The Markets | - Part 165

Spinoffs Drive South Africa Listings as Valuations Spur Sellers

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s main stock exchange may witness the most new listings for at least two years in 2017, helped by a spate of spinoffs as owners look to tap a market trading near record highs. Of the 18 debuts this year, six are carved out of other companies, most of which are publicly traded. A further four new arrivals are backed by collections of investment holdings, rather than providing…

Seplat Sees Oil Drilling Ramp Up as Nigerian Security Stabilizes

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Seplat Petroleum Development Co. expects to ramp up drilling operations in Nigeria next year after oil output recovered from militant attacks, according to Chief Executive Officer Austin Avuru. Production returned to a normal rate of around 70,000 barrels per day in 2017 as the company has been “catching our breath,” Avuru said Monday in an interview on the side-lines of the Africa Oil Week conference in Cape Town. “We should now…

Africa Drilling Lacking Despite Cheap Rigs, Higher Oil Price

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A recovery in oil and gas exploration in Africa is yet to happen, despite the best efforts of producing nations to raise prices. Only a dozen rigs were operational in African waters on average over the last year as saving cash remained a priority even for prolific explorers such as Italy’s Eni SpA. The rate of drilling this year is barely a 10th of the activity before the price…

Linde Eases Share Tender Requirements to Get Praxair Deal

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Linde AG, seeking to save a planned $41 billion tie up with Praxair Inc. to create the world’s biggest gases supplier, lowered the number of shares its investors need to tender for the deal to go through, after struggling to reach a previous requirement before a looming deadline. The new minimum threshold of 60 percent has to be reached by Nov. 7, the Munich-based company said in a statement on Monday. The previously-agreed condition was…

Fintech Firm FIS Is Ready If Bitcoin Trading Takes Off, CEO Says

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The head of one of the largest U.S. financial technology firms said his company is ready to trade and settle cryptocurrencies as soon as banks demand it. Fidelity National Information Services Inc., which provides technology to thousands of U.S. lenders, has also been experimenting with blockchain, the distributed-ledger technology that processes cryptocurrency transactions, Chief Executive Officer Gary Norcross said Thursday in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York office. FIS, as the…

Trading Firms Fear Mutiny on MiFID Rule Demanding Passport Data

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – A potentially explosive battle is brewing over a seldom-discussed aspect of the looming MiFID II laws, which will force traders of any European asset class to hand over personal identification such as passport numbers to every venue they trade on. The massive data-collection exercise will drag in tens of thousands of investors and traders, who some trading venues say may simply refuse. A client mutiny would leave platform operators stuck between cutting off…

South Africa’s Rand Slumps as Ramaphosa Speculation Raises Risks

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBUR (Capital Markets in Africa)- South Africa’s rand led emerging-market currency declines against the dollar amid speculation that President Jacob Zuma is preparing to fire his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa days after removing another critic from his cabinet. The rand dropped as much as 1.3 percent and traded 1.1 percent weaker at 13.6309 per dollar by 9:37 a.m. in Johannesburg, bringing its slump this week to 2.7 percent, the most since the five days ending Aug….

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