The bidding war for Hipgnosis Songs Fund (LSE: SONG) intensified on Thursday as Apollo-backed Concord sweetened its cash offer to $1.25 per share, topping a previous $1.24 per share proposal from private equity giant Blackstone. Shares of Hipgnosis, which owns music rights of artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Journey and Neil Young, climbed 1.1% at the open on Concord's revised $1.51 billion bid. Concord's new offer follows its initial $1.16 per share agreement last week to acquire the music rights investment fund, before Blackstone made a higher weekend bid. While Concord has now formalise ..read more

Anglo American (LSE: AAL) has become a takeover target for industry giant BHP Group in what could rank among the largest mining mergers in years, the British company disclosed Thursday. Confirming it received an "unsolicited" buyout proposal from its Australian counterpart, Anglo said it is evaluating the approach with advisers ahead of a May 22 deadline. Details of the offer price were not provided. News of BHP's interest sent shares in the FTSE 100 miner surging over 10% in early trade as investors bet on a rich premium. Anglo American's market capitalisation currently stands at around $36 ..read more

Barclays (LSE: BARC) reported a pretax profit of £2.28 billion for the January-March period, down from £2.60 billion a year earlier. However, the results exceeded market consensus by around 4%, pushing Barclays shares 4.2% higher on Thursday morning. Total income fell to £6.95 billion versus £7.24 billion a year ago. Net interest income slipped 4% to £3.07 billion as the net interest margin contracted to 3.09% from 3.18%. Barclays' investment banking unit saw income drop 7% to £3.33 billion as strong equities was offset by lower fixed income trading. Advisory and transaction banking fees also ..read more

In a bid to survive its funding crisis, Thames Water has proposed a £1.1 billion spending boost and an additional potential £1.9 billion investment in its network over the next five years to 2030. The plans, submitted to regulator Ofwat, could see average customer bills increase by around 44% by 2030. As Britain's biggest water firm serving 16 million customers in London and the Thames Valley region, Thames is battling to stay afloat with £15 billion of debt on its books. Its new £19.8 billion business plan earmarks extra funds for environmental projects after Ofwat imposed regulations that m ..read more

Gold prices retreated in Asian trading on Monday as concerns over a broader military conflict in the Middle East eased, curbing safe-haven demand for the precious metal. Meanwhile, expectations of higher interest rates in the US continued to weigh on the non-yielding asset. Spot gold (XAU/USD) fell to $2,360.16 per ounce by 09:15 GMT, paring a surge above $2,400 seen on Friday amid reports of an Israeli attack on Iran. However, Tehran downplayed the impact, outlining no immediate retaliation plans, which alleviated fears of an escalation. The dollar index steadied near five-month highs, while ..read more

The Turkish rapid grocery delivery firm Getir is making preparations to potentially cease operations in the UK market as early as next week, putting over 1,500 jobs on the chopping block, reports Sky News. Once lauded as the future of urban convenience shopping, Getir's UK arm now finds itself on extremely shaky ground. The Istanbul-based tech company, whose name means "to bring" in Turkish, exploded in value during the pandemic period. At its peak, Getir commanded a startup valuation nearing £9.7 billion. However, after aggressively burning through cash to saturate cities with its ultrafast ..read more

Danske Bank, Denmark's largest lender, is forecasting the US dollar to extend its bullish trajectory against the euro over the next 12 months, despite the potential for short-term corrections in the currency pair. The bank projects the EUR/USD rate to reach 1.03 within a year, underpinned by strong US economic fundamentals and vulnerabilities plaguing the Eurozone. This outlook comes in the wake of surprisingly elevated US inflation readings that have driven the EUR/USD lower, with the pair recently hitting a five-month low just above 1.06. The dollar's resurgence reflects a notable paring ba ..read more

Hipgnosis Songs Fund (LSE: SONG) has disclosed its openness to a cash bid from Blackstone Inc., should one be proposed. The announcement comes hot on the heels of a $1.40 billion bid by Alchemy Copyrights, trading as Concord Chorus Ltd, which Hipgnosis had already accepted. Blackstone's bid values each share of Hipgnosis Songs Fund at $1.24, amounting to a total valuation of $1.50 billion for the company. Hipgnosis, after careful consideration with its financial advisor Singer Capital Markets, has expressed its inclination to recommend Blackstone's offer to its shareholders, should Blackstone ..read more

Investor sentiment was battered this week as simmering tensions in the Middle East erupted into military conflict. Global markets were roiled after reports that Iran had launched an attack on Israel earlier in the week. The situation intensified when Israel was said to have retaliated with a strike on Iranian soil on Friday, though Iran swiftly dismissed these claims. Back in the UK, the economic data showed retail sales volumes climbed 0.8% year-on-year in March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, sales were flat month-on-month, missing forecasts of a 0.3% rise a ..read more

Allegations of an Israeli attack on Iran sparked a rally in safe-haven currencies like the Swiss franc and Japanese yen amid heightened tensions between the two nations. The news caused a ripple effect across global markets, influencing oil prices and instilling caution among investors. Undisclosed sources claim Israel launched strikes against Iran, ostensibly in retaliation for Iran's recent assault on Israel following a suspected Israeli hit on its consulate in Syria. Though Iran tried to downplay the incident, stating no immediate retaliation plans, markets reacted violently. The fallout t ..read more