International Headlines and Stories

Sperian Protection Company, specializing in personal protective equipment, issued a statement Monday announcing the takeover bid (OPA) friendly Menelas France SAS, owned by the investment fund Cinven, is extended until on May 21, 2010. The statement also indicates that Sperian has received other expressions of interest "proposals, serious (…) purchase at valuation levels significantly higher than that of Menelaus France SAS. For analysts of CM-CIC, "everything is possible".

Cinven announced last March 31 a proposed takeover bid at 70 euros per share, valuing the company at 536 million euros. The offer is considered "very generous" by analysts at Natixis, given in particular the good results of Sperian first quarter of 2010 (the organic revenue was up 16%) and developments in the euro dollar-positive group.

The bid has been received Cinven Favoral by the two shareholders of Sperian, Essilor and Dalloz, which together hold 28% stake Sperian easy payday loans. In contrast, the third shareholder, the fund Governance for Owners, which owns 10% stake, had expressed doubts about the offer price, equity and the "treatment of minority shareholders."

The names of two U.S. companies are cited

According to SocGen, a cons-offer could be made by U.S. companies like Honeywell and Kimberly-Clark have "a significant advantage in view of the euro / dollar." Societe Generale expects an offering price of between 80 and 101 euros.

The bank now recommends to "buy" the title Sperian, she previously advised to "keep".Societe Generale is one of over 90 euros on Sperian.

Meanwhile, the title Sperian continued to climb, showing the largest increase in the Paris Stock Exchange on Tuesday to 10.60%. Around 11:30 am, the share rose to 87.04 euros, a price above the offer of Cinven, a market up 1%.

Bad news for the U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing. The rival Airbus has struggled to meet with some of these sub-contractors, according to online edition of the Wall Street Jounal. These problems would delay delivery of that piece of the fuselage of its future long-haul B787 Dreamliner to their place of assembly in Seattle.

These delays fall to worse for the manufacturer seeking to accelerate production of its new aircraft to make up for two years behind its original schedule. The inaugural flight – postponed six times – took place last December 22.

Customers get impatient

Launched in 2004, the program has suffered numerous delays attributed to the complexity of the business. Boeing, the first American exporter, technology showcase and trade United States, wanted to reinvent the way to build a civilian aircraft.He selected composite materials to make the unit lighter. With also new engines, the B787 is expected to be nearly 20% more fuel efficient than the previous generation aircraft.

And during that time, customers get impatient. The Japanese airline ANA must be the first to receive a copy, is normally made by the end of this year. At the inaugural flight last December, many observers felt already this calendar too Ambitious for an aircraft as innovative.

A new kind of club opened Thursday in Clermont-Ferrand. Bridge? Tennis? No, DIY! Members buy a card that gives them access to 20 000 references sold on average 30% cheaper than in traditional supermarkets specialized. This offer is based on the concept of DIY Factory, a store 4500 m? (1500 m? outdoor) that tests the independent channel Bricorama (117 outlets in France).

The price of the card, 19 to 149 euros, depends on the period chosen by the customer (7, 30, 90 or 365 days). For example, a project started in spring and completed in early summer, a handyman can do some shopping Sunday for 90 days with the card paid 49 euros.Among the proposed rates: a jar of 500 ml of lacquer painting sold Dulux Valentine 9.55 EUR 19.10 EUR against average in a large area of traditional crafts (-42%), or a sink with Hansgrohe shower proposed 144 70 euros, against 209 euros elsewhere (-31%). Lower prices can reach up to 60%.

The new store, which replaces a Bricorama deficit lies in a catchment area hotly contested, close to a Leroy Merlin, a champion of "hyperchoice (50,000 references), himself leaning against a giant casino, and another discounter, Brico Depot, the brand's low-cost Castorama, both subsidiaries of the UK group Kingfisher.

Impasse on first prize

DIY Factory offers fewer products than the first radius is not proposing building materials as the second pay day loan lenders.It is also missing several major brands like Black & Decker or Bosch, all present at Leroy Merlin, preferring challenger brands recognized pros. Finally there is no first prizes at the heart of its bid, as at Brico Depot. Finally, the third linear are less than those of a trimmed Bricorama.

"It's true discount, but not the trash: we sell at low prices without making concessions on products or service levels," said Erik Haegeman Bricorama CEO, who is without some mention that discounters it considered it less fussy about quality.

"The signs attract customers with low prices to the minimum quality – on which margins are nonexistent – and hope to catch up on accessories for power tools or decoration," explains Erik Haegeman.Rather than finding an equation of higher margin sales and margins near zero, Brico Factory applies the same level of reasonable profit on its entire supply. It would be about 10%.

This "discount quality" Will it attractive enough for consumers to buy a card? Bricorama, which did not sign up now at low prices, at least fills a void. If the test proves successful DIY Plant, the least profitable Bricorama could pass under the new brand.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was Friday questioned the investment bank Goldman Sachs in a fraud case, is interested in other institutions that might have misled their investors about the nature of certain loans, according The Wall Street Journal. Several banks have had the same path as Goldman Sachs, creating financial products that allow for strategic customers such as hedge funds bet on the collapse of property prices at the same time where others were betting on further increases.The Deutsche Bank, UBS, Merrill Lynch or today came under the leadership of Bank of America, and could also interest Constable of U.S. financial markets, according to information from the Wall Street Journal.

For its part, the New York Times estimated that the case Goldman Sachs also shows the great return of the SEC at the front of the stage, while the institution had remained in the shadows in recent years.

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A "golden boy" among many other French

The CAC 40 is expected to start Thursday's session in the red, in the wake of U.S. markets yesterday and Asian stock markets this morning. On Wednesday, the CAC 40 closed 0.67% in decline and ended at 4026 points.

Around 8:15 am, the CAC 40 index futures to predict an opening in April 2010 were down 0.38% to 4014 points.

The Greek situtation continues to worry, with its market "disconnected from reality", according to analysts. Wednesday noon, the Greek rate climbed to 7.176%.

The euro declines further against the dollar Thursday in favor of safer currencies considered as the yen. Around 8 am, the euro stood at 1.3332 dollars against 1.3339 dollars on Wednesday in 23 hours.

The ECB decision this afternoon

In France, the day will begin with the publication by the customs authorities of foreign trade value in February (at 8:45).The Department of Budget, at the same time, unveil the monthly statement of the State budget through February. Regarding the euro area, 11 hours, investors will pay particular attention to the retail trade, still for the month of February.

But the decision of the ECB (European Central Bank) on interest rates from the European Union will be scrutinized even more closely. If the status quo is widely expected, any change of tone in the speech of Jean-Claude Trichet could be perceived as a sign of a future monetary tightening.

In the U.S., the most watched weekly claims for unemployment benefits, at 14:30, will be published.Wednesday evening, Ben Bernanke, the Fed chief, said the United States are not "derived from business" and that the country will have to make sacrifices "inevitable" to resume a stronger growth.

Lagard?re pressure

On the alliance Renault-Nissan and Daimler, Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler, has welcomed the agreement. With their partnership, both groups rely on synergies and economies of scale to 2 billion euros each. They also intend to expand their cooperation. "It's not good at the right time, and for good reasons," he said Wednesday at a news conference.

Furthermore, tensions are growing between Lagard?re and Wyser-Pratte. The activist investor has scored two resolutions to the General Meeting of April 27.Note that since March 25, when the Franco-American investor said it held 0.53% of the media group, Lagardere's share rose almost 10%.

According to Les Echos, Airbus, EADS subsidiary, has 60 orders since the beginning of the year. Airbus has delivered 122 planes during the period for airlines including three A380s.

Maurel and Prom of 2009 results published in the red but was confident for 2010. The oil company proposed a dividend of EUR 0.10 (cons 0.35 for 2008).

The government has decided to register on May 4 next to the Senate, on its quota, the review of the proposed group law to prohibit New center offers reclassification, in cases of social plans in foreign countries to Wages humiliating. That was nine times that this text, voted unanimously in the National Assembly 30 June 2009, waiting to be examined by the Upper House. On Thursday morning, when Le Figaro in its April 1 edition published an article on the subject, it should not be before October, the quota of the Centrist Union. Its author, Philippe Folliot, MP Tarn, had asked two days ago to Eric Woerth, the new Minister of Labour, register quickly to the quota of government.He won the case today fast cash loans.

This bill seeks to require businesses, where social, making offers of redeployment "accompanied by a fee equivalent". History avoided, as is often the case, the multiplication of "grotesque situations" in the words of Philippe Folliot. The debate was revived earlier this week after the Continental offered to 600 employees from its site Clairoix 60 operator positions in its production subsidiary of Bizerte, Tunisia, for a gross monthly salary of 137 euros per month . A month ago, it was Philips who had offered its 212 employees Dreux reclassify them in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, for 450 euros per month.

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The boom in fuel prices had widened the trade deficit in French in 2008. In 2009, the fall in oil prices has allowed France to limit the damage. The French trade deficit, is to tell the difference between exports and imports stood at 43 billion euros in 2009 against 55.4 billion in 2008, according to official figures published this friday.

The year 2009 was marked by a sharp fall in world trade has declined by 13% by volume. In this context, French exports fell by 17% and imports by 18% in value, is the Secretary of State for Foreign Trade. "However, from the second quarter, with the gradual recovery of international trade, the French foreign trade contributed positively to the French growth, it is said in the statement creditreport