On Monday, Bi-Lo purchased rival [Winn-Dixie] for $560
million. This will allow Bi-Lo to expand its outlets into Tennessee, Georgia
and the Carolinas. The food retailer was boosted a massive 70%, reflecting the
large premium being paid. The following day, [Dexia] sold its Luxemburg
operations to a Qatari investment fund for $952 million. This is the latest
step in the dismantling of the Belgian-French bank, which has been bailed out twice
since the financial crisis began. The seller was down 6.7%.
The midweek saw [Delphi Financial] being bought by insurer
[Tokio Marine Holdings] for $2.7 billion. This will allow Tokio Marine to
increase its presence in the US market following its takeover of Philadelphia
Consolidated in 2008. The bidder gained 1.2%, while the target was up a
whopping 73% mirroring the mark-up offered. [HSBC] agreed to spin off its
Japanese private banking unit to [Credit Suisse] for an undisclosed fee. This
sale is being seen as an attempt to reduce its costs and improve its capital
base. The buyer was relatively unchanged on the news, whilst Europe's largest
bank lost around 0.3%. Also that day, the [TMX Group] acquired a 16 percent
stake in the Bermuda Stock Exchange. The transaction, for which price was
undisclosed, represents the groups search for growth outside of the Canadian
market. TMX closed 0.4% higher.
The following day, [Deustche Lufthansa] sold the unprofitable
carrier BMI to the International Airlines Group for $270 million. The purchase
is driven by IAG's aim to grow operations at Heathrow Airport, the world’s
busiest by international passenger traffic. The vendor grew by 1.9%. Also that
day, [Akamai Technologies] took over Contendo for $268 million. This will allow
them to speed up their online offerings through cloud computing. They were up
almost 19% by the bell.
