The FTSE 100 builds on a strong close to last week on Monday. In early trading the index is up 0.6% to 7,747.09 despite negative news over the weekend on trade relations between the US and China.
Packaging group DS Smith (SMDS) agrees to buy Eastern European counterpart Papeles y Cartones de Europa, known as Europac, for €1.67bn (£1.45bn).
DS Smith said it had offered €16.80 per Europac share, which valued the business at €1.90bn on an enterprise value basis and represented an enterprise value to earnings multiple of 8.4 times. The deal will be partly funded by a £1.0bn rights issue and new debt facility of €740m.
The news helps lift DS Smith to the top of the FTSE 100, up 2.9% to 578.6p.
Rolls-Royce (RR.) ticks up 0.3% to 839.4p as it completes the sale of its L'Orange fuel injector business to Colorado-based Woodward. The completion of the transaction, which was announced on 9 April, followed recent clearance from German antitrust authorities.
Net proceeds total €673m, after transaction costs and other adjustments, and included a cash contribution reflecting 2018 trading prior to the date of completion.
CYBG Group (CYBG) makes a revised share-based offer for Virgin Money (VM.) to create the UK's 'first true national banking competitor', the companies announce in a joint statement.
CYBG will acquire all of Virgin Money's shares on the basis of an exchange ratio of 1.2125 new CYBG shares for each Virgin Money share. The bid implies Virgin Money shareholders will own about 38% of the combined group.
CYBG gains 2.2% to 298.2p and Virgin Money is flat at 340p.
Insulation provider SIG (SHI) is up 5.8% to 142.2p as stockbroker Liberum completes an about turn on the stock, moving from 'sell' to 'buy' with a price target of 157p.
Driving technology firm Seeing Machines (SEE:AIM) gains 10.9% to 8.65p as it unveils a deal to deliver its FOVIO driver monitoring chip into mass production vehicles from 2020. The work is expected to be worth A$50m.
Collectibles firm Stanley Gibbons (SGI:AIM) gains 3.6% to 4.19p as it appoints Graham Elliott Shircore as its new chief executive. Shircore, a current non-executive director at the group, joined in March as part of a restructuring.
