel International Corp (NASDAQ:PRXL) is being acquired by private equity firm Pamplona International Corp for close to US$5bn, or US$88 a share.
We are expecting shares in Lennar Corp (NYSE:LEN) to advance strongly in opening trade after an second-quarter earnings beat. EPS came it at 91% cents a share versus consensus of 79 cents.
Whole Foods mash-up
Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM) talking in a townhall meeting with staff on Friday was effusive about ‘marriage’ with Amazon.com Inc (NSADAQ:AMZN) – a deal that has rocked the grocery world.
“It’s been a whirlwind courtship. Because, little over six weeks after we met on this blind date, we’re officially engaged,” Mackey is quoted as saying on MarketWatch, citing a transcript of the meeting.
“But like an old traditional marriage, where there are all kinds of rules and chaperones, we can’t consummate the marriage until we’re actually officially hooked up.…This is not a Tinder relationship.”
A European take on the deal from Germany’s Deutsche Bank. “Online grocery penetration in the UK and France is 7% and 5% respectively vs. around 1% in the US,” it said.
“The European food retailers are already "living with" online grocery competition, either having lost market share, or retaining the sales but at a higher cost of service.”
Barclays under scrunity
The Serious Fraud Office today announced that it will charge Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) and four of its former executives, including Varley with fraud - the first criminal charges laid at the door of the very top bank executives relating to activities during the financial crisis.
The charges relate to a £7.3bn capital raising arranged by Barclays in 2008 with Qatar Holding LLC and Challenger Universal Ltd in June 2008, and a US$3bn loan facility the bank made available to the State of Qatar in November 2008.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has said that interest rates should remain unchanged until the central bank sees how Brexit negotiations play out.
Speaking at Mansion House in London with Chancellor Philip Hammond today, Carney said he wanted to see how businesses, financial markets and consumers reacted to Brexit before raising rates.
“From my perspective, given the mixed signals on consumer spending and business investment, and given the still subdued domestic inflationary pressures, in particular anaemic wage growth, now is not yet the time to begin that adjustment [to higher rates],” he said.
More to follow....