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LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Monday.
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COMPANIES
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Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group said they plan to hold their all-important general meetings in January, when shareholders will be asked to vote on the proposed mega-merger between the two oil and gas companies. The shareholder meetings are the last hurdle for the pair after being given the green light from government authorities around the world to complete the biggest UK-to-UK merger of all time, worth around GBP47.00 billion. Shell plans to hold its meeting on January 27, with BG Group holding its own meeting the following day, as the pair aim to complete the deal before the end of the first quarter of 2016.
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Executives from US media giant Comcast are believed to be considering a GBP11.0 billion bid for British broadcaster ITV, the Mail on Sunday reported. Talks have been held between ITV and Comcast’s TV and film arm NBCUniversal, the newspaper report said without citing its source. ITV and NBCUniversal both declined to comment to the Mail on Sunday, it said.
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Biopharmaceuticals giant Shire is preparing to add a GBP8.0 billion cash sweetener to its bid to buy US rival Baxalta, The Sunday Times reported. Citing senior City sources, the newspaper report said Shire's move will revive a GBP20.0 billion takeover plan for the target. Up to 40% of the GBP20 billion offer could be comprised of cash, said sources close to the talks told the Sunday Times.
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BHP Billiton is preparing to cut its dividend in the new year, according to the Sunday Times, which reported that the miner will become the latest in the sector to take the axe to shareholder payouts. Citing senior City sources, the report said that plunging oil prices were "almost certain to decide the issue" for the FTSE 100 miner. BHP would be following mining peers Glencore and Anglo American in making the decision to cut its dividend.
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International Consolidated Airlines Group, the parent of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, said it is converting 15 Airbus 320neo options, announced in August 2013, into firm orders. The aircraft will be delivered in 2021 and 2022 and can be used by any airline in the group for fleet replacement.
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Randgold Resources said it has terminated a deal with AngloGold Ashanti whereby the pair were set to redevelop a mine in Ghana. Randgold and AngloGold were set to form a joint venture to redevelop the Obuasi mine in Ghana, but on Monday Randgold said the development plan for the mine was unsatisfactory, leading it to terminate the investment agreement between the two companies.
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Hammerson said it has received gross proceeds of GBP75.0 million after exchanging contracts to sell two of its assets, providing the property investment company with a healthy profit. Hammerson plans to sell the Monument Mall in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and a small land interest in Kingston-upon-Thames to Standard Life Investments UK Property Fund.
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Ken Morrison, the former chairman of WM Morrison Supermarkets, has built a GBP6.0 million stake in J Sainsbury, the Times reported. In addition, the report said that Morrison gave his public backing to Mike Coupe, the chief executive of Sainsbury's. Ken Morrison owns 2.6 million shares in the supermarket, the report said, while his son William owns a further 2.1 million, giving them a combined stake worth about GBP11.9 million. The report cited filings which suggest Morrison acquired his stake around April last year.
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Rolls-Royce Holdings Chief Executive Warren East has raised concerns about new risks to the performance of the group's diesel engine business, the Financial Times reported. According to the report, East voiced "disquiet" about trading conditions in the unit. The diesel engine business is the only part of the broader aerospace group to have avoided a downgrade in the past five profit warnings, the FT noted.
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Meggitt said it has completed the acquisition of the composites division of EDAC after receiving US regulatory approvals. The aerospace and engineering group struck a deal to acquire the composites arm of the US manufacturer for USD340.0 million back in September.
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John Wood Group said it has bolstered its onshore construction business in the US after acquiring privately-owned service company Kelchner. Kelchner will operate within John Wood's PSN Americas business, providing construction capabilities primarily to the midstream and upstream oil and gas sector in the Marcellus and Utica shale basins, and broader industrial sectors.
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Dairy Crest Group said it has bought the outstanding 50% share of Promovita Ingredients Ltd for GBP6.0 million in cash. Promovita was established in 2014 as a 50/50 joint venture between Dairy Crest and Fayrefield to develop and produce Galacto-Oligosaccharide, a prebiotic for use in infant formula. The GBP6.0 million cash will be funded through existing borrowing facilities.
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Caledonia Investments said it has completed the acquisition of Gala Bingo Holdings in a deal valuing the business at GBP241.0 million. Caledonia has purchased the UK's largest retail bingo operator from Gala Coral Group after the unit was the only one not included in the merger agreed between Gala Coral and London-listed Ladbrokes back in July.
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IP Group applauded the initial public offering of one of its portfolio companies, Diurnal Group, in a move that creates a GBP14.6 million unrealised fair value gain for the FTSE 250 investor. Following completion of Diurnal's placing and admission to AIM, IP Group will have 23.5 million shares in the company, equivalent to a 45% stake valued at GBP33.8 million. IP Group committed GBP8.1 million to the placing. Diurnal, a specialty pharmaceutical company, targets patient needs in chronic endocrine hormonal diseases. Admission is expected to occur on Thursday, with Diurnal to be valued at GBP75.2 million at the placing price.
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Mining and energy entrepreneur David Lenigas has retired from his leading roles at a string of AIM-listed companies with immediate effect in order to focus on his new business in Cuba. Five companies - Rare Earth Minerals, Evocutis, AfriAg, Inspirit Energy Holdings and Bacanora Minerals - released separate statements announcing that Lenigas was retiring with immediate effect, with some of them appointing immediate replacements. Lenigas recently set up Leni Gas Cuba, which is looking to be listed in North America and is already listed on London's ISDX market. That company is set up to make investments in the Caribbean country, which has been in the spotlight recently after re-establishing ties with the US.
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MARKETS
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UK indices were trading higher with mining stocks among the best performers. Brent oil hit a fresh low of USD36.05 a barrel. Wall Street was pointed to a higher open.
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FTSE 100: up 1.0% at 6,110.14
FTSE 250: up 0.5% at 17,186.17
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 726.31

GBP: down at USD1.4885 (USD1.4909)
EUR: flat at USD1.0857 (USD1.0848)

GOLD: up at USD1,072.40 per ounce (USD1,065.60)
OIL (Brent): down at USD36.49 a barrel (USD37.57)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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The ruling party of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy fell short of an absolute majority in elections Sunday that saw both major traditional parties lose ground and left it uncertain who would form the next government. Rajoy's conservative People's Party emerged as the strongest party in the vote, but lost around a third of its seats and fell well short of the absolute majority it achieved in 2011. Rajoy however said he hopes to continue ruling despite losing the absolute majority. However Rajoy admits coalition talks will not be easy, requiring lots of conversation and the hammering out of agreements among parties.
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British firms again listed skills shortages as the top-most challenge they face and also expressed concern over rising labour costs due to the planned higher minimum wage and the apprenticeship levy, an annual survey by the Confederation of British Industry revealed Monday. The latest CBI/Accenture Employment Trends Survey showed that 43% of employers plan to grow their workforce next year, with permanent jobs outstripping temporary roles. Further, 16% felt the new skills levy was the right way to tackle the skill shortage problem. However, 47% expect the levy to be costly and bureaucratic.
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Germany's producer prices declined at a faster-than-expected pace in November, data from Destatis showed. The producer price index fell 2.5% year-over-year in November, which was worse than the 2.3% drop in the prior month. Economists had expected a 2.4% decrease for the month. Producer prices have been falling since August 2013. Excluding energy, producer prices slid 0.7% annually and by 0.2% monthly in November.
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Japan's economy is expected to continue recovering moderately, the Bank of Japan repeated in its monthly report released. The bank said exports are expected to increase moderately as emerging economies move out of their deceleration phase. The bank last month said exports are expected to remain more or less flat.
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The EU will not soften its sanctions on Russia in return for Moscow's cooperation on resolving the crises in Syria and Libya, the bloc's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said in a Sunday interview. The EU, the US and other Western nations have slapped sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. EU ambassadors extended them by six months on Friday.
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Tehran said it has begun transporting enriched uranium to Russia, in line with a deal reached with the West earlier in the year to reign in Iran's nuclear programme. Nine tons of enriched uranium have already been sent to Russia, Iranian Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted by media as saying. Iran agreed to sell large parts of its stock of enriched uranium as one of the key requirements in the mid-July agreement with the five United Nations veto powers - China, France, Russia, Britain and the US - plus Germany.
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FIFA president Joseph Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini were Monday banned from football for eight years by the ethics committee of football's scandal-hit world governing body. Both are banned from all football-related activity nationally and internationally with immediate effect, the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA ethics committee ruled. The ban effectively ends Blatter's career as football's leading administrator and Platini's hopes of succeeding him as FIFA president. The adjudicatory chamber ruled there were ethics breaches concerning a "disloyal payment" of CHF2 million made to Platini in 2011.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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