Shares of special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), for months the darling of Wall Street as they attracted unprecedented investor interest, slid again this week amid concerns that their valuations have become inflated.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
OSLO/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden’s Nordax Bank offered on Thursday to buy Oslo-listed Norwegian Finans Holding, the owner of Bank Norwegian, in a cash transaction valued at 17.8 billion Norwegian crowns ($2.10 billion).
Norwegian Finans (NFH) shares surged 21% to trade at 99 crowns by 1057 GMT, above Nordax’s bid of 95, suggesting investors expect more bids could emerge.
“Nordax strongly believes that Bank Norwegian will have excellent opportunities to further expand its business together with Nordax,” the Swedish firm said.
Nordax said it had previously made undisclosed proposals to the board of NFH, although Thursday’s offer was higher and contained fewer conditions.
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DUBLIN, March 4 (Reuters) - Ireland’s CRH, the world’s second-biggest building materials supplier, is resuming share buybacks and on the prowl for bigger acquisitions, buoyed by a 5% rise in full year earnings and record cash generation.
CRH launched its first buyback programme in a decade in 2018 and had bought 1.8 billion euros ($2.2 billion) worth of stock before pausing it when the COVID-19 pandemic struck last year.
Senan Murphy, CRH’s chief financial officer, told Reuters on Thursday that the world’s largest buyer of cement would look at further buybacks each quarter, but that would also depend on how much cash it decides to spend on acquisitions.
London's FTSE 100 fell on Thursday, snapping three days of gains as most sectors dropped on concerns over higher Treasury yields and inflation, while major miners traded ex-dividend.
Apparel retailer Gap Inc on Thursday forecast a return to sales growth this year, as it expects sales at its Athleta brand to double in the next two years and the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines to drive traffic at its stores.