Transatlantic Holdings Inc. (TRH) leaps on bid from Berkshire-based company

Posted on Monday, August 8th, 2011

Transatlantic Holdings Inc. (NYSE: TRH) shares rose 5.6% to $47.75, a day after National Indemnity Co., a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) offered $3.2 billion to acquire the reinsurer. Volume for Transatlantic numbered 1.4 million shares, compared to a daily average of about 790,000.

A news release out Sunday, August 7 noted that Transatlantic confirmed it had received a proposal from National Indemnity to acquire all of Transatlantic’s outstanding shares of common stock for $52.00 per share.

The release quoted a letter to Transatlantic CEO Robert Orlich from National Indemnity CEO Ajit Jain as saying “With your stock trading at $45.83, I have to believe that you will find our offer to buy all of Transatlantic shares outstanding at $52.00 per share to be an attractive offer… Should you decide to accept this offer, your agreement that should the deal not close for any reasons that are under your control by December 31, 2011, a break-up fee of $75.0 million would be paid to us.”

Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. is a leading international reinsurance organization headquartered in New York, with operations on six continents. Its subsidiaries, Transatlantic Reinsurance Company®, Trans Re Zurich Reinsurance Company Ltd. and Putnam Reinsurance Company, offer reinsurance capacity on both a treaty and facultative basis ― structuring programs for a full range of property and casualty products, with an emphasis on specialty risks.

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Web.com Group Inc. (WWWW) goes buying, stock rockets

Posted on Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Web.com Group Inc. (Nasdaq: WWWW) shares got 31.4% worth of lift to $11.38 late Thursday morning, on Q2 results and acquisition news. Volume for the stock topped 1.4 million shares, compared with a daily average of 421,000.

A Reuters story out August 4 reported that the e-commerce company agreed to buy website services provider Network Solutions to fuel growth, and posted quarterly profit above estimates.

The story also noted that Web.com, which provides web marketing products to small businesses, said purchasing Network Solutions would triple its customer base to about three million subscribers and give significant cross-sell and up-sell opportunities.

Web.com, based in Jacksonville, Florida will pay $405 million in cash, issue 18 million common shares and refinance Network Solutions’ net debt.

Second-quarter profit was helped by a 73% surge in its subscription revenue.

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MasterCard Inc. (MA) charges ahead on Q2 profit

Posted on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) shares rose 12.3% to $335.13 after the payments-network reported second-quarter profit that topped market expectations. Volume for the stock crowded 4.3 million shares, better than four times its daily average.

A news release issued August 3 noted that the company reported net income of $608 million, up 32.8%, and earnings per diluted share of $4.76, up 36.4%, in each case versus the year-ago period.

Net revenue for the second quarter of 2011 was $1.7 billion, a 22.1% increase versus the same period in 2010. On a constant currency basis, net revenue increased 18.0%.

“Solid global performance, including strong increases in volume and processed transactions, fueled double-digit revenue growth this quarter,” said MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga in the same release. “While payment volumes have risen across our base customers, were also seeing new business such as the portfolio conversions of SunTrust and Sovereign, as well as new processing relationships in the Netherlands and in Brazil, contribute to growth.”

Banga added, “During the quarter, work continued in the mobile commerce category highlighted by an agreement with Google and multiple partners to launch the Google Wallet, as well as our alliance with Isis, in the U.S. Additionally, the previously announced Orange and Barclaycard contactless mobile payment service became available to U.K. consumers in May. Other notable agreements we executed include a commercial alliance with China Union Pay to enable its cards for cross-border e-Commerce, and a new, multi-product agreement with Swedbank in the Nordic and Baltic regions.”

MasterCard is a global payments and technology company. It operates the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.

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Global Traffic Network Inc. (GNET) takes flight on takeover bid

Posted on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Shares of Global Traffic Network Inc. (Nasdaq: GNET) rose 19.5% to $13.95 after the provider of personalized news information agreed to be purchased by private-equity firm GTCR LLC. Volume for the stock Wednesday was well in excess of two million shares, trouncing a daily average of less than 131,000.

A news release issued August 3 revealed that the Toronto-based company, a leading provider of custom traffic and news reports to radio and television stations outside the United States, announced the proposed takeover.

Under the terms of the agreement, Global stockholders will receive $14.00 in cash for each share of Global’s common stock, which represents approximately a 20% premium over the closing price on Tuesday, August 2, and a 22.7% premium based on the 60-day volume weighted average price of $11.41.

The Company operates the largest traffic and news network in Australia, operates traffic networks in eight Canadian markets and the largest national radio traffic network across the United Kingdom. In exchange for providing custom traffic and news reports, television and radio stations provide Global Traffic Network with commercial airtime inventory that the Company sells to advertisers. As a result, radio and television stations incur no out-of-pocket costs when contracting to use Global Traffic Network’s services.

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Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) strengthens on announcing solid bottom line

Posted on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) shares climbed 7.5% to $59.68 after the nutritional-supplement seller projected third-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates. Volume for the stock amounted to 6.2 million shares, towering over an all-day average of 1.8 million.

A news release out August 1 announced that second quarter net sales increased 27.7% and local currency net sales increased 19.9% compared to the same time period in 2010. Net income for the quarter of $111.2 million, or $0.88 per diluted share compares to 2010 second-quarter net income and EPS of $82.2 million and $0.65, respectively.

“We believe that we are just getting started,” the release quoted Michael O. Johnson, Herbalife CEO. “Eight consecutive quarters of growth in the average number of sales leaders ordering illustrates the engagement of the distributors and the strong foundation being built as Herbalife helps consumers tackle the global issues of obesity.”

For the quarter ended June 30, 2011, the company generated cash flow from operations of $142.7 million, an increase of 71.5% compared to the second quarter 2010, paid dividends of $23.9 million, invested $16.1 million in capital expenditures, and repurchased $98.8 million in common shares related to its share repurchase program.

Based in Los Angeles, Herbalife Ltd. is a global network marketing company that sells weight-management, nutrition, and personal care products intended to support a healthy lifestyle.

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