Member Info for mulledwine

Approach Update The Board of Pinewood announced on 8 April 2011 that it had received an approach for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Pinewood at a price of 190 pence (plus the dividend of 2.5 pence per share in respect of the financial year ended 31 December 2010) from Peel Holdings Limited ("Peel"). Peel is a 29.78% shareholder in Pinewood. Since that date the Board of Pinewood has received a further approach from an unconnected third party which also may or may not lead to an offer being made for the Company.

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· Commenting on the Acquisition, Martin Gilbert, Chairman of Chaucer, said: "We are very pleased to announce that we have agreed terms with The Hanover for an Acquisition of Chaucer. The Board of Directors of Chaucer believes that the Acquisition represents a compelling proposition. The Acquisition Price in cash is attractive for shareholders, a significant proportion of whom are explicitly supporting the transaction. In addition, Chaucer's clients, staff and other stakeholders are expected to benefit from the combination's greater scale, diversity and capital resources." · Commenting on the Acquisition, Bob Stuchbery, Chief Executive of Chaucer, said: "We are very excited about the prospects of joining The Hanover. As part of The Hanover we will remain fully focused on delivering our Foundation Flex Flagship corporate strategy with the aim of further positioning us as the Lloyd's specialist insurer of choice in our areas of expertise. Furthermore, under the ownership of The Hanover, we expect that we will be able to build on The Hanover's market position, and access attractive specialty business through its strong US retail distribution. Overall, this is a great cultural fit that brings together two businesses with the same ambition and complementary strengths, and will create an excellent platform for future profitable growth."

CONT. · In total, therefore, The Hanover has received irrevocable undertakings and a letter of intent to vote in favour of the Scheme at the Court Meeting and the Chaucer General Meeting Resolutions at the Chaucer General Meeting in respect of 129,310,694 Chaucer Shares representing approximately 23.59 per cent. of Chaucer's existing issued share capital. · The Hanover is a holding company for a group of property and casualty insurance companies that offers a wide range of commercial, specialty and personal insurance products and services through an extensive network of independent agents. Headquartered in Worcester, Massachusetts (United States) and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, The Hanover ranks among the top 25 property and casualty insurers in the United States and, as at 19 April 2011, had a market capitalisation of approximately US$2.0 billion. The Hanover had net written premiums in excess of US$3.0 billion in the year ended 31 December 2010. · Chaucer is a specialist insurance group listed on the London Stock Exchange, and underwrites business at Lloyd's, the world's leading insurance and reinsurance market. Chaucer deploys specialist underwriters in all major insurance and reinsurance classes, encompassing global marine, energy, non-marine, aviation, and a UK motor business and nuclear insurance. Headquartered in London, Chaucer has regional operations in Whitstable, England and international operations in Houston, Singapore, Buenos Aires and Copenhagen. · Commenting on the Acquisition, Frederick H. Eppinger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Hanover, said: "Chaucer would represent a significant step forward in The Hanover's journey to build a world-class property and casualty company. The combined organisation would provide both companies with the benefits of greater scale, earnings diversification, and expanded market presence. Chaucer would enable us to further advance our specialty strategy, given its recognised expertise in underwriting energy, marine and aviation risks. We are excited to welcome Chaucer's management and associates to our organisation."

Summary · The boards of The Hanover and Chaucer are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Chaucer by 440 Tessera Limited ("BidCo"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Hanover (the "Acquisition"). · Under the terms of the Acquisition, Chaucer Shareholders will be entitled to receive: - 53.3 pence in cash for each Chaucer Share (the "Acquisition Price"); and - 2.7 pence in cash for each Chaucer Share as a final dividend (the "Final Dividend") in relation to the year ended 31 December 2010, which was announced by Chaucer on 7 March 2011. · In aggregate, the Acquisition Price and Final Dividend value Chaucer's fully diluted share capital at approximately £313 million (or approximately US$510 million), and together represent the following multiples: - 1.09x Chaucer's reported net tangible assets as at 31 December 2010; and - 1.26x Chaucer's pro forma net tangible assets as at 31 December 2010, adjusted for the effects of catastrophe losses announced by Chaucer in 2011. The pro forma multiple of 1.26x does not account for other trading during the period since 31 December 2010. · The Hanover has received irrevocable undertakings from Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited, Aberforth Partners LLP, Artemis Investment Management LLP, BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, Henderson, J O Hambro Capital Management Limited, Moore Capital Management LP and Toscafund Asset Management LLP to vote in favour of the Scheme at the Court Meeting and the Chaucer General Meeting Resolutions at the Chaucer General Meeting in respect of, in aggregate, 116,629,886 Chaucer Shares, representing approximately 21.28 per cent. of the existing issued share capital of Chaucer. · In addition, The Hanover has received a letter of intent from Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited to vote in favour of the Scheme at the Court Meeting and the Chaucer General Meeting Resolutions at the Chaucer General Meeting in respect of 4,996,109 Chaucer Shares, representing approximately 0.91 per cent. of the existing issued share capital of Chaucer. · The Chaucer Directors, who have been so advised by Kinmont and Willis Capital Markets & Advisory, consider the terms of the Acquisition to be fair and reasonable. In providing their advice, Kinmont and Willis Capital Markets & Advisory have taken into account the commercial assessment of the Chaucer Directors. Accordingly, the Chaucer Directors will unanimously recommend to Chaucer Shareholders to vote in favour of the Scheme at the Court Meeting and the Chaucer General Meeting Resolutions at the Chaucer General Meeting as they have irrevocably undertaken to do in respect of their own Chaucer Shares, which in aggregate amount to 7,684,699 Chaucer Shares, representing 1.40 pe

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Dr David Price, Chief Executive of Chemring, commented: "This acquisition substantially enhances our counter-IED business activities with leading-edge US technology for biological, chemical and stand-off explosive detection. It will provide a complementary capability to our existing subsidiaries, NIITEK and Chemring EOD, and help us expand our growing global market."

Acquisition overview Detection Systems, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a US leader in chemical and biological threat detection and has an advanced capability in stand-off detection of Improvised Explosive Devices ("IEDs"). Detection Systems is the incumbent supplier for two major US military vehicle-mounted detection programmes: the Joint Biological Point Detection System ("JBPDS") and the Joint Service Lightweight Standoff Chemical Agent Detector ("JSLSCAD"). In addition, Detection Systems' products include a stand-off IED and explosives detector and the JunoTM hand-held chemical detector. In the twelve months to 31 December 2010, Detection Systems reported an unaudited profit before tax of US$8.3 million (£5.1 million) (2009: US$8.3 million (£5.1 million)) on turnover of US$61.5 million (£37.7 million) (2009: US$69.8 million (£42.8 million)). The order book at 31 March 2011 was US$62.0 million (£38.0 million), US$46.0 million (£28.2 million) of which is expected to be delivered during 2011. The gross assets of Detection Systems at 31 December 2010 were US$23.0 million (£14.1 million).

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"The fiscal third-quarter volumes rose more than 60 percent, and would have been even higher without temporary issues that were out of our control," Schiller said. "In fact, early progress at the acquired properties where we have assumed operatorship is encouraging. Those opportunities, coupled with current exploration and development activities, lead us to be very optimistic regarding the future of Energy XXI."

Unaudited Preliminary Fiscal 2011 Third-Quarter Data Energy XXI expects to announce after the market close on April 27, 2011, its results for the fiscal third quarter ended March 31, 2011, and today provided unaudited preliminary estimates for certain key data. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, depletion and amortization (EBITDA) for the 2011 fiscal third quarter are estimated at $155 million on revenues of $259 million. Production is estimated to have averaged 41,400 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day for the 2011 fiscal third quarter, compared with 25,400 BOE per day for the 2010 fiscal third quarter. "Our expanded, oil-focused asset base is delivering strong cash flows, allowing us to fund the capital program in addition to reducing debt by an estimated $80 million in the recent quarter," Energy XXI Chairman and CEO John Schiller said. "The core production portfolio continues to offer extensive development opportunities while our exploration efforts, including the shallow-water, ultra-deep drilling program, add high-impact growth potential with near-term catalysts." Production volumes for the fiscal third quarter were positively affected by the December acquisition of Gulf of Mexico properties, partially offset by temporary shut-ins caused by a number of factors, including freezing production equipment and pipeline and processing facility outages. In addition, government delays in transferring operatorship of certain of the acquired Gulf of Mexico properties have hampered the company's efforts to maintain production levels at those facilities.

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Neil Berkett, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Media, said: "This has been another solid quarter where we have maintained strong levels of revenue growth and generated substantial free cash flow. As more customers demand better connectivity, we have seen an increase in the take-up of faster broadband speeds and continued to improve the quality of our customer base. Alongside this, there has been strong early interest for our next generation home entertainment service, Virgin Media powered by TiVo, and we anticipate consumer demand for this will grow as we accelerate our roll-out. "The investment we are making in developing our multiscreen capability and our unique fibre optic network, will allow us to transform the connected experience for consumers and businesses and ensure we remain at the forefront of the UK's digital future. Our 1.5Gb broadband trial will achieve the fastest cable speeds in the world and, by pushing the frontiers of technology, it will help us to understand the kinds of services our customers may need in the future and the exciting possibilities of an increasingly converged world."

Capital Return programme continued Repurchased 7.2m shares in Q1; 18.8m shares to-date Plan to retire $550m of debt due 2016 with cash on hand, further reducing debt and interest expense

Good operational performance through quality customer growth Quality of customer base continues to improve - Launch of 30Mb broadband tier has transformed acquisition mix - 39% of new broadband customers taking 20Mb tier or higher, up from 15% in Q1-10 - Broadband revolution gains pace, with world's fastest cable trial of 1.5Gb - Premium TV customers increased 22%; HD penetration increased to 41% - 65,000 pre-registered for next-generation TiVo TV; now available to new customers - Q1 cable ARPU3 up 2.6% to £46.16 Cable customers up 1.2% in last twelve months with 20,200 net additions in Q1 Mobile contract customers up 22.6% to 1.3m - Contract customers in cable homes up 19% to 0.8m Business revenues up 13.7% to £159m - New contract win with London Borough of Lambeth

Sustainable revenue growth and operating leverage driving strong free cash flow Revenue growth in all areas; total up 5.7% to £982m OCF1 up 7.6% to £376m - Operating income up 58.9% to £111m FCF2 more than doubled to £100m - Net cash provided by operating activities up 34.3% to £272m

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Singer Capital Markets issued a "strong buy" recommendation for MAM Funds (MMF) with a 42p target price. The broker notes that 2010 results showed the company was well on the way to recovery, and said the group should be able to use its balance sheet strength to build funds under management (FUM) significantly in the coming years. This, Singer added, should lead to a geared increase in profits. MAM shares slipped 0.5p to 35.5p.

Evolution Securities reiterated its "sell" rating for Antofagasta (ANTO) with a 1,200p target price. Commenting ahead of the miner's production numbers next month, the broker said they should give it a steer as to how the ramp up at Esperanza is progressing and, therefore, whether the group is on track to grow its controlled production in financial year 2011. Nevertheless, believing the firm's target of 715,00 tonnes is already more than factored into the share price, Evolution thinks the stock is expensive. Antofagasta shares rose 13p to 1,317p.

GE&CR reiterated its "buy" recommendation for Plastics Capital* (PLA), the niche plastics products group. The research house notes that, after sales concluded the year strongly, the group expects performance for the full-year ended 31st March 2011 to be in line with market expectations. In light of this, GE&CR continues to value the company on a 2012 EV/EBITDA multiple of 7 times, a discount of about 10% to the sector's average, which implies a target price of 116p. Plastics shares remained untouched at 90p.