BUSINESS LIVE: Ocado boss faces rebellion; Hipgnosis agrees to acquire Blackstone; Withhold repricing debts

The FTSE 100 continued its recent run in early trading, driven by gains in Anglo American after a report said BHP Group was considering a better buyout proposal, and AstraZeneca after it reported progress in some treatments.

Anglo American added 2.5 percent after a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that BHP Group is considering an improved offer after its $39 billion proposal was rejected by the London-listed copper miner.

AstraZeneca is up 1.1 percent after the pharmaceutical giant made progress on two breast cancer treatments.

The Hipgnosis Songs Fund rose 2.3 percent after Blackstone agreed to acquire the music rights owner for about $1.57 billion, surpassing an offer from Concord.

The midcap FTSE 250 was flat after hitting a more than two-week high earlier in the session.

Petrofac fell 23.4 percent after a group of bondholders offered the struggling British oilfield services company a $300 million credit line, and the company also postponed the publication of its annual results.

Britain must abolish the ‘double taxation’ plaguing popular stock market investments to revive the City of London.

Investment trusts – such as Scottish Mortgage and Polar Capital Technology – are listed companies and are therefore subject to Britain’s ‘pernicious’ stamp duty regime.

This means savers pay a 0.5 percent levy when they buy shares in the trusts.

At the same time, the trusts must pay 0.5 percent when they buy shares in companies in which the fund managers invest.

A group of Petrofac bondholders have offered the struggling British oilfield services company a $300 million credit line to secure performance guarantees on a number of existing contracts.

The credit support – consisting of $200 million in new funds and $100 million in credits – would mean converting a significant portion of the group’s existing debt into equity, Petrofac told shareholders, without naming the bondholders or to say how much debt it should convert. .

The London-listed company also postponed the publication of its annual results until May 31.

Performance guarantees refer to a commitment to honor the terms of the deal. Petrofac is struggling with payment delays and cost overruns in its largest department, engineering and construction.

A slowdown in prepayments on new contracts has also increased Petrofac’s debt burden, with the company considering ways to improve its balance sheet, including selling non-core assets.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor:

‘There are increasing questions about whether the FTSE100 is finally catching on on the world stage.

‘The flagship index continues to reach new highs, with the fact that Britain remains relatively cheap in terms of valuation compared to most developed markets.

‘Rising commodity prices, especially gold, have boosted major sectors in the Premier Index, while the relative weakness of sterling has provided additional impetus. Around 70% of FTSE100 revenues come from abroad, making them more profitable when translated back into sterling.

‘The index has added 5.7% so far this year, with its components also delivering an average dividend yield of 3.6%, while the still undemanding valuation level suggests that further growth is indeed achievable.

‘Meanwhile, HSBC and Standard Chartered will conclude the reporting season for UK banks after a week of busy corporate earnings, with updates also from the likes of Shell, Next and GSK.’

Tesla boss Elon Musk has made a surprise visit to Beijing, because he wants to convince officials about self-driving cars.

During a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang last night, Musk said the electric car maker was willing to work together to “achieve more win-win results.”

It comes as Tesla’s chief looks to launch its self-driving cars in China and convince officials to transfer data collected in the country abroad to train algorithms.

Gambling group Entain has negotiated the revaluation of two of its existing loans as it seeks to reassure markets about its debt mountain.

The group’s shares have struggled in the past year as investors worried about Entain’s high debt load and regulatory concerns.

Entain said it has cut the margin on a $1.74 billion loan maturing in October 2029 by 75 basis points to 275 basis points. Term loan in USD with a term until October 2029. The credit adjustment margin of 10 basis points was also removed

Meanwhile, the margin on a €1 billion euro-denominated loan maturing in June 2028 has been reduced by 50 basis points to 325 basis points.

Entain said: ‘These refinancing actions are net debt neutral, improve the Group’s liquidity by c£295 million and extend the maturity of the Group’s debt (replacing the bank loan due 2026 with term loans due 2028/2029).

“The net impact of the repricing and mark-up does not change the previously estimated cash interest expense for the current fiscal year. However, with economic forecasts pointing to a slower rate cut, we are taking a more conservative view of interest costs for the rest of the year.

‘As a result, our revised cash interest guidance for FY24 now stands at c£265 million. The P&L interest expense, adjusted for interest and commission write-offs6 under IFRS16, is expected to be c£285 million.”

Blackstone has agreed to buy the Hipgnosis Songs Fund for about $1.6 billion after the private equity giant outbid rival suitor Concord in the takeover battle to become the music owner of artists including Shakira and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Blackstone’s formal offer valued the music rights investor at $1.30 per share, higher than Concord’s offer of $1.25 per share last Wednesday.

Hipgnosis’ board plans to support Blackstone’s bid and withdrew its recommendation for Nashville-based music company Concord.

Ocado boss Tim Steiner is today facing a shareholder revolt over his pay.

Investors have been urged by advisory groups Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) to vote against the £15 million pay policy. They say a new scheme could cause ‘excessive rewards’.

ISS said its concerns were “exacerbated by… no dividend and a general decline in the share price.”