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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (30959)	3/23/2000 7:04:00 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Respond to of 50167

Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa sold a large chunk of its stake in Vodafone AirTouch (LSE: VOD.L - news) in what dealers said was the world's biggest ever single placing of shares. Dealers at investment banks Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs sold 925 million Vodafone shares to institutional investors at 349 pence each, unsettling Vodafone shares but achieving a significant coup for their dealing capabilities. The value of the deal at around three billion pounds made it the largest ever placing, eclipsing even the Kuwait Investment Office's (KIO) sale of shares in the then British Petroleum back in 1988, worth some two billion pounds. The previous biggest British share placement was in May last year when global banking group HSBC Holdings Plc (LSE: HSBA.L - news) placed $3 billion worth of new HSBC shares to fund its takeover of Edmond Safra's Republic group. Telecom analysts said it would make sense for Hutchison to sell the other two thirds of its 5.1 percent stake in Vodafone, but dealers said the remaining stake was "locked up" until at least September 1. Investment banks involved in Wednesday's placing were celebrating the success of their morning's work. "It just flew out of the window. We did it in 90 minutes," said a Deutsche Bank spokesman, who declined to confirm other details of the deal. Earlier, other market sources said Deutsche and Goldman had placed 925 million shares or 1.5 percent of Vodafone, acquired by the Hong Kong company when Vodafone bought Germany's Mannesmann after the world's biggest ever hostile takeover bid. Hutchison had owned 44 percent of UK mobile phone company Orange, bought by the German group last year. VODAFONE DROP WEIGHS ON MARKET Vodafone stock dropped sharply around mid morning when Deutsche and Goldman began sounding out the market over the placing. The shares closed down 10-1/4 pence or 2.7 percent at 367 3/4 pence but well off their low for the day of 351-1/2p. The decline weighed on the UK market as a whole, as Vodafone's heavy weighting in the FTSE 100 stock took its toll. The early Vodafone fall took as much as 54 points off benchmark UK index at one stage and ended taking 26 points off at the close. Analysts said Hutchison may have had a useful partner in Vodafone, but that it had its own aggressive expansion plans to follow in the U.S. "It looks like Hutchison bought into the Mannesmann story but not into the Vodafone story," said one. "But actually all this means nothing to Vodafone, it's mostly interesting as a large sum of money for Hutchison. That's all." "Hutchison has no influence on the company and the stake has no impact on its p&l, nor does it show up in the accounts," Credit Lyonnais analyst Tressan MacCarthyshe said, noting that the disposal may well please Hutchison shareholders when it reports earnings on Thursday. The results will include a HK$118 billion exceptional gain on the sale of Hutchison's stake in Orange to Mannesmann. No one at Goldman Sachs or Hutchison was immediately available to comment. Reuters story..........

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (30959)	3/23/2000 7:29:00 AM
From: Jerry Olson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Morning Ike.. i completely agree with you..in fact i just said this over on another thread.. i am cautiously optimistic we can and will move higher here thru Apr/May earnings season...this will propel the markets ever higher on anticpation of excellent tech sector revenues and profits.. Ike the semis are moving higher and higher because of hugh demand for their products..my KLIC=KLAC are healthy and cannot keep up with demand...KLIC's conservative CEO said the company will meet the streets raised est this quarter as "business has "NEVER" been better"...and the semi industry looks to him for guidence as he's the backend of the entire industry..if he's busy, everyone has to be goin' nuts...and they are... Message 13263712 keep up the great calls here Ike..i/we need them for future guidence... reagrds to you and the family..OJ