Merlin Entertainments Share News (MERL)

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set for a lower open as the G20 Summit kicked off Friday with investors eagerly awaiting the much anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday.Trump and Xi are not expected to come out of the meeting in Osaka, Japan with a final trade deal, but investors will be looking for signs of progress toward kick-starting the stalled negotiations between the two economic superpowers. The pair are meeting for the first time in seven months.In London, Legoland operator Merlin Entertainment agreed to be bought by Lego, John Laing Group said its full-year outlook is unchanged, Woodford Patient Capital Trust issued a redress to investors, the Bank of Ireland said it is selling its UK credit cards portfolio, and PayPoint lost a big contract with British Gas. IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 1.53 points lower at 7,400.80 on Friday. The FTSE 100 index closed down 14.06 points, or 0.2%, at 7,402.33 on Thursday."The long awaited G20 meeting kicks off today in Osaka, Japan, and it has been the top priority for investors this week. The summit will run for two days, and tomorrow's meeting between President Trump and Xi Jinping is likely to be the highlight of the event," CMC Market's David Madden said.In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.6%, and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is off 0.5%.Madden continued: "European and US stock markets were subdued yesterday as many traders were sitting on their hands ahead of the summit. There was commentary from both sides of the trade spat, but ultimately many investors were in wait-and-see mode. There was a report of a 'truce' between the US and China on the run up to the G20. It was reported that China are interested in a 'balanced' trade deal, but Beijing claim that doesn't interest the US. According to Larry Kudlow, economic advisor to President Trump, there are no preconditions going into the trade talks, but the US might still press ahead with additional tariffs."In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.1% on Thursday, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.2%.In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended broadly higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing slightly down, the S&P 500 up 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.7%.The pound was quoted at USD1.2688 early Friday, up from USD1.2674 late Thursday.G20 opened with a toned down US President Trump, adopting instead diplomatic overtures and friendly vibes as he met Friday with world leaders, some of whom he bashed only earlier in the week.The Osaka summit itself is expected to be rife with differences, however, as sharp divides are clear in the trade war between the US and China, over climate change and about tensions in the Gulf with Iran.As Trump sat for a session with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who he has often slammed over energy purchases from Russia and a failure to hit NATO defence spending targets, the US president was rather jovial.Similarly, there was no sign of Trump's remarks earlier this week that the security alliance with Japan is unbalanced and that while the US would defend the Asian nation, Tokyo would stand by if the US got attacked and watch events "on a Sony television".Instead, Trump hailed trade ties with Japan and vowed that new deals would be forthcoming.In early UK corporate news, Merlin Entertainments is set to be bought by the Danish family that controls toy maker Lego, together with US private equity firm Blackstone and a Canadian pension fund, for a enterprise value of GBP5.90 billion. The consortium is offering 455 pence per share in cash, valuing Merlin's entire issued share capital at GBP4.77 billion. The offer represents a 15% premium to Merlin's closing share price on Thursday.Lego owner, Kirki, already owns 29.6% of Merlin.The Financial Times, which first reported the approach, noted that the deal would mark one of the largest European buyouts in "recent history".John Laing Group, on Friday, left its full-year outlook unchanged, saying its NAV at the end of 2019 is guided to be "broadly in line" with management expectations.Despite this, the privately financed public infrastructure operator said it has seen "mixed" operational performance from "certain" renewable energy assets.John Laing added that its realisation are on track to reach GBP1 billion between 2019 and 2021, in line with guidance.Woodford Patient Capital Trust, run by embattled fund firm Woodford Investment Management, said that, after discussions with shareholders, it is "building on some of the immediate measures".The trust said it will reduce its gearing to below 10% within the next six months. Its gearing level is currently 16.8%.Woodford Patient also noted its share price discount to NAV has widened to 14%, as of May 31. The trust said it will undertake share repurchases.The trust reiterated to investors that its portfolio is independently valued, and is line with Financial Conduct Authority regulations. Woodford Patient said the pricing of its unquoted securities is "solely the responsibility" of the appointed alternative investment fund manager, Link Fund Solutions Limited. The Bank of Ireland said it has sold its existing UK credit card portfolio for GBP530 million to Centerbridge Partners Europe LLP and Jaja Finance Ltd.The lender has branded credit cards issued in the UK through the Post Office and motor association AA. PayPoint said it was unable to agree renewal terms with Centrica-owned British Gas, and the multi-year contract between the pair will end on December 31.PayPoint said the break down in negotiations will take GBP1.4 million off financial 2020's net revenue. For financial 2021, PayPoint guides for a GBP3.5 million reduction in revenue."Plans are underway to mitigate this, in part, through the positive revenue trends elsewhere in the Bill Payment business, including the robust performance of MultiPay, our omni-channel payments platform. The board remains confident that there will still be a progression in profit before tax before exceptional items for the year ending March 2020," PayPoint added.In UK economic news, consumer confidence dipped in June to what could be the "new normal" for sentiment, Gfk said on Friday.The Overall Index score came in at minus 13, sinking from minus 10 in May and returning to the same level seen in April. A year ago in June, the score was minus 9.Among sub-components, the Personal Financial Situation Index tumbled to minus 1 from positive 3 in May, having stood at zero a year ago.The General Economic Situation Index measuring the past twelve months dipped to minus 32 in June from minus 30 in May, while the index measuring the twelve months ahead slipped further to minus 33 from minus 29.The Major Purchase Index slid to negative territory, at minus 2 in June, down three points from May.One bright spot was the Savings Index, which rose to 19 from 16 in May.Elsewhere, senior diplomats from five major powers are meeting their Iranian counterparts in Vienna on Friday in an attempt to stop Tehran from abandoning their joint nuclear deal.The US walked away from the 2015 pact last year and revived sanctions that target the Islamic Republic's oil exports.Tensions between Washington and Tehran came to a head in recent days, when Trump came close to ordering an airstrike in retaliation against Iran's downing of a US drone.Still in the economic events calendar on Friday are UK GDP at 0930 BST, Eurozone CPI at 1000 BST, and US core personal consumption expenditure at 1330 BST.