M and G flirts with its friend in the north

Article Abstract:

M and G could be acquired by Halifax which is interested in expanding in fund management, though M and G has not confirmed this speculation. Halifax could afford M and G, though the acquisition of Mercury Asset Management by Merrill Lynch has pushed up M and G's stock price. No bid announcement is likely to be made before Dec 2 1997 when the government is to announce plans for individual savings accounts, which will replace tax exempt special savings accounts and personal equity plans.

Halifax Building Society, M and G Group

---

Thundering herd scoops up Mercury

Article Abstract:

Merrill Lynch has bid for Mercury Asset Management and would merge Mercury and Merrill Lynch Asset Management. This would create the third largest fund manager world wide. Mercury has strong presence in non-US markets and little in the US, while Merrill is the opposite, so redundancies are not likely to occur. Deregulation of the Japanese financial services market is one opportunity that Merrill sees for the new company. A rival bid is not expected due to the price offered by Merrill.

MER, Mercury Asset Management PLC, Merrill Lynch & Company Inc.

---

Banks take the punishment

Article Abstract:

United Kingdom banks have been hit by the Russian financial crisis and their stock prices have also been hit. Barclays has announced a profit warning. Lending to Russia by foreign banks increased by 100% in 1st qtr 1998. UK banks could have an exposure of 600 million pounds sterling to Russia, judging by BIS data, though this excludes government securities. It is unclear whether other banks have been more exposed than Barclays, but have yet to make this public.

Commercial Banking, United Kingdom, Banking industry, Commercial banks, Economic aspects, Russia

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: AMP adds 3-D parts to its Web catalog. How to target new site promotions
• Abstracts: Desire hunts for oil in the south seas. Shell's restructuring assessed. New Shell favoured
• Abstracts: Revitalizing the branch. The smart card disconnection
• Abstracts: Sites lacking good information design. The eight-fold path to e-commerce
• Abstracts: Wealth creation and bid resistance in UK takeover bids. Modelling takeover likelihood. Agency, bid resistance and the market for corporate control

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.