Cineworld ordered to pay Cineplex damages, 888 sells bingo businesses to Broadway Gaming

London open

The FTSE 100 was expected to open 10.5 points lower on Wednesday after having closed 0.18% weaker in the previous session at 7,218.64

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Cinema operator Cineworld has been ordered to pay Canadian theatre company Cineplex CAD $1.28bn (£751.57m) in damages and lost transaction costs in relation to its proposed acquisition of the Toronto-based firm.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that Cineworld had breached its obligations by terminating the arrangement agreement and granted Cineplex's claim, dismissing Cineworld's counter-claim and awarding the former damages of CAD $1.23bn (£722.25m) for lost synergies and CAD $5.5m (£3.22m) for lost transaction costs. Cineworld stated it disagrees with the judgment and will appeal the decision

Online gambling group 888 Holdings on Wednesday said it had sold its B2C and B2B bingo businesses to the Broadway Gaming group for $50.0m on a cash-free debt-free basis, including a potential earnout of up to $4.0m.

Sales and marketing firm DCC has acquired US sales and distribution business Almo for approximately $610.0m, its largest acquisition to date. DCC, which acquired Almo via its DCC Technology unit, said on Wednesday that the acquisition "materially expands" its "successful and growing" North American business, more than doubling its size.

Newspaper round-up

Farmers have accused the government of failing to listen to their warnings over the future of domestic food production, after concerns ministers would not increase the number of seasonal worker visas next year. The criticism came at a summit convened by the National Farmers’ Union and attended by the environment minister, George Eustice, where food producers, processors and retailers urged government to fix supply chains to ensure food security. - Guardian

The energy watchdog is to apply more stringent checks on electricity and gas suppliers as part of a reform package designed to prevent a repeat of the crisis engulfing the industry. Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of Ofgem, said providers would be subject to "robust stress testing", with executives also placed under greater scrutiny. - The Times

Rishi Sunak must be ready to bring back the furlough scheme to save shops and restaurants, the International Monetary Fund has warned as the spread of the omicron variant threatens further restrictions on the economy. The international financial stability watchdog said the Chancellor should be ready to reintroduce targeted measures to limit the economic damage from any new rules. Whitehall officials are reportedly considering a "plan C" including mandating table service in pubs to ensure social distancing. - Telegraph

The biggest taxi firm in Paris said it was suspending the use of Model 3 Teslas in its fleet after a fatal accident in the French capital at the weekend. A driver lost control of his Tesla on Saturday night in the southeastern 13th district of Paris, killing one person and injuring 20, with three people in intensive care. Paris prosecutors on Saturday opened an investigation into the incident. - Guardian

The City regulator gave a "free pass" to banking misconduct when it "wrongly" excluded about 10,000 businesses from a redress scheme for the mis-selling of interest rate hedging products, an independent review has found. John Swift QC concluded that the Financial Services Authority failed in its duties when it implemented an eligibility cap for victims of the scandal. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed lower on Tuesday as market participants thumbed over last month's producer price index and concerns related to the Covid-19 omicron variant continued to weigh on sentiment.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.30% at 35,544.18, while the S&P 500 was 0.75% weaker at 4,634.09 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.14% softer at 15,237.64.

The Dow closed 106.77 points lower on Tuesday as inflation data that revealed producer prices rose at a quicker than expected pace in November was the session's primary focus. According to the Department of Labor, so-called final demand prices increased 0.8% versus October, pushing the annual rate of increase to 9.6%. Economists had pencilled-in growth of 0.5% on the month and 9.2% year-on-year.