London open: Gains continue

Equities have extended Friday's near-1% rally following huge gains on Wall Street and triple-digit advances in the Far East.In company news, Wolseley, the supplier of goods to the plumbing and heating trade, is to shift its tax base to Switzerland and resume paying dividends. Although revenue for the year to 31 July fell 9%, or 10% in constant currency terms, to £13.2bn, this was above the market consensus of £13.1bn, while the fourth quarter saw an encouraging 4% gain in like for like sales.Chairman John Whybrow has also announced he will be replaced by Gareth Davies, currently the board's senior non-executive director and former chief executive of Imperial Tobacco.Unilever is paying $3.7bn (£2.3bn) in cash for America's Alberto Culver, adding the TRESemmé, Nexxus, VO5, St Ives and Simple brands to the household goods conglomerate's portfolio. It should also deliver "significant" synergies and, excluding restructuring costs, will be accretive to earnings per share (EPS) in the first full year, said the owner of Dove, Clear, Sunsilk, Pond's and Vaseline.Meanwhile, consumer products group PZ Cussons is to buy fake tan products specialist St. Tropez Holdings. The Imperial Leather soap owner is paying £62.5m to private equitygroup LDC to get its hands on St. Tropez which has a product range that includes lotions, mousses, sprays and other products serving consumers who wish to achieve a safe, natural looking tan without roasting on a sun bed or on the beach. AstraZeneca's prostate cancer treatment zibotentan showed little patient benefit in the first of three late stage trials, the drugs giant has revealed. Private equity group 3i is to buy debt management business Mizuho Investment Management for an enterprise value of £18.3m.Spice, the provider of management services to utility firms, has finally agreed terms of a takeover by European buy-out specialist Cinven worth £251m, or 70p a share in cash. Specialist health and social care business Healthcare Locums reported a decline in half year pre-tax profit after the new coalition government slashed NHS spending. Astrazeneca Unilever Spire Healthcare Pz Cussons