Click here for Nicole Elliott's Market Outlook from this morning, plus the latest on developments in Hong Kong.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) has entered into a £200m share buyback, to be managed by Citigroup. The asset manager said the instruction began yesterday and will end “no later than 16 January 2020”. Sell.
KEY STORIES:
In an apparent admission of shareholder concern at its corporate governance standards, Burford Capital (BUR) has announced an overhaul of its board and senior management. At board level, the litigation funder has begun a search to replace directors David Lowe and Sir Peter Middleton. Those appointments will be joined on the board by chief executive Chris Bogart, while his wife Elizabeth O'Connell is to step down as chief financial officer and become Burford’s chief strategy officer. She will be replaced by Jim Kilman, the group’s investment banker at Morgan Stanley, though short-seller Muddy Waters reckons an “accountant who has demonstrated a strong commitment to ethics” would have been a better-qualified appointment. Burford also intends to list in the US “by the end of the first quarter of 2020”, but – failing that – will seek a premium listing in London. Separately, a third-party behavioural analysis of Burford’s responses to the Muddy Waters reports, commissioned by the hedge fund, apparently found signs of “aggression, evasion and persuasion”.
Ted Baker (TED) has entered a product licence agreement with Next (NXT) to expand is childrenswear product collection. The groups will collaborate on new collections for an initial five year period. They will launch new collections in Spring 2020, when Ted Baker’s existing agreement with Debenhams comes to an end.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Equals Group (EQLS) – formerly FairFx – has announced a placing and open offer to raise up to £16m before expenses. The placing is with new and existing institutional investors to raise £14m before expenses. The open offer is with existing qualifying shareholders to raise up to an additional £2m before expenses. Proceeds will be used to accelerate its corporate offering, enable market consolidation through acquisitions, and provide growth working capital. The group said its trading continues in line with market expectations.
