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The stock price is at London FTSE 250 company International Personal Finance agreed to a £543m takeover on Monday, ending mixed on Monday following a quiet day of trading at the start of another holiday-shortened week.
The FTSE 100 closed down 4.15 points at 9,866.53 points. The FTSE 250 index finally rose 93.01 points, or 0.4%, to 22,407.51 points. Purpose The stock closed down 0.09 points at 760.14 points.
European stocks on Monday, CAC 40 Paris DAX 40 closed 0.1% higher frankfurt It closed up 0.1%.
At the close of trading in London on Monday, the pound was quoted at $1.3491, down from $1.3510 at the early London close on Wednesday. The euro fell to $1.1757 from $1.1790. The USD/JPY exchange rate rose to 156.04 yen from 155.92 yen.
At the close on Friday night on the New York Stock Exchange, the pound was worth $1.3504, the euro was worth $1.1780, and the dollar was worth 156.50 yen.
London financial markets opened on Monday for the first time since last Wednesday after being closed for Christmas and Boxing Day.
Markets will be closed early on Wednesday, ahead of the New Year’s Day holiday on Thursday. Markets reopened for a full trading day on Friday.
This week’s global economic calendar includes the minutes of the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Tuesday and a slew of manufacturing PMI data on Friday.
New York stocks were lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7%.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note was at 4.12%, narrowing from 4.16% on Wednesday. The U.S. 30-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.80% from 4.82%.
U.S. pending home sales rose more than expected in November.
Pending home sales increased 3.3% in November from the previous month, according to the National Association of Realtors. The figure beat the consensus cited by FXStreet, which expected a gain of 1.0% for the month.
Pending home sales increased 2.6% compared to this time last year.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said, “Momentum among homebuyers is building. The data shows that after accounting for seasonal factors, the performance is the strongest this year and the best performance in nearly three years since February 2023.”
Brent crude oil prices fell to $61.48 a barrel at the close of trading in London on Monday, down from $62.58 at the early London close on Wednesday. However, the price was higher than Friday’s New York closing price of $60.32.
gold Monday’s closing price was $4,336.60 an ounce, down from Wednesday’s $4,492.58 and Friday’s $4,528.06. Gold prices hit a record high on Friday, topping $4,549 an ounce.
In London, shares in International Personal Finance rose 5.9%, leading gains on the FTSE 250 index. The company said it has agreed to an all-cash acquisition by BasePoint Capital for £543 million, with the acquisition expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
Under the terms of the offer, IPF shareholders will receive 235p in cash per share, valuing the provider of credit products and insurance services at approximately £543 million. IPF shares closed at 220.00p on Wednesday.
The offer represents a premium of approximately 31% to IPF’s closing price of 179.2p on July 29, the last trading day before the company entered the offer period.
BasePoint took a series of steps earlier this year that culminated in this agreement. In September, IPF said it had received an improved indicative proposal of 235p per share, an increase from its initial offer of 220p in July, and said at the time that its board would be willing to recommend it if a firm bid was made.
IPF’s board of directors unanimously recommended the offer and completion of the acquisition is subject to shareholder approval.
Chairman Stuart Sinclair said: “While the Board remains confident in IPF’s independent strategy and long-term prospects, we recognize that this acquisition enables IPF shareholders to realize their entire investment at a fair price.
“We believe the business will benefit from BasePoint’s ownership and its commitment to delivering on IPF’s goal of building a better world through financial inclusion.”
Elsewhere, Everyman Media shares ended flat after the immediate resignation of chief executive Alex Scrimgeour, with analysts saying the boss’ “time is running out” following a profit warning and the resignation of its finance director earlier this month.
Mr Scrimgeour’s departure follows the resignation of finance director Will Wasdell two weeks ago. He will leave at the end of March.
The London-based premium cinema chain has appointed current non-executive director Farah Golant as interim chief executive.
Philip Jacobson, the company’s non-executive chairman, said: “Farrah has extensive experience in the global creative, entertainment and media industries and has a proven track record of accelerating growth and developing high-performing, results-driven organizations.”
“Everyman has lost its chief executive and financial director over the past two weeks,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of marketing at AJ Bell. “This is unfortunate timing and means there is considerable pressure to quickly find a new leadership team.”
“The stock price has fallen 76% during his tenure and time is running out,” he added.
Mr Scrimgeour’s resignation comes after Everyman issued a profit warning earlier this month, saying it was “operating in a challenging economic environment” and that recent UK box office performance had been “weaker than expected”.
“It’s fair to say that 2025 isn’t exactly a prime year for new releases, which makes things even worse for the average person. The company’s recent profit warning has been blamed on weak movie conditions in the fourth quarter, and its release schedule for the coming months doesn’t bring much optimism,” Coatsworth said.
The biggest gainers on the FTSE 100 were Fresnillo, up 82.0p to 3,282.0p; Glencore, up 8.3p to 402.6p; Convatec, up 5.0p to 243.0p; Anglo American, up 57.0p to 3,069.0p; Entain, up 14.0p. pence, to 764.6 pence.
The biggest losers on the FTSE 100 were Babcock International, down 33.0 pence, to 1,227.0 pence; Hiscox, down 21.0 pence to 1,407.0 pence; British American Tobacco, down 60.0 pence to 4,155.0 pence; BT Group, down 2.5 pence. pence, at 1,227.0 pence; Halma, down 43.8 pence, at 1,407.0 pence. 3,524.2p.
Friday’s economic calendar includes minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting as well as U.S. home price index data.
There are no events scheduled on local business calendars for Tuesday.
– Alliance News Feed