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☆ Wood Group has grounds to face down Apollo
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - John Wood Group (WG.L) has a seriously pushy bidder. While the latest 230 pence a share one represents a 50% premium to Wood Group’s closing price on Wednesday, the target has reasonable grounds to say no. Wood Group’s latest offer implies only around seven times on the same metric. Admittedly Wood Group shares are hovering around 200 pence, far below Apollo’s offer. Still, if he’s right and Wood Group trades on the same multiple at its peers, it would be worth nearly 3.8 billion pounds.

☆ Miners’ bets on the future of coal are diverging
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Investors have a common understanding that coal is the dirtiest energy source. UK-listed Anglo American’s (AAL.L) earnings on Thursday showed EBITDA in the $50 billion group’s metallurgical coal division tripled to over $2.7 billion in 2022. With “met coal” constituting a fifth of Anglo’s overall EBITDA, investors may wonder whether boss Duncan Wanblad will follow Teck’s step. That’s probably because even though met coal generates three times more carbon than thermal coal, used to generate electricity, it’s still expensive to produce steel at scale in a sustainable way without using a coal-guzzling blast furnace. Anglo’s experiences hiving off its own thermal coal business, meanwhile, may not encourage Wanblad to repeat the trick.

Healthcare group Fresenius (FREG.DE) said late on Tuesday it would give up strategic control over FMC via a planned change of the division's legal form, also releasing annual results and an outlook that failed to impress investors. Fresenius CEO Michael Sen, a former E.ON (EONGn.DE) and Siemens (SIEGn.DE) executive who took over the helm in October, wants to simplify the company's structure but said he will hang onto the 32% stake Fresenius owns in FMC. This makes a sale more likely in the future, said Florian Oberhofer, portfolio manager at Union Investment, which holds 0.26% of Fresenius shares. Sen said Fresenius was banking on a business improvement at FMC and Vamed and on participating financially in this through its holdings in both. FMC and Fresenius shares lagReporting by Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss; Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz; Writing by Rachel More; Editing by Josephine Mason, Elaine Hardcastle and Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fresenius takes tentative step on road to breakup
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

On Tuesday evening the $17 billion German medical technology company said it will relinquish control of its listed dialysis firm, Fresenius Medical Care (FMEG.DE), in order to focus on its core businesses. Fresenius currently controls the dialysis business and can appoint its board despite only owning a 32% stake, thanks to its arcane German legal structure. The news sent Fresenius Medical Care stock up around 12% on Wednesday. His core intravenous drugs and hospital operating divisions should be worth 20 billion euros each, according to the UK bank. That implies a total value for the group including debt of 48 billion euros, far above its current 40 billion euro enterprise value.

☆ Amazon delivers a regulatory breather to Big Tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it won’t challenge Amazon.com’s (AMZN.O) $3.9 billion acquisition of physician network One Medical. As the deal moves forward, deal-hungry technology giants can take a small breather. One Medical’s revenue accounted for just 0.2% of all U.S. healthcare spending in 2021, according to Amazon. And while the FTC’s concerns about Big Tech seemed limitless, its resources aren’t. Letting the One Medical deal move forward frees up staff to focus on ones that pose a clearer threat to consumers.

☆ Germany's Fresenius to simplify structure, flags potential profit fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Ludwig Burger | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Samples of products of Fresenius and Fresenius Medical Care are on display during the company's annual news conference at their head quarters in Bad Homburg Germany, February 20, 2019. "The new structure will greatly benefit both companies: Fresenius Medical Care needs an operational turnaround, to improve its performance and focus on its core business." "Fresenius needs to simplify its complex corporate structures and commit to its Operating Companies and to maximizing value from its investments," Sen said. FMC is expected to hold an extraordinary general meeting in July to let shareholders vote on the proposed change of the legal form, Fresenius said. Frankfurt-listed shares of Fresenius and FMC were up 1% and 2.2%, respectively.

Lawrence Elbaum, co-head of law firm Vinson & Elkins' shareholder activism practice, said investors were looking for value-boosting strategies that do not require much funding in a difficult market. Deka Investment, which has around 367 billion euros ($392 billion) in assets under management and holds stakes in most major German corporations, has repeatedly called out German companies for structural weaknesses. Germany's blue-chip DAX 30 index (.GDAXI) put in the worst performance of any major European stock market in the past year, rising just 2%. Joe Kaeser, supervisory board chairman of Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE), said the United States was much more advanced, and also more successful, in the field of shareholder activism. As CEO of conglomerate Siemens AG from 2013 until 2021, he engineered one of Germany's most successful corporate break-ups, separately listing Siemens Energy and Siemens Healthineers (SHLG.DE) and merging Siemens's wind unit with Spain's Gamesa.

☆ Fresenius in talks about deconsolidation of FMC - WirtschaftsWoche
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The chief executive of German health care group Fresenius (FREG.DE) is preparing a deconsolidation of Fresenius and its struggling subsidiary Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) (FMEG.DE), business magazine WirtschaftsWoche reported on Thursday, citing sources close to the supervisory board. Chief Executive Michael Sen's goal is for Fresenius to relinquish control over FMC and no longer have to fully consolidate the dialysis company, WirtschaftsWoche added. Shares in Fresenius rose 5% to a five-month high soon after the report was published while FMC shares slipped 2% initially. Sen is negotiating the plan with the major shareholder Else-Kroener-Fresenius-Stiftung, which controls Fresenius, WirtschaftsWoche reported. U.S.-focused kidney dialysis specialist FMC's chief executive stepped down in December, marking the second leadership change in as many months.

☆ Germany's Fresenius may give up control of FMC dialysis business
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Ludwig Burger | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Feb 9 (Reuters) - German healthcare group Fresenius SE (FREG.DE) said on Thursday it was potentially ready to cede control over Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) (FMEG.DE), after a fall in earnings at the world's largest dialysis company. Shares in FMC were down 3.4% at 1538 GMT, while Fresenius stock surged 4.3% after it said it was considering de-consolidating the subsidiary, meaning its sales would no longer be fully integrated into its financial reports. FMC, which has been hit hard by U.S. staff shortages and cost inflation this year, slashed its annual outlook twice last year, also pulling down Fresenius' forecasts. The Else Kroener-Fresenius-Stiftung, a charitable trust that controls Fresenius SE, "has taken note with approval of" the plans to deconsolidate FMC and to change its legal form. FMC Chief Executive Carla Kriwet, who was hired by Sen's predecessor, stepped down in December after just two months in the job, citing "strategic differences".

☆ Proposition 29: California could soon pass controversial new dialysis requirements
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Proposition 29 would require medical providers to be on-site while a patient is undergoing dialysis. Proposition 29 would mandate that physicians report dialysis-related infections and specify whether or not the physician has a financial stake in the clinic. They also argue that for-profit dialysis clinics are opposed to these rules because it would cut into their billion-dollar profits. No Prop 29, which is against the amendment, includes Fresenius and DaVita, two of the largest dialysis providers in the state. The state's Legislative Analyst's Office estimates that Proposition 29 will increase costs for dialysis clinics.

☆ European shares dip as commodity stocks weigh ahead of inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) had slipped 0.1% by 0925 GMT after closing higher on Friday, with miners (.SXPP) down 0.1% while energy stocks (.SXEP) fell 0.2%. Meanwhile, euro zone inflation is seen hitting a record 10.2% in October, in what will likely make for yet another uncomfortable reading for the European Central Bank (ECB), which is targeting a 2% price growth. Among individual stocks, Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) rose 2.5% as it unveiled details of its plan to raise 4 billion francs ($4.01 billion) from investors. Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) (FMEG.DE) jumped 4.4% after the German dialysis provider on Sunday reported third-quarter earnings above market expectations. Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fresenius Medical cuts outlook on slower recovery, rising costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Kidney dialysis provider Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) on Sunday revised down its forecast for 2022, expecting net income to decline this year, dragged down by rising labour costs and a slower than expected recovery in North America business. The company now expects net income to decline in the high-teens to mid-20s percentage range this year, down from its previous outlook of a high-teens percentage drop. It still expects revenue to grow at a low single digit percentage rate. FMC said net income dropped 16% in third quarter to 230 million euros ($229.15 million) while operating income fell by 7% to 472 million euros in the quarter. ($1 = 1.0037 euros)Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fresenius CEO signals realignment, confirms call with Elliott - FAZ newspaper
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

FRANKFURT, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Newly appointed Fresenius CEO Michael Sen said that the company's debt-financed growth strategy cannot continue, in an interview in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung's Wednesday edition. But this model is no longer viable," Sen said, laying out his realignment of the firm following his appointment on Oct. 1. Regarding Elliott Investment Management's stake in the company announced last week, Sen said: "We have already been in contact with Elliott." Fresenius management will include the opinion of investors regarding the future of the company in its considerations, he said, adding that no banks had been mandated for the sale of its hospital operator Helios. Reporting by Emma-Victoria Farr, editing byOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Investor Elliott has taken stake in Germany's Fresenius -Bloomberg
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Makiko Yamazaki | David Carnevali | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

FRANKFURT, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Elliott Investment Management has taken a stake in Fresenius SE (FREG.DE), seeking to potentially break up the diversified healthcare company, Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter as saying. Fresenius and Elliott were not immediately available for comment. Shares in the company, which is controlled by charitable trust Else Kroener Fresenius-Stiftung, were up 9% at 1202 GMT. Fresenius controls the world's largest dialysis company Fresenius Medical Care (FMEG.DE). Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Ludwig Burger, Patricia Weiss and Hans Seidenstuecker, editing by Kirsti KnolleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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