SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT

08 NEWS TUESDAY 9 AUGUST 2016
CITYAM.COM
London-listed publisher books in
$10m takeover deal for US company
Shire’s sales shoot up
after Baxalta merger
WILLIAM TURVILL
@wturvill
LONDON-listed book publisher
Quarto Group has announced the
acquisition of a US company.
Quarto said its subsidiary, Quarto
Publishing Group USA, has agreed a
takeover deal for Becker & Mayer
from McEvoy Group, an independent
trade publishing firm.
Quarto said the deal is worth at
least $9.8m (£7.5m) which will be
combined with a working capital
adjustment payment capped at $1m
and a deferred contingent payment
of up to $1.25m.
Becker & Mayer is headquartered
in Bellevue, Washington, and was
founded in the 1980s.
It reported revenues of $19.4m in
2015, with earnings before interest,
taxation, amortisation and
depreciation (Ebitda) of $0.3m and a
net loss before tax of $1.5m.
Quarto Group chief executive
Marcus E Leaver said: “We have a
close working relationship with
Becker & Mayer and we admire their
people, creativity and specialist
knowledge.
“We approached them because we
have long felt that they would make
a good cultural and strategic fit.”
He added: “We are delighted that
McEvoy has agreed to sell
the business to us as it will be a new
and exciting addition to Quarto’s
portfolio in the USA.”
Quarto’s share price remained flat
yesterday after it announced the deal
at around 261p.
CAITLÍN MORRISON
@citycait
PHARMACEUTICAL group Shire yesterday
reported a jump in sales in the
six months to 30 June and predicted
strong full-year result.
Product sales were up 36 per cent to
$3.95bn (£3.02bn) from $2.9bn in the
first half of 2015.
Royalties and other revenues went
up 29 per cent to $189m, from $147m,
meaning total revenue was up 36 per
cent to $4.14bn.
The company’s research & development
expenditure went down to
$511.9m in the six-month period,
from $969.6m the year before.
“The first half of 2016 was marked by
a number of important milestones in
Shire’s history,” said chief executive
Flemming Ornskov.
“Chief among them was completion
of the combination with Baxalta to
create the leading global biotechnology
group focused on serving people
with rare diseases and highly specialised
conditions.”
Delta Air power
outage causes
passenger chaos
EMMA HASLETT
@emmahaslett
DELTA Air Lines said yesterday “limited
departures” were resuming after
a power outage grounded flights
worldwide just as summer
holiday season got into full
swing.
The airline said passengers
should continue to
expect delays and cancellations,
and advised
customers to check the
status of their flights before
they travel.
It added that large-scale
cancellations were expected
after the power cut, which
caused flight status systems including
airport screens to show the wrong status.
In a statement yesterday, it added
that the outages were largely affect-
ing outbound flights from the US.
“Our teams are working to resolve
the problem as quickly as possible,” it
said.
A Delta Air Lines spokesperson admitted
in a statement that customers
will face travel chaos
and that “inquiries are high
and wait times are long”.
In the UK, the airline
Delta Air Lines flights
were delayed by more
than six hours yesterday
serves Heathrow and
Gatwick airports in London,
and Edinburgh airport
in Scotland. Departure boards at
Heathrow appeared to show Delta
flights were leaving, although some
were delayed. By yesterday evening,
only 800 of the almost 6,000 Delta Air
Lines flights were able to take off.
The Heathrow northern runway extension is an option to improve UK air connectivity
Hedge fund honcho bankrolls
Heathrow’s northern runway
JAMES NICKERSON
@nickersonjw
A TOP hedge fund boss has put his
weight behind plans to extend
Heathrow’s northern runway in
order to expand aviation capacity in
the south east.
One of the City’s top chiefs,
Anthony Clake, who oversees near
$10bn (£7.7bn) worth of assets at
Marshall Wace Asset Management, is
the majority shareholder in
Heathrow Hub, one of the plans still
in contention to solve the ongoing
problem of capacity by avoiding
building another runway.
Clake has been an investor in
Heathrow Hub since 2013, Sky News
reported, and is thought to have
invested more money on three
occasions after the government
delayed the decision.
Clake is understood to hold 75 per
cent of shares in Heathrow Hub.
“I have been delighted to support
this important project which has
brought some creative thinking to
solving this vital national
infrastructure problem,” Clake said.
Walmart nabs
Amazon rival
Jet for $3.3bn
FRANCESCA WASHTELL
@fwashtell
US RETAIL giant and Asda-owner
Walmart scooped up Amazon rival
Jet.com in a $3.3bn (£2.5bn)
takeover yesterday.
The deal, which Walmart will use
to bolster its online offerings, has
been approved by both companies’
boards of directors and is expected
to close in the second half of this
year.
Part of the $3bn cash deal and
$300m of Walmart shares will be
paid over time, Walmart and
Jet.com said in a joint statement.
Walmart said the acquisition will
“build on and complement the
significant foundation already in
place to serve customers across the
Walmart app, sites and stores and
position the company for even
faster e-commerce growth in the
future”.
Jet.com is one of the fastest
growing e-commerce companies in
the US. Founded in 2015, in its first
year its run-rate gross merchandise
value reached $1bn as it added
more than 400,000 new shoppers
on a monthly basis.
YouGov boosted by revenues from the US
and falling sterling after EU referendum
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MARK SANDS
@MkSands
POLLING giant YouGov has raised hopes for
its performance for the year to 31 July with
an update saying it has benefited from a
drop in the pound.
In a pre-close trading statement yesterday,
YouGov said that it now expected full-year
results to be ahead of the board’s
expectations.
“Revenue from the US and Middle East
markets has grown strongly with the
company also benefiting from the
appreciation of their currencies against
sterling over the past year,” the polling firm.
said.
It added that trading for the year ended
31 July would see YouGov notch double-digit
revenue growth.
The pollster also attributed the
performance to the increasing proportion
of revenue it derives from data services and
data products.
The news saw the pollsters share price on
the London Stock Exchange climb
throughout trading yesterday, from a Friday
close of 190.5p to 195p at the close last
night in London.
At the same time, analysts from Numis
changed YouGov’s rating to “add” from
“buy”, hiking its target price from 177p to
218p.
It represents the latest stage in the
improving fortunes of the polling business.
When YouGov reported its half-year
figures in March this year , it said that pretax
profits had climbed from £3.5m to £5m
for the six months ending 31 January, with
its share price closing at around 137p on 21
March.
It comes despite repeated questions over
the effectiveness of traditional political
polling across the UK.
Last year’s General Election polls
predicted an extremely tight result, with
many expecting the return of coalition
government, right up until the final exit
poll on election night predicted an outright
Conservative party majority.
Similarly, the final weeks of polling
ahead of the European referendum
regularly predicted a Remain vote before
the UK instead opted to leave the European
Union.
YouGov is expected to report its full-year
results in October.
According to estimates by Yahoo Finance,
analysts expect the polling giant to report
revenues of between £85.4m and £83.5m for
the year to July.
It would represent an increase of 10.7 per
cent on last year’s takings of £76.1m.