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Commission clears takeover bids for the LSE
London: The Competition Commission has given its approval for a formal takeover bid of the London Stock Exchange by European bourse operator Euronext.

Ending a seven-month enquiry into takeover plans by Euronext and Deutsche Boerse, the Competition Commission said both companies must take steps to reinforce the independence of and not obstruct access to the LSE's clearing-house activities.

Euronext, which analysts see as the frontrunner, can now move closer to formalising a bid, but faces a potential obstacle in the price it may have too pay for LSE, currently valued at around 1.5 billion pounds.

Bourses are under pressure to merge to cut costs as pressure on fees continues and as a single European Union market in financial services emerges.

The operator of the Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon bourses, and of London's Euronext.Liffe derivatives exchange, has yet to name a price, although sources familiar with the situation have said the LSE board will only accept an offer above 600 pence a share.

Deutsche Boerse has said it might re-enter the race if Euronext makes an offer. On Tuesday, the German company declined to comment on whether the commission's findings would spur it into action.
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Barrick Gold's bid to become world's biggest gold producer
Toronto/London: The consolidation of the global mining industry accelerated yesterday when Toronto-based Barrick Gold launched an unsolicited US$9.2bn cash-and-stock bid for Placer Dome, its Canadian rival.

A deal would make Barrick the world's biggest gold producer. However, Placer is widely expected to seek improved terms for a deal by looking for a white knight.

Placer, based in Vancouver, has for some time been considered a takeover target. A sharp rise in operating costs has more than offset the recent jump in the gold price, leading to a drop in earnings and a lower share price. Placer's third-quarter earnings shrank 77 per cent.

The combined company would produce 8.3-8.4 million ounces of gold and 370 million pounds of copper a year. A merger would benefit from synergies between the companies' mines and exploration properties. Cost savings are estimated at US$240mn a year.

The deal would give Barrick its first foothold in South Africa, where Placer has a 50 per cent stake in the South Deep mine.
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UBS Q3 profits ride on the back of Asian and Mideast oil wealth
Geneva: UBS, the largest European bank, has reported a record third-quarter profit on Tuesday, reflecting the fact that banks with large wealth-management businesses are starting to benefit from a boom in oil-related income in the Middle East and Asia.

UBS said net profit in the third quarter rose 71 percent to 2.77 billion Swiss francs, or US$2.15bn. The bank, which is the largest wealth manager in the world, added 31.1 billion francs in new money from private clients, with much of that growth coming from emerging markets.

Soaring global oil prices have created tens of billions of dollars in new wealth in Arab states and Asian countries with large crude oil production like Indonesia. Analysts say much of this new wealth is being placed with non-American banks because of concerns over political tensions between Washington and the Arab world.

Places like Singapore and Dubai, where a large portion of Middle East oil money is invested, are growing in importance as traditional offshore centers like Switzerland lose their luster. Tighter taxation rules, like those imposed recently by the European Union, have made it harder to avoid taxes in offshore havens like Switzerland, making centers in emerging markets more attractive.
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Imperial Tobacco says UK Government's smoking policy to have minimal effect
London: Imperial Tobacco, the world's fourth-biggest tobacco company posted an 11 per cent rise in annual profits and announced it would spend up to £450mn on buying back shares in the absence of major acquisitions.

The UK-based group, with leading brands such as Lambert & Butler, Richmond and Davidoff cigarettes, said volumes grew 1.5 per cent over the year after a strong second-half performance outweighed a first-half drop. It reported pre-tax profits of £1.1bn for the year to 30 September, near the top end of analysts' forecasts.

Gareth Davis, chief executive of the firm, deplored government plans to introduce smoking bans in offices, restaurants and pubs serving food in England and Wales by the summer of 2007. Even so, he predicted confidently: "It is clear that smokers will continue to smoke. There may be an initial dip in consumption but this diminishes over time."

Davis pointed to Ireland, where cigarette consumption fell by 5 per cent after a ban was introduced but volumes are now perking up again, he said.

In Britain, which accounts for 37 per cent of group profits, Imperial held on to its 44.5 per cent slice of a market which declined by 4 per cent to 51 billion cigarettes. In Germany, which makes up nearly one-fifth of group earnings, operating profit was up 24 per cent despite three tobacco tax increases in the past 18 months.
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