London pre-open: Heading higher again

24th Dec 2009 07:33

London appears determined to enter the Christmas break in festive spirit, with the leading index seen higher at the start after Wall Street eventually shrugged off weak housing data.Futures prices indicate an early gain of about 15 points for the FTSE 100, although trading is expected to be very light in what is a shortened trading session.The index has risen for three consecutive days so far and stands at its highest in over a month.US private equity group Carlyle has finally admitted it is mulling a possible cash offer for waste management firm Shanks and has held preliminary discussions with its bosses. The confirmation comes more than two weeks after UK mid-cap Shanks announced it had received a 135p a share takeover approach from a private equity group. A deal at that price would be worth £536m, but Shanks said it was holding out for a larger offer worth 150p a share.Whitbread has agreed a sale and leaseback deal with M&G Investments that will net the hotel, pub and coffee shop group £36.65m in cash. The agreement covers five properties operating as Premier Inn and adjacent restaurants and is expected to complete in January. The money will be handed over on completion and M&G will enter into 25-year leases with Whitbread who'll continue to operate the properties, representing a net initial yield of 5.5%.AstraZeneca's biologics unit, Medimmune, has filed a Complete Response Letter (CRL) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in respect of its Biologics Licence Application (BLA) for motavizumab. The FDA had asked for additional information regarding motavizumab, designed to prevent respiratory syncytial virus infection, on 25 November 2008, since when discussions between Medimmune and the FDA have been taking place over the contents of the CRL.Balfour Beatty has acquired Strata Construction, a Doncaster-based company specialising in the construction of affordable housing. The company is being bought for a total cash consideration of £10.3m. Strata Construction is primarily a family-owned business and was founded 90 years ago. Losses rose at Wm Ransom last year, with the natural health products group also cautioning that the outlook for the current year remains uncertain. Sales in the half-year to September fell to £16.7m (2008: £17.2m), though were up 3% on a like for like basis. Ransom posted a small operating profit of £33,000, but one-off costs of £2.7m sent the group to a loss of £2.81m.