BP Share News (BP.)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Friday.
----------
COMPANIES
----------
BP said it has teamed up with Det Norske oljeselskap to form the largest independent oil and gas producer in Norway, to be called Aker BP. The pair plan to merge the BP Norge and Det Norske businesses to form the new entity, which will be independently operated and listed in Oslo. BP will take a 30% stake in the new company, Det Norske shareholders will also take a 30% stake and Aker, an existing shareholder of Det Norske, will hold a 40% stake. BP said it will be paid USD140.0 million in cash, plus positive working capital adjustments, as part of the transaction, which should be completed before the end of this year. BP said all 850 employees of BP Norge will transfer over to the new business.
----------
Tesco said it sold its 95.5% stake in Turkish supermarket chain Kipa as well as its UK restaurant chain Giraffe. The disposal of Kipa will result in Tesco receiving cash proceeds of around GBP30 million, which the grocer said will contribute to Tesco's goal of reducing debt by around GBP110 million. It is being sold to Swiss retail company Migros. Meanwhile, Giraffe is being sold to Boparan Restaurant Holdings for an undisclosed amount. The sale includes 54 standalone restaurants, of which 12 are franchise sites and three restaurants within Tesco stores.
----------
J Sainsbury said it will promote Chief Financial Officer John Rogers to the role of chief executive of Home Retail Group once the two companies have merged, while Home Retail said its current CEO, John Walden, will step down from the business. Rogers will be responsible for combining Sainsbury's non-food business with Home Retail's Argos retail chain. He will be replaced on an interim basis as CFO by Finance Director Ed Barker.
----------
3i Group said it realised GBP89 million from the initial public offering of Benelux-based discount gym chain Basic-Fit, which listed on Euronext Amsterdam and saw its shares start trading Friday. In a statement, 3i said its remaining 23.7% stake has a value of about GBP153 million at the EUR15 per share pricing of Basic-Fit's IPO. 3i reduced its stake in Basic-Fit from 44.4% in the float. The valuation of 3i's stake at the IPO price represents a 16% increase in value against a valuation of GBP208 million as recorded on March 31. As part of the offering, Basic-Fit and its existing shareholders placed 26.7 million shares and raised EUR400 million in total, valuing the gym chain at EUR820 million.
----------
Moody's Investor Service has upgraded its credit ratings for BT Group and its newly acquired mobile network EE, saying this reflected BT's "strengthened business risk profile" following the integration of its fixed and mobile activities. Moody's has upgraded its Prime-2 short term ratings for BT and British Telecom Finance BV to Baa1 from Baa2, and upgraded BT's senior unsecured debt ratings, its MTN programme rating, and senior unsecured shelf rating to Baa1 from Baa2 also. Similarly, it increased the issue rating of EE Ltd and senior debt ratings of EE Finance PLC to Baa1 from Baa2.
----------
Private equity firm Apax Partners has sold its remaining stake in Auto Trader Group for a total of GBP76.4 million following a placing of shares that was originally announced on Thursday. Apax, through two entities named Crystal A Holdco and Crystal B Holdco, has sold 18.4 million shares in Auto Trader Group, equal to a 1.8% stake in the online car marketplace, for 415.0 pence per share. Apax will no longer hold any stake in Auto Trader following the sale, which was conducted by bookrunners Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
----------
The all-share merger between Vectura Group and Skyepharma was set to be completed Friday, as the scheme of arrangement regarding the terms of the merger has become effective. Skyepharma's shares will be cancelled from Friday, and shares in the merged entity will be admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market on Friday morning.
----------
Evraz Group SA, a subsidiary of London-listed steel-making and mining company Evraz, said it has priced a USD500 million note issue. The notes will mature in January 2022. They have a coupon rate of 6.8% per year were priced at par, giving a 6.8% yield. Evraz Group intends to use the proceeds to refinance existing debt, including financing of purchases of notes to complete its tender offers.
----------
Recruiter Michael Page International will begin trading under new name PageGroup on Friday. The name change was approved by shareholders on Thursday, and the company said Friday that the formalities to effect the change of name have now been completed.
----------
MARKETS
----------
UK stock indices were ending the week firmly in the red, with miners and financial stocks weighing on the FTSE 100. Oil retreated below the USD52 mark having touched 2016 highs on Thursday. Wall Street also was pointed to a lower open.
----------
FTSE 100: down 1.4% at 6,142.30
FTSE 250: down 1.3% at 16,897.46
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.4% at 741.20

GBP: flat at USD1.4432 (USD1.4479)
EUR: down at USD1.1287 (USD1.1332)

GOLD: down at USD1,267.36 per ounce (USD1,269.52)
OIL (Brent): down at USD51.70 a barrel (USD52.01)

(changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has warned that significant investment projects such as High Speed 2 railway route could be at risk if the UK votes to leave the European Union. Whilst Cameron continued to focus on the potential economic impact of a potential Brexit, the Labour party faced criticism over its campaigning from within its own ranks, as Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham said Labour had failed to reach out to traditional voters, whose concerns about immigration are driving them to back the Leave campaign.
---------
More than 436,000 people applied to vote in the EU referendum during the 48-hour extended registration period after the UK government-run website crashed. Some 238,903 voters applied to register online on Wednesday, joined by 191,508 on Thursday, and another 5,936 people using paper forms, bringing the total applications over the last four days to almost 1.2 million. The deadline to register to vote was pushed back by MPs after thousands of voters were prevented from registering by the original deadline of midnight on Tuesday when the website failed.
----------
UK construction output expanded for the first time in four months in April, the Office for National Statistics showed. Construction output grew 2.5% on a monthly basis, reversing a 3.6% decline in March. It was also faster than the 1.2% rise forecast by economists. All new work increased by 2.9% and all repair and maintenance increased by 1.9%.
----------
US President Barack Obama endorsed Hillary Clinton to be his successor in a video posted to her campaign's website after she secured the Democratic Party's nomination this week. "I know how hard this job can be, that's why I know Hillary will be so good at it," he said. "In fact, I don't think there's ever been someone so qualified to hold this office." Obama had met earlier in the day with Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders and praised him for bringing passion and supporters to the Democratic Party.
----------
Germany's inflation remained low as estimated in May, final figures from Destatis showed. Consumer prices gained 0.1% on a yearly basis, reversing a 0.1% fall in April. Month-on-month, consumer prices climbed 0.3%, in contrast to a 0.4% decrease in April. The statistical office confirmed the preliminary estimate published on May 30. At the same time, harmonized inflation remained flat in May as estimated after easing 0.3% in April. Compared to April, the harmonized index of consumer prices moved up 0.4% in May.
----------
Germany's wholesale prices declined at a slower pace in May, data from Destatis showed. Wholesale prices decreased 2.3% in May from last year, slower than the 2.7% fall in April. This was the weakest fall in four months. The index has been falling since July 2013. On a monthly basis, wholesale prices climbed 0.9%, but faster than the 0.3% rise in April.
----------
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.