M&A shakes up European shares as bid targets IWG, EDP soar

L E Lundbergforetagen AB (publ)

14/05/2018 08:02

(For a live blog on European stocks, type LIVE/ in an Eikon
news window)
    LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - European shares edged down in
early deals on Monday after a strong run of weekly gains, while
dealmaking livened up trading with Britain's IWG and Portugal's
EDP both surging higher on takeover offers.
    Oil stocks were the worst-performing as crude prices fell
away from multi-year highs due to a surge in U.S. drilling
activity and resistance in Europe and Asia to U.S. sanctions
against Iran.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1SL1HE
    The STOXX 600 oil & gas index  .SXEP  fell 0.4 percent,
while the broad pan-European index  .STOXX  hovered near flat.
    Italy's FTSE MIB  .FTMIB  rose 0.2 percent as investors
shrugged off progress in government-forming talks between the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the far-right League. 
    Shares in IWG  IWG.L  shot up 21.3 percent after the British
serviced office provider said it had been approached for a
takeover by three rival suitors.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1SI5SI
    EDP  EDP.LS  shares climbed 8.8 percent after China's
state-owned utility China Three Gorges offered $10.8 billion to
take control of the Portuguese power firm.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1SI6C1
    In results-driven moves, Dutch bank ABN Amro  ABNd.AS  fell
4.6 percent after reporting a drop in first-quarter net profit
due to ongoing problems in the oil sector leading to impairments
on loans to shipping and offshore services clients.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1SL0N4
    Shares in Swedish property and investment company Lundbergs
halved in price after a bonus 1:1 issue doubling the number of
shares in the company.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFNW8P3XHf

 (Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Julien Ponthus)
 ((Helen.Reid@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 0402;))