MARKET CURRENTS

real-time news and commentary for investors

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5:30 AM P-E firm Hellman & Friedman is reportedly considering selling or listing Getty Images, the world's biggest provider of stock photos, video and other digital content. The company could be valued at $4B, up from the $2.4B that H&F paid to acquire the firm four years ago. Comment!
BCS, BLK

5:19 AM Barclays (BCS) raised a net $5.5B from the divestment of its 19.6% stake in BlackRock (BLK), selling 26.2M shares to money managers for $160 each and 6.38M shares to BlackRock for $156.80. There's also a greenshoe option of 2.6M shares. The sale will increase Barclays' Tier 1 capital ratio by about five basis points as it looks to meet Basel III requirements. Comment!
RDS.A, CNVGF.PK

3:29 AM Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production trumps Shell's (RDS.A) bid for Cove Energy (CNVGF.PK), offering £1.22B ($1.9B) for the Mozambique-focused explorer. Cove's management says it now backs PTT's bid, with the reversal coming just hours ahead of a deadline for investors to accept Shell's $1.8B offer. Shell -1.2% in London. Comment!

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DJIA (DIA) S&P 500 (SPY)