Strong gains on FTSE
The London market made strong gains today as investors cheered a bidding war for the UK’s largest port operator AB Ports.
Following a bright session in New York, a strong performance from the miners helped drive the FTSE 100 Index 80.4 points ahead to 5586.8 by mid morning.
Meanwhile, bid speculation around insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson and a battle for AB Ports meant the FTSE 250 Index powered almost 300 points ahead to 9079.2.
US investment bank Goldman Sachs upped its takeover offer for AB Ports to £2.58bn (€3.8bn), an increase of almost £100m (€146m), earlier today after it learned late last night a consortium including Australian bank Macquarie was also considering an approach.
The Macquarie-led team countered by revealing it was considering a proposal of at least 840p a share.
Shares in AB Ports were still well above the Goldman offer price after a gain of 42p to 868.5p.
Stock in insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson soared 13% – a gain of 45p to 466p – following a report that a merger may take place with the Benfield Group or Heath Lambert.
In the top flight, miners put back some of their losses after Anglo American gained 11p to 1968p, BHP Billiton rose 47p to 963p and Kazakhmys added 50p to 989.5p.
Energy companies were also on the front foot with shares in Royal Dutch Shell up 30p to 1765p, while BP moved 8p to 594p and BG lifted 16.5p to 651.5p.
BAE Systems recovered from yesterday’s difficult session, when shares were rocked by fears over the value of its 20% stake in Airbus. The stock was up 10.75p at 355.75p, a gain of 3%.
But supermarkets Tesco and Sainsbury’s were a penny and half a penny down to 326.5p and 318.5p respectively as the Competition Commission issued details of its inquiry into the £95bn (€139bn) grocery sector.
