AstraZeneca to buy majority stake in Acerta
London’s FTSE 100 is seen starting 67 points higher than Wednesday’s close at 6,128.
Stocks to watch
AstraZeneca has announced it will acquire a 55% stake in Acerta Pharma – a deal valued at $4bn (£2.7bn).
The deal will give the FTSE 100 pharmaceutical company access to the privately-owned US and Netherlands based biopharmaceutical company’s acalabrutinib inhibitor, which is in trials to treat B-cell blood cancers and multiple solid tumours.
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) said equity capital raisings were down 2% to £40bn in “more challenging market conditions”. New issues were down to 161 new issues from 193 last year.
In a trading statement, LSE said secondary markets saw average daily UK equity value traded up 9%; Italian average daily volumes up 7%; derivatives contracts traded on IDEM in Italy rose 14%; MTS money markets (repo) value traded increased 21% and fixed income cash markets value traded declined 4%.
FTSE 250-listed retail real estate investment firm Tritax Big Box updated the market on its investment activity, portfolio performance and market conditions on Thursday morning.
It revealed it had invested £1.26bn in 25 big box assets - net of acquisition costs - and had let these to 21 tenants. 20 of these investments were standing assets, and five were pre-let developments.
The company made 11 new investments in 2015.
Tritax Big Box said its portfolio remained 100% let, with a contracted annual rental income of £68.2m as of December 16, 2015.
In the press
The bosses of some of Britain’s biggest companies have called on the Government to decide on Heathrow expansion by the end of May, amid growing fears a third runway will be mired in political wrangling and never built. More than 50 business leaders and lobbyists, including British Land chief Chris Grigg, Legal & General chairman John Stewart and WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell, have put their names to an open letter to David Cameron that urges the Prime Minister to commit to delivering a “clear and final” decision to expand Heathrow “no later” than May. – Telegraph
Hilton is aiming to spin off its hotels into a real estate investment trust, the latest in a wave of companies seeking to capitalise on high property valuations as the industry shifts attention to managing, rather than owning, hotels. Shares in Hilton, whose hotel portfolio could be worth about $12bn, according to analysts, jumped 5.3 per cent to $22.47 late on Wednesday. Its shares have slipped 14 per cent this year. – Financial Times
A group of Labour MPs are to write to the prime minister to demand a cross-departmental investigation into the retailer Sports Direct, following revelations made by the Guardian last week. The latest effort to increase the pressure on the retailer came as the Institute of Directors weighed into the debate over working practices there. Iain Wright MP, chair of the business, innovation and skills select ommittee, said he would be writing to the group’s billionaire founder, Mike Ashley, to discuss last week’s reports. - Guardian
US close
Wall Street closed higher and at the day´s highs after the US central bank raised its benchmark interest rate, as had been widely anticipated.
The Dow Jones Industrials closed up by 224 points or 1.28% to reach 17,749 points while the S&P 500 advanced by 30 points or 1.45% and the Nasdaq climbed another 76 points or 1.51%.
"The FOMC yesterday did what it had to do, and said what it had to say. The super-doves were kicked into line, with a unanimous vote, though two members’ blue dots showed they think rates should not have been raised. In our view, though, Dr. Yellen’s avowed intention to raise rates gradually sits uneasily with her — correct — assertion that policy remains very accommodative, bearing in mind that the unemployment rate is now at the Fed’s estimate of the Nairu, while evidence ofaccelerating wage gains is burgeoning," said Ian Sheperdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.