London’s FTSE 100 firmed 1.7% to 6,567.70 early on in the first trading session of the new year as the UK began vaccinating the population with the new Oxford University/AstraZeneca jab and a rise in oil prices lent the blue chip benchmark some support.
AstraZeneca (AZN) advanced 1.7% to £74.45 as the drugs giant also completed the sale of commercial rights to its hypertension medications Atacand and Atacand Plus in over 70 countries to Cheplapharm.
Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca has received a payment of $250 million from Cheplapharm and will receive further non-contingent payments equal to $150 million during the first half of 2021.
ENTAIN REJECTS OFFER
Ladbrokes owner Entain (ENT) surged 27.3% to £14.43 after confirming it has received a takeover offer of about £13.83 from MGM Resorts International, its partner in the US market, which Entain has rejected on the grounds it ‘significantly undervalues the company and its prospects’.
Ferguson (FERG) fell 16p to £88.68 after the plumbing company agreed to sell Wolseley UK, its UK-based heating and plumbing distribution business, to private equity outfit Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, for around £308 million.
Business parks operator Sirius Real Estate (SRE) climbed 3% to 96.4p after completing the acquisition of three business parks in Germany for a total of €26 million.
QINETIQ CLIMBS ON CONTRACT WIN
Defence, cyber security, evaluation and testing company QinetiQ (QQ.) rose 2.1% to 326.5p on news it has won a £127 million, five year contract from the UK Ministry of Defence to provide engineering services for the Typhoon combat aircraft.
Music rights investor Hipgnosis Songs Fund (SONG) nudged up 0.4% to 124p on the acquisition of the music catalogue of influential record producer Jimmy Iovine.
Under the terms of the deal, Hipgnosis has acquired 100% of Iovine’s catalogue of worldwide producer royalties comprising 259 songs and his film production royalties for ‘8 Mile’ and ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’.
Greetings cards, stationery and creative play products maker IG Design (IGR:AIM) was marked up 3.9% to 646p as investors welcomed the appointment of experienced consumer sector mover and shaker Greg Hodder as independent non-executive director.
IT services provider IDE (IDE:AIM) leapt 74% to 1.35p after winning a ‘significant’ new contract, worth £22.5 million over three years, with an existing customer within its partnership channel.
