22nd Aug 2014 10:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Friday.
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COMPANIES
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London Stock Exchange Group priced the fully underwritten rights issue it is launching with the aim of raising GBP938 million of net proceeds to part fund its USD2.70 billion acquisition of the US's Russell Investments. London Stock Exchange wants to combine Russell's index business with FTSE, bringing together USD5.2 trillion of assets benchmarked to Russell and an estimated USD4.0 trillion of equities benchmarked to FTSE. However, London Stock Exchange is reviewing Russell's investment management business in order to determine its fit with the group. In a statement, London Stock Exchange said it is launching the three-for-11 rights issue at 1,295 pence per share. The rights issue will result in the issue of 74.3 million new shares, about 27% of the group's existing issued share capital and about 21% of the resulting shares in issue.
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RSA Insurance Group late Thursday said it has agreed a deal to sell the insurance business of its branches in Singapore and Hong Kong to Allied World Assurance Company Ltd, as the FTSE 100 insurer continues to target asset sales. In a statement, RSA said it will receive about GBP130 million in cash - GBP93 million for Singapore and GBP37 million for Hong Kong - assuming the transactions complete, which are expected to result in a gain on sale of about GBP110 million, adding GBP95 million to tangible net assets. RSA said this will further improve its capital strength.
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Petrofac said Chairman Norman Murray has resigned with immediate effect and will be replaced by Senior Independent Director Rijnhard van Tets. In a statement, the FTSE 100-listed oil and gas services company said Murray has stepped down for "compassionate reasons". Murray had been chairman since May 2011, while Van Tets has been a director of Petrofac since May 2007.
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Japanese consulting firm Nippon Koei Co said it was considering its position in the takeover battle for Hyder Consulting, after Arcadis NV agreed with Hyder on Thursday a new GBP288 million deal to buy the firm and bought a 15.6% stake. Hyder Consulting had agreed a GBP256.2 million deal to be acquired by Arcadis in July, but last month Hyder recommended instead a higher GBP268.1 million offer from Nippon Koei. In a joint statement Thursday, Arcadis and Hyder Consulting said they have now agreed a 730 pence cash deal, well above the 680 pence in cash that the Japanese consultancy had offered. Arcadis also bought nearly 6.1 million Hyder Consulting shares.
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MARKETS
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UK indices have fallen marginally as geopolitical tensions have moved back to the forefront on news that a convoy of Russian lorries with humanitarian aid has crossed the Ukrainian border without an escort from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
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FTSE 100: down 0.1% at 6770.45
FTSE 250: flat at 15857.85
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 765.22
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GBP-USD: flat at USD1.6587
EUR-USD: down at USD1.3273
GOLD: up at USD1281.32 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD102.32 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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The UK's house price sentiment index rose at the slowest pace in five months in August, results of a survey by Knight Frank and Markit Economics showed Friday. The house price sentiment index, an indicator of house price trends, fell to 61.8 in August from 62.4 in July. However, a reading above 50 indicates that prices are rising. It was the seventeenth consecutive month of increase.
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A first group of Russian lorries with humanitarian aid has crossed the border with Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported. The group of 34 lorries arrived at the Izvaryne border post inside Ukraine, Interfax said. Izvaryne is under the control of pro-Russian separatists. The lorries had crossed the border without an escort from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), thus ignoring a demand made by the Ukrainian government. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow said earlier that is had decided to send the convoy ahead without ICRC escort.
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US warplanes Thursday bombarded militant Islamist State targets in northern Iraq despite the terrorist group's threat to kill a captured American journalist. The US military conducted six airstrikes against the al-Qaeda breakaway group near the Mosul Dam, destroying vehicles and bomb emplacements, the Defence Department said. The latest hits have brought the total number of airstrikes to 90 since the US started its aerial campaign in Iraq on August 8.
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Islamic State militants cannot be defeated without action against their strongholds in Syria, the top US general said Thursday. "This is an organization that has an apocalyptic end-of-days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated," said General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Asked whether the terrorist group that is operating across Iraq and Syria could be defeated without attacks against them in Syria, he said no, but that the cross-border threat must be addressed by a regional coalition "that takes on the task of defeating ISIS over time."
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Israeli jets pounded dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip while Palestinian militants continued to fire rockets into southern Israel, with the violence once again gaining momentum after a lengthy ceasefire. Israel's cabinet was reportedly considering calling up 10,000 reservists. Israel withdrew its ground troops out of Gaza early this month, but there have been calls by hardliners in the government to increase the military's operations against Hamas and other militant groups. Three Hamas commanders were killed in airstrikes in south Gaza, as Israel, for what appeared to be the first time in the latest conflict, has managed to hit high ranking members of the group.
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The National Guard is to withdraw from Ferguson, Missouri as nearly two weeks of often violent protests have finally waned, Governor Jay Nixon said Thursday. The situation in the St Louis suburb has "greatly improved" since Nixon ordered the Guard to back up state police earlier this week, he said. Only six arrests were logged overnight in the town, which saw a more peaceful night after steady protests related to the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a policeman.
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Two US missionaries have left a hospital in Atlanta after what one of them termed a "miraculous" recovery from the Ebola virus. Dr Kent Brantly and health worker Nancy Writebol had recovered from the virus and posed no public health threat, doctors at Emory University Hospital said Thursday. They had been airlifted to the US August 2 for treatment at a special infectious disease unit after first receiving the experimental treatment ZMapp in Liberia.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]; @ArvindBhunjun
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