Scandinavian companies eye Royal Mail
According to reports, merging postal companies Post Denmark and Posten AB could be interested in acquiring 30% of Royal Mail.
Read MoreTag: Goldman Sachs
FedEx Chief confident on US exports
Fred Smith, founder and Chief Executive of package-delivery pioneer FedEx, said growing demand from developing countries for high-technology and other valuable goods would assure continued growth in US exports even if the dollar’s slide reversed.
Economists from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have predicted that the narrowing trade deficit could add one-half of a percentage point to the US’s gross domestic product in the first quarter.
While the dollar’s decline has helped make US goods more attractive to overseas businesses and consumers, it will not be the primary driver of a sustained growth in exports for high-value products, Mr Smith said.
The burgeoning wealth of emerging economies has spurred demand for many high-end goods made in the US, from network routers to artificial knees and hips.
The advent of electronic commerce has eliminated language barriers and other traditional impediments to international trade, he said.
FedEx warned investors this month that the run-up in fuel costs would leave the company short over its quarterly profit forecast.
While FedEx can pass price increases to customers by increasing its fuel surcharges, the higher fees do not kick in immediately. “We can’t pass it along fast enough to recover it,” said Mr Smith.
Read MoreKorea Express sale attracts 10 bidders: court
Korea Express has attracted 10 bidders, an official at a South Korean court said on last Tuesday 11th December, in a sale that analysts say could fetch up to USD 2.2 billion.
The deal would be the biggest acquisition in the country’s transportation sector and also provide hefty fees for investment banks advising a list of major South Korean companies interested in bidding.
The official said the creditors of the logistics firm will allow the preliminary bidders to conduct due diligence from December 17 to January 4 before submitting a formal bid on January 11.
Korea Express declined to comment.
Local news provider MoneyToday said the bidders include transport groups such as Kumho Asiana, Hanjin Group HANJ.UL, the parent of Korean Air, Hyundai Heavy Industries and STX Corp, as well as retail giant CJ Corp.
Korea Express, in which Goldman Sachs is the biggest shareholder, plans to sell a 50 percent stake plus one share to a buyer by issuing new shares.
Korea Express picked in October a consortium consisting of Merrill Lynch and Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers to manage the sale.
The logistics firm has been placed under court receivership since 2000 due to its debt guarantees for bankrupt former affiliate Dong Ah Construction.
Shares in Korea Express rose 2.0 percent to 102,000 won, compared with a 0.98 percent rise in the broader market .
Read MoreChina Postal eyed for next big bank IPO
Investment bankers hunting for the newest big game in China’s financial services market are circling the reborn China Postal Savings Bank, the mainland’s fifth-largest lender by deposits.
China Postal was relaunched as a retail-focused bank in March with 1.6 trillion yuan (USD 208 billion) in deposits. Its predecessor, the postal savings bureau, could not lend and most of those deposits wound up with the central bank.
Armed with a new mandate and a plan to restructure its 36,000-branch network, China Postal has been talking to investment bankers about a 2008 IPO in the range of USD 2-USD 3 billion, sources have said.
Some bankers call that kind of talk premature, saying China Postal is more likely to hire advisers on a further restructuring as a precursor to an IPO, perhaps also bringing on strategic investors.
Bankers agreed that any deal would not happen until 2008, at the earliest.
But the draw of the public market is compelling: CITIC Bank Corp., China’s No.7 lender, raised USD 6 billion in a simultaneous Hong Kong-Shanghai offering last month.
Its domestic A shares are up 75 percent from the 5.80 yuan offer price, while its Hong Kong H shares are up 8 percent.
The disparity in performance prompted one foreign investor to call one of the underwriters and jokingly request that his allocation be made in A shares rather than H shares.
China Postal would also be keen on a simultaneous listing, one source said. Such listings are becoming more popular now that two have been achieved, and Beijing is keen to develop the mainland capital markets.
“When it does happen, it’s going to be huge,” said one banker who has spoken with China Postal management about a deal. “But this is going to be a long gestation period.”
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