October172011
“A 30-stock index is not necessarily ideal as a benchmark
for asset managers but it does lend itself well to investible
products such as ETFs, for which there is a lot of demand from
mutual funds and other investors,” said John Prestbo, editor and
executive director of Dow Jones Indexes. “We see the index as a
shorthand expression of the regional market.”Seven of the component stocks on the Asia Dow are based in
Japan, the most of any nation in the index followed by
Australia, China and Hong Kong with four each.Toyota Motor Corp , and the Hong Kong listings of
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd and HSBC
Holdings Plc are some of the large Asian blue-chips
included in the Asian index.The Asia Dow takes a slightly different approach from others
in that Japan and Australia are also included in a Pan-Asian
index.Traditionally, the regional investment landscape has been
split into Japan and Asia excluding Japan, partly because of the
developed nature and larger size and depth of the Japanese
equity market compared with the rest of Asia.”We are sensitive to Japan’s size, but I think there is a
countervailing trend here of looking at the region as a single
equity market which would include Japan,” said Prestbo.Southeast Asia also finds representation in the Asia Dow
with one company each from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore,
namely Astra International , CIMB Group Holdings Bhd
and Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd .
October142011
“IAG has not been shy about its interest in bmi, and the two
sides have been in contact, discussing options, but I’m not sure
it has got to the offer stage yet,” said one of the sources on
Friday.Another source said Lufthansa was also in talks with other
suitors, but did not give any names.Virgin Atlantic is one of those involved in the bmi sale
process, Chief Executive Steve Ridgway told Reuters on Tuesday.Lufthansa has said finding a partner for bmi is one of the
options it is exploring as it tries to turn around the airline,
and has mandated bankers to sound out a potential sale.Bmi’s biggest assets are its slots at London Heathrow.
Citigroup analyst Andrew Light last month estimated these to be
worth around 460 million euros ($630 million).IAG boss Willie Walsh has made no secret of his interest in
bmi, and BA last month acquired six daily take-off and landing
slots at London’s Heathrow airport from bmi for an undisclosed
sum.Sky News earlier reported that BA had tabled a proposal for
bmi.The sources said it was unclear whether the talks between
IAG and Lufthansa would be successful.”Virgin Atlantic could yet throw a spanner in the
works,” one of the people said.Lufthansa and IAG declined to comment.
October122011
** U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital is close to
finalising a $3.4 billion deal to buy restaurant chain Skylark
from a unit of Nomura Holdings , a source with knowledge
of the matter said, in the largest buyout in Japan since the
financial crisis.** Teekay LNG Partners and Japanese group Marubeni
said they will jointly acquire ownership interest in
eight LNG carriers from Danish shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk in a deal valued at about $1.40 billion.** British online gaming group Sportingbet Plc said
it would buy two Danish sports betting firms for up to 8.5
million pounds ($13.3 million) as it seeks to tap the less
risky, regulated markets.** Thailand’s PTT Chemical Pcl (PTTCH) said on
Wednesday it would buy a 50 percent stake in bio plastic maker
NatureWorks LLC, owned by U.S.-based agribusiness giant Cargill
Inc , in a deal worth $150 million.
