LONDON BRIEFING: Bwin.Party Chooses GVC's Takeover Offer Over 888's

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened lower in London Friday, as market participants position themselves ahead of the key US non-farm payrolls report, hoping for a clue as to when the Federal Reserve will start to raise US interest rates.

With little news from FTSE 100 companies, the tussle for the FTSE 250's Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment has taken centre stage early Friday. GVC Holdings and Bwin said Bwin has switched its recommendation to GVC's raised takeover offer, leaving 888 Holdings at the altar. Bwin shares are up 1.9% in early trade.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 1.1% at 6,128.69
FTSE 250: down 0.7% at 16,975.96
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 735.22
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Hang Seng: down 0.4% at 20,846.33
Nikkei 225: closed down 2.2% at 17,792.16
DJIA: closed up 0.1% at 16,374.76
S&P 500: closed up 0.1% at 1,951.13
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GBP: down at USD1.5222
EUR: up at USD1.1133

GOLD: down at USD1,124.93 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD49.94 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)

G20 Meeting

08:15 Switzerland Consumer Price Index
13:10 US Fed's Lacker speech
13:30 US Nonfarm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate, Average Earnings
13:30 Canada Unemployment Rate, Labor Productivity
15:00 Canada Ivey Purchasing Managers Index
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EDF has said the first of a new generation of UK reactors will be delayed, the Financial Times reported. According to the FT report, the French state-owned nuclear company's delay means that a planned GBP24.5 billion plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset won't be coming online until after 2023.
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Germany's factory orders declined at the fastest pace in six months in July, data from Destatis revealed. Factory orders dropped 1.4% in July from last year, which was the biggest fall since January when it slid 2.6%. Economists had forecast orders to grow at a slower pace of 0.6%. Orders had increased 1.8% in June and decreased 0.3% in May.
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The EU said its parliamentary agriculture committee has rejected the Commission's draft law that would give member states the power to restrict or prohibit the use of EU-approved GM food or feed on their territory. The committee expressed fears that arbitrary national bans could distort competition on the EU's single market and jeopardize the Union's food production sectors which are heavily dependent on imports of GM feed.
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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed China's efforts to address climate change, both through its actions and policies, and called for Beijing's continued support for building momentum ahead of the Paris Climate Change Conference. Ban's appeal came in separate meetings with the President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, Vice Premier Liu Yandong, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, while attending commemorative events in the Chinese capital marking the 70th anniversary of the Second World War.
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Japan's base wages increased at the fastest pace in almost ten years in July, data published by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare showed. Regular pay grew 0.6% in July from last year, the biggest since November 2005. This was the fifth consecutive rise in base pay. Total average wages climbed 0.3%, which was the first rise in over two years. Wages last increased in April 2013.
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US presidential candidate Donald Trump pledged his loyalty to the Republican Party in a bid to allay fears that he could run for president as a third-party candidate and hurt the chances of electing a Republican president. "It is my great honour to pledge my total support and loyalty to the Republican Party and the conservative principles for which it stands," Trump declared in remarks at Trump Plaza in New York as he held aloft a signed piece of paper. Trump signed the pledge after meeting with Republican Party Chairman Reince Preibus. The other candidates have all pledged to back the eventual nominee. Trump currently leads in polls and Republican Party leaders have feared that the outspoken real estate mogul could stage a third-party bid if he does not secure the party's nomination.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: MERRILL LYNCH CUTS BP TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL')
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GOLDMAN SACHS RAISES HIKMA PHARMACEUTICALS TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 2840 (2210) PENCE
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EXANE BNP RAISES KINGFISHER TO 'OUTPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 420 (390) PENCE
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EXANE BNP CUTS NEXT TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 7400 (7700) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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AstraZeneca said the US Food and Drug Administration has approved its Brilinta tablets at a new 60 miligram dose to be used in patients with a history of heart attacks beyond the first year of treatment. The drugmaker said that with the expanded indication Brilinta is now approved as a treatment for reducing the rate of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction and strokes in patients suffering with acute coronary syndrome of a history of heart attacks.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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GVC Holdings secured a recommendation for its takeover bid for Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, leaving the agreement reached by 888 Holdings to merge with Bwin in tatters. GVC said the Bwin board has agreed to its takeover offer of 25 pence in cash and 0.231 GVC shares per Bwin share, valuing the gaming company Bwin at around GBP1.12 billion, or 129.64 pence per share. Bwin confirmed that it has terminated its agreement with 888.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Aer Lingus Group joined other London-listed airlines in reporting a rise in passenger traffic and in its load factor in August, compared to the same month the year before. The Irish airline, which is in the process of being acquired by International Consolidated Airlines Group, said that its mainline passenger traffic grew 7.3% to 1.14 million passengers in August from 1.16 million a year earlier, as its load factor increased by 2.5 percentage points to 90.3% from 87.8%.
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JZ Capital Partners, which invests in US and European microcap companies and US real estate, revealed plans to raise about USD150 million in a share placing and open offer to fund new investments as it doesn't currently have the capital to fund them. The London-listed fund said that existing ordinary shareholders have committed to subscribe for new shares worth USD135.4 million.
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Software company IS Solutions said its revenue and profit are both set to beat market expectations for the full year amid strong trading in its analytics products and from its Celebrus acquisition. IS Solutions said it is seeing very strong underlying demand for its analytics products and sales are currently "well ahead" of its expectations. As a result of the strong start to the year, the group said its revenue will come in ahead of market expectations, while its profit will "significantly exceed" the current market view.
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Bioventix said its pretax profit in its recently-ended financial year will be "significantly" ahead of market expectations. The biotechnology firm said that the core business remains robust and that it expects to report revenue in the year ended June 30 in excess of GBP4.2 million, up from the GBP3.5 million it made the year before.
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Healthcare software and services company EMIS Group posted higher interim pretax profit for 2015, driven by a robust rise in revenue in the first half thanks to the acquisitions it made in 2014. EMIS said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of June was GBP13.6 million, up from GBP12.6 million a year earlier as its total revenue increased to GBP77.8 million from GBP66.4 million. The rise in profit prompted the group to hike its interim dividend to 10.6 pence per share, up 15% from the 9.2p it paid a year earlier.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Zurich Insurance Group, which is currently eyeing a bid for the UK's RSA Insurance, announced that Kristof Terryn, currently CEO of Global Life, will take over as CEO of General Insurance, effective October 1, 2015. He replaces Mike Kerner. Terryn will continue to run the Global Life business until a replacement is announced.
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Allergan agreed to buy AqueSys, a private clinical-stage glaucoma treatment company, for USD300 million upfront cash payment, with possible milestone payments. AqueSys focuses on developing ocular implants that reduce intraocular pressure associated with glaucoma.
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German chemical giant BASF and Russian gas pipeline systems operator OAO Gazprom have agreed to complete the swap of assets with equivalent value signed in December 2013 and originally intended to be completed by the end of 2014. With the swap, BASF will further expand its production of oil and gas and will exit the gas trading and storage business.
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Amazon Web Services, a part of Amazon, agreed to acquire Elemental Technologies Inc, a provider of software-defined video solutions for multiscreen content delivery. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal brings together Elemental's video solutions with the AWS Cloud platform to provide media and entertainment companies with a range of integrated solutions to efficiently scale video infrastructures as the media industry increasingly moves to internet based delivery.
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Swiss drugmaker Novartis said the European Commission has approved Farydak (panobinostat, previously known as LBH589) capsules, in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone, for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior regimens including bortezomib and an immunomodulatory agent or ImiD.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Latchways
Scholium Group
Torotrak
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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