London on rebound

Press, 26 September 1988, Page 11

London on rebound

NZPA-Reuter London London equity prices rebounded with Wall Street on Friday (early Saturday N.Z. time) to stand mixed but marginally firmer in moderate afternoon trading, with interest again limited to speculative shares. Dealers said uncertainty over this week’s U.K. August balance of payments figures was keeping trading thin. “The institutions aren’t going to risk their investors’ money in a market which is so clearly vulnerable to a bad trade figure. The FTSE could lose 50 points in a blink,” a dealer warned. There was little corporate news to liven the day, but Lonrho rose 33p to 301. Company director, Mr Paul Spicer, said that Lonrho did not rule out a management buy-out or asset sales if such moves would benefit shareholders. Speculation about a possible takeover bid for

Lonhro has been rife since U.S. arbitrager, Asher B. Edelman, recently disclosed a near 4 per cent stake in the firm. Mr Spicer said, “If shareholders want us to break the company up and release £6 a share, the best team in the world for selling the assets is the Lonrho board. Similarly, we could consider buying the company ourselves.” Until the late afternoon, Lonhro was the most actively traded stock with 35 million shares traded. But Allied Lyons then shot to the top of the actives table after two separate blocks of 9.9 million and 2.3 million shares were traded. Around 43 million shares in Allied changed hands on Friday amid speculation that Bond Corp was raising its 7 per cent stake in the firm or trying to pass it on. The shares rose 37p to 457. Dealers said other rumours suggested U.S. brewer, Anheuser-Busch,

was building a stake as a prelude to a full bid for the U.K. food and drinks group and that Allied was planning a link up with either Perrier or a French champagne house. Cons Gold stood out with a 65p fall to 1280, below Minorco’s offer price of 1306 p, amid growing fears of an investigation into share dealings made ahead of the bid. Dealers said the market also seemed nervous about a possible referral of the bid to the U.K. Monopolies and Mergers Commission, though most said they saw no basis for such a move. Analysts said there had been rumours that GFSA would pass on its 7.5 per cent stake in Cons Gold to Minorco. However, in an interview, Cons Gold chairman, Mr Rudolph Agnew, said, “I have spoken to GFSA and they are holders of the stake.” Cons Gold itself owns a 38 per cent stake in GFSA.