Mergers and Acquisitions Research

Factiva – BAE Systems and FT (click to expand)

The possible merger of BAE Systems and EADS is much reported in the financial press at the moment.

Using the Factiva business news database we can see that there have been almost 100 articles about BAE Systems in the Financial Times alone in the last 3 months (almost all about the proposed merger).

However, there is not yet anything definite. On 12 Sept 2010 BAE Systems issued an official statement.  ”Further to the recent movement in BAE Systems’ share price, BAE Systems plc (BAE Systems) and EADS N.V. (EADS) confirm that they are in discussions regarding a possible combination of their businesses. …” (RNS Number 1353M from PI Navigator). There is no specific merger proposal, so there is very little detail that can be recorded in a Merger and Acquisition database.

Thomson Research – Analysts’ reports for BAE Systems (click to expand)

Although the merger is only possible. It is likely to be included in reports be Analysts who follow either of these companies. (Some analysts may delay producing a report until there is a specific merger proposal.)

For more details on Thomson Research see the earlier post Analysts’ Reports on Thomson Research. (Remember Thomson Research only works with IE (internet Explorer)

See also (earlier posts)

• Mergers and acquisitions databases (Nov 2011)
• Researching mergers and acquisitions (Jan 2011)
• Deals info from Thomson One Banker (Mar 2011)

Mergers and acquisition research can involve much more that the financial details of the deals, and remember not all deals are successfully completed.

Update 10 October 2012: EADS and BAE call off merger

• “BAE Systems and EADS announce that they have decided to terminate their discussions” (RNS Number 13955O from PI Navigator).
• EADS, BAE call off world’s biggest arms merger (Thomson Reuters)
• EADS-BAE Pull Plug on Merger Amid Government Opposition (Bloomberg)

Manchester United IPO on NYSE

The recent (Aug 10 2012) Manchester United IPO (Initial Public Offering) illustrates the distinction between a company, as a legal entity, and its listing(s) on one or more stock exchanges.

• Companies do not always list on their “home” market – Manchester United have chosen to list in New York (NYSE)
• Companies occasionally have distinct classes of shares – for Manchester United there are Class A and Class B shares, both listed on NYSE on Aug 10 2012.
• Companies can have a listing history – Manchester United was a PLC listed on the London Stock Exchange from Jun 7 1991 to 2005, then a private company, and now an NYSE-listed one.

The history of Manchester United shares is illustrated by searching on Datastream.

Datastream Navigator – Manchester United (click to expand)

The first listing for Manchester United (952540) was on Jun 7 1991. This was followed by secondary listings (Primary Quote = No) on exchanges Frankfurt in 1997 and XETRA in 2000.  These three de-listed on June 22 2005 when the company went private. After a period as a private company there were two listings on the NYSE on Aug 10 2010: Manchester United CL.A (87312Q) (Major Security = Yes) and Manchester United CL.B (87407C) (Major Security = No).

Need More Information

Bloomberg Professional is excellent giving access to lots of information on the company and its IPO. A predictive search for “manchester united” gives easy access to the current NYSE listing and previous LSE listing. Bloomberg also provide lots of business news on the IPO.

Datastream does not give access to information on the IPO. You can get the IPO prospectus, and any other filings documents, from PI Navigator, and financial information on the IPO from Thomson One Banker.

For balance – Manchester City Football Club is a private company, a subsidiary of Manchester City Limited, wholly owned by HH SHEIKH MANSOUR BIN ZAYED AL NAHYAN. [From FAME database for all UK companies, public and private]

Regulatory News Announcement from Carnival

At 07.00 AM on Mon 16th Jan 2012 Carnival Corporation and plc issued a “Required Announcement on Financial Impact of Costa Cordia“.

“At this time, our priority is the safety of our passengers and crew,” said
Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation & plc chairman and CEO. “We are deeply
saddened by this tragic event and our hearts go out to everyone affected by the
grounding of the Costa Concordia and especially to the families and loved ones
of those who lost their lives. They will remain in our thoughts and prayers,”
…

The announcement then provided information in accordance with financial disclosure regulations. The full text of the announcement is available on Bloomberg and several other business databases.

“]

Carnival PLC - Price Graph to 16 Jan 2012 [click to expand

Bloomberg
If on Monday 16th you want to see how the market reacts to the Costa Concordia tragedy, then Bloomberg is the best database. It provides an integrated view covering the news and the Carnival share price (price down and an increase in trading volumes), and the news is the most read story of the day.

Factiva
If you don’t have access to Bloomberg the announcement is also available on the business news database Factiva. Select Companies/Markets, lookup company Carnival Plc, and the select Press Releases from the news options. (You can also do a Factiva text search, but you either have to read through many results of spend some time constructing an effective search. Company = Carnival Plc AND Source = Publication: Wires AND Free Text = “announcement” worked for me.)

Thomson One Banker
Thomson One Banker has lots of financial market information but almost all numbers (at least in our subscription). However you can get the regulatory announcement so long as you know to lookup Carnival and  goto Recent News at the foot of the Thomson Overview Report- see screencast http://screencast.com/t/STFffmOd

PI Navigator
PI Navigator is the easiest database for going straight to the regulatory annoncement. You just lookup Carnival Plc and search. However, because PI Navigator only covers the regulatory news and regulatory filings of companies, you have to use another database for additional news or financial market information.

Previous post on business news: How Business News can enhance your Research

Company Financial Analysis (Global Companies)

The library has a number of useful resources for the financial analysis of public companies (companies quoted on a stock exchange).

Company Accounts

Thomson Reuters’ Worldscope database provides historical accounting data – balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. It is available through Thomson One Banker and Datastream. Bloomberg also has accounting data – command FA (Financial Analysis).

Thomson One Banker, Datastream and Bloomberg can also provide data on a company’s financial market performance – e.g. historical shares prices and returns, and corresponding data for market indices.

Company Filings (including Annual Reports)

Company Filings are available on PI Navigator,  Thomson Research, and Bloomberg. (Recent company reports are usually available direct from the company website.)

Analysts Reports

Analyst/Broker reports are available from Thomson Research and Bloomberg (command BRC).

Company News

Factiva from Dow Jones is a extensive online news database covering a wide range of sources. (See How Business News can enhance you research for more details.) Bloomberg also provides a wide range of company, financial market and economic news.

Related FAQ questions:

• Where can I find company financials, e.g., balance sheets etc.?
• Where can I find current and historical company annual reports?
• How do I find analyst reports (investment bank reports)?
• Where do I find current news about a company?
• How do I compare a company to its industry?

For further tips: use tags below to find other posts on these databases, and look at  the How to research … guides,

IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) – prospectuses

Thomson One Banker (Deals module) is a good way of getting a list of IPO deals but it often does not give access to the IPO prospectus. For an individual company this can be obtained from Thomson One Banker (Company Analysis) or Thomson Research – under Filings since the IPO prospectus is one of the documements that companies have to file with the regulators.

PI Navigator provides a search interface that can be used to search for all deals on an exchange within a chosen time period.

PI Navigator - IPO prospectus search - click to enlarge

Related FAQ answers:

• Where can I find IPO prospectuses?
• Where can I find information on IPOs?

Note the companies do not always choose to float on their local exchange. If in Thomson One Banker Deals you search for IPOs of UK companies then the results will include IPOs on the Nasdaq and other exchanges as well as London (Main market and AIM).

PI Navigator for Glencore IPO prospectus

Yesterday, we had a presentation on PI Navigator (aka Perfect Information) – a database providing access to company filings (annual reports, IPO prospectuses, director share dealings …) with worldwide coverage.

The Perfect Information (PI) team were very proud at being the first database to make the Glencore IPO prospectus available. (The prospectus is over 1600 pages, so they had to split it into two parts. See image below)

PI Navigator - recent Glencore filings - Click to enlarge

The Glencore IPO has been much in the news recently. The size means that the company will become one of the largest UK listed companies, and therefore a member of the FTSE 100 at its next revision. (As one of the largest companies worldwide information on Glencore is also available through the Orbis database.)

For more information on PI Navigator, see previous blog post:

• Text searching non US company annual reports

Manchester Business Answers 24/7 FAQs (not yet) updated to mention PI Navigator (Perfect Information):

• Where can I find information on IPOs?
• Where can I find current and historical company annual reports?