Spanish bank Santander will take over struggling rival Banco Popular, after the European Central Bank said it was failing or likely to fail due to a deterioration in its liquidity. As a result the bank would be unlikely to pay its liabilities and other debts as they fell due, the ECB determined. Santander said it would take over 100 per cent of Banco Popular's shares and debt for a nominal €1 and carry out its own €7bn share raising to cover the capital and reinforce the balance sheet of its smaller peer. However, the takeover will have a neutral impact on its core capital ratio, management said. The deal will create Spain's largest bank by assets and lending.
GSK breakthrough
HIV drug application
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) may be more well-known these days for its consumer healthcare products, but its latest application to drug regulators shows it isn't shying away completely from breakthrough pharmaceutical developments. GSK and ViiV Healthcare - a specialist HIV company majority-owned by GSK with Pfizer and Shionogi as shareholders - has announced regulatory submissions to the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration for a single-tablet treatment of HIV-1 infection. If approved it will be the first two-drug combination for the illness.
Pizza popularity
DP Eurasia to IPO
A second Domino's Pizza (DOM) business is set to list in London. DP Eurasia (DPEU) is the exclusive master franchisee of the Domino's Pizza brand in Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. It operates across 571 stores, with its highest concentration in Turkey. The group intends to apply for admission to the premium segment of the main market. The offer is to institutional investors only, with the intention to raise £20m for general corporate purposes and to support the group's working capital needs from time to time, particularly the planned roll-out of corporate stores in Russia.
Falling Apple
Unveils HomePod
Apple's (US:AAPL) latest product release was met with a fairly underwhelmed response by investors. The technology giant this week unveiled its HomePod smart speaker, although some analysts said it has some way to go to catch with rival products from Google and Amazon. Shares in Apple dipped slightly on the day of the launch at the Worldwide Developers conference in San Jose. It is powered by voice-activated personal assistant Siri, with an emphasis on audio quality. The speaker has seven tweeters and a woofer - designed for high- and low-frequency sounds respectively. At $349, the Apple device is more expensive than smart speakers Amazon Echo ($179) and Google Home ($109), but cheaper than Sonos. The product will go on sale later this year.
Polyus returns
Gold-plated shares?
Russian gold miner Polyus (RU:PLZL) has announced plans to return to the London market. The group is listed on the Moscow stock exchange, with a market capitalisation of 568bn roubles (£7.8bn). Polyus is offering 7 per cent of its share capital, after delisting from London's main market less than two years ago. The company intends to use some of the proceeds to pay down debt, as well as financing operating activities and development projects. Russia's largest gold producer increased its production by almost a fifth between 2014 and 2016 and expects to grow output a further 44 per cent by 2019.
Fred off the hook?
Shareholders need more time
Former-RBS (RBS) boss Fred Goodwin may yet be forced to appear in court, regarding the bank's 2008 rights issue. Around 87 per cent of investors by value have accepted the revised 82p a share payout from the bank, lawyers for the shareholders action group told the High Court on Wednesday. However, the remainder need more time to consider the offer, the court was told. On Monday a "die hard" subset of claimants said they had secured around £7m in funding to continue pursuing the action. However, Jonathan Nash QC, representing the shareholders, said the legal team had seen no evidence of this.
UK growth downgraded
Brexit risk
Some may call it doom-mongering, but the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development has predicted the UK's economic development will slow next year as the prospect of a 'hard Brexit' dampens growth and confidence. The OECD - which has traditionally supported the incumbent government's policies - upgraded its growth forecast for 2017 to 1.6 per cent, from 1.2 per cent in its November economic outlook. However, it held its 2018 forecast at 1 per cent, predicting Italy will be the only G7 economy to perform worse than the UK.
