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(Alliance News) - London Stock Exchange Group on Monday said that it has agreed to acquire portfolio, margin and capital optimisation services provider Quantile Group.
LSEG said it has agreed to pay up to GBP274 million for London-based Quantile. The deal will enable the stock exchange to expand its range of post-trade risk management solutions to its customers, it said.
Daniel Maguire, LSEG's group head of Post Trade said: "The acquisition of Quantile builds on the strong growth delivered by LSEG and our Post Trade division. It significantly enhances LSEG's multi-asset class customer offering across the transaction lifecycle by providing more sophisticated tools and infrastructure for customers to optimise their financial resources and drive greater operational efficiencies in OTC derivatives."
Quantile will remain a standalone entity within the Post Trade division, with LSEG and Quantile's services available on an open-access basis to offer customers the choice of where to clear.
The deal is LSEG's first significant acquisition since completing its USD27 billion takeover of financial data firm Refinitiv at the beginning of the year.
LSEG shares were up 1.0% early Monday.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.7% at 7,172.64
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Hang Seng: down 1.8% at 23,348.23
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.4% at 27,927.37
S&P/ASX 200: closed up 0.1% at 7,245.10
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DJIA: closed down 59.71 points, or 0.2%, at 34,580.08
S&P 500: closed down 38.67 points, or 0.8%, at 4,538.43
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 295.85 points, or 1.9%, at 15,085.47
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EUR: soft at USD11285 (USD1.1291)
GBP: firm at USD1.3231 (USD1.3223)
USD: unchanged at JPY113.07 (JPY113.06)
GOLD: up at USD1,784.55 per ounce (USD1,775.82)
OIL (Brent): firm at USD71.50 a barrel (USD71.43)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Monday's key economic events still to come
0930 GMT UK CIPS-Markit construction PMI
1130 GMT UK BoE Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent speech on 'Outlook for growth, inflation and monetary policy'
1000 EST US employment trends index
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UK business is approaching a "cliff edge" as it deals with long-term challenges such as persistently poor productivity, according to a new report. The CBI said the foundations for economic recovery remained firm despite global supply issues affecting growth in the near-term. But the business lobby's latest UK economic forecast warned that short-term problems such as rising costs and shortages have worsened since the summer. Longer-term challenges, notably persistently poor productivity, underlined the need for a "booster" for business investment to support sustainable growth, said the report. The CBI is forecasting 6.9% growth in gross domestic product in 2021 and 5.1% in 2022, revised down from 8.2% and 6.1% respectively. The business group said it expects supply chain frictions to largely dissipate by the middle of next year
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BARCLAYS CUTS PERSIMMON TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' (OVERWEIGHT) - PRICE TARGET 2,500 (3,000) PENCE
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BARCLAYS RAISES CREST NICHOLSON TO 'OVERWEIGHT' (EQUAL WEIGHT) - PRICE TARGET 430 PENCE
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JPMORGAN CUTS RIO TINTO TO 'NEUTRAL' (OVERWEIGHT) - PRICE TARGET 4,950 (6,000) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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WPP said it has acquired a majority stake in branding and design agency Made Thought for an undisclosed sum. The ad agency said the acquisition is aligned with its growth strategy and M&A approach to strengthen its creative capabilities in marketing, communications and design. The deal follows acquisitions of Universal Design Studio and Map Project Office, which both joined WPP in 2018. The three outfits will be integrated into WPP's AKQA to form a collective called 'The New Standard'.
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Darktrace said it will commence a share buyback programme of up to 4 million shares to be completed by December 31, 2022. The maximum amount allocated to the programme is GBP30 million and will be conducted by Jefferies. Darktrace was demoted from the FTSE 100 index at the recent quarterly review, dropping down to the FTSE 250 from December 20.
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Warehouse workers and drivers employed by supermarket chain Tesco are to stage a series of strikes in the coming weeks in a dispute over pay, PA reports. Unite said more than 1,000 of its members at depots in Antrim, Belfast, Didcot and Doncaster, will take industrial action. The union said the company had offered a 4% pay rise, describing it as "well below" the current retail price index inflation rate of 6%. The current consumer prices index is 4.2%. Tesco said its offer was one of the highest awards made within its distribution business in the last 25 years.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Victrex said it delivered a solid and sustainable recovery during financial 2021, prompting the speciality chemicals firm to declare a special dividend. For the financial year ended September 30, Victrex posted revenue of GBP306.3 million, up 15% from GBP266.0 million last year and pretax profit of GBP92.5 million, up 46% from GBP63.5 million. Victrex declared a full year dividend to 59.56 pence, up 29% from 46.14p paid last year. In addition, as a result of its available cash balance exceeding the GBP85 million threshold, Victrex also proposed a 50p share special dividend. Looking ahead to financial 2022, Victrex said its assumptions are for progress in sales volumes, with several end-markets expected to see further recovery, including in medical. The company operates in six core markets: aerospace, automotive, energy, electronics, manufacturing & engineering and medical. Victrex said it was facing increased raw material and energy costs, which will hurt earnings particularly in the first half of the new year, although it noted mitigation plans "are progressing".
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COMPANIES - MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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The chair of Ted Baker, who also once led the boards of easyJet and Next, has died. John Barton passed away suddenly, the luxury retailer announced, without revealing further information. Senior Independent Director Helena Feltham will become interim chair. Barton, who turned 77 in August, was named Ted Baker's chair in July last year. He had spent more than a decade as the chair of fashion chain Next and was chair of budget airline easyJet until being replaced by Stephen Hester on December 1.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Anheuser-Busch InBev said it is aiming for annual growth in organic earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of 4% to 8% over the medium-term. Normalised Ebitda fell 2.4% on an organic basis in 2020 after growth of 2.7% in 2019. However the Leuven, Belgium-based brewer, ahead of investor seminar being hosted on Monday, cautioned: "This outlook reflects AB InBev's current assessment of future business performance and market conditions (including the scale and magnitude of the Covid-19 pandemic), which is subject to change."
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Monday's shareholder meetings
Amur Minerals Corp - AGM
Bellway PLC - AGM
CVC Credit Partners European Opportunities Ltd - EGM re tender facility terms amendment
Emmerson PLC - AGM
Ethernity Networks Ltd - EGM re share and warrant issue
Myanmar Strategic Holdings Ltd - EGM re name change
Quetzal Capital PLC - AGM
Virgin Wines UK PLC - AGM
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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