London — Pan-European Stocks 600 It ended Thursday down 0.4%. HSBCLondon-listed shares fell 5% following a privatization bid for its Hong Kong-based subsidiary Hang Seng Bank. HSBC, Europe’s largest financial institution, submitted a privatization proposal for Hang Seng to shareholders on Thursday. The company is the controlling shareholder, holding 63% of the bank’s shares.
“If approved, Hang Seng will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Asia Pacific and will be delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange,” HSBC said. Hang Seng stock soared on the news.
Privatization proposals weighed on European banks, which closed 1.4% lower.
In London, FTSE100 France fell 0.4% CAC40 It decreased by 0.2%. dachshund It recorded an increase of 0.2%.
Shares in Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk closed 1.3% lower after the company announced plans to acquire a US biotech company. Akello Therapeutics.
The deal will see Novo pay $54 per share, valuing Acello at $4.7 billion, and the deal also includes a $6 per share contingent value right, which could add an additional $500 million to the purchase price.
Novo Nordisk shares
New York-listed Akero stock rose about 16.7% on Thursday morning.
Market attention remained focused on France after President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday that he would name a new prime minister within 48 hours following the resignation of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Monday. Mr Macron is being urged to choose a prime minister who is not an ally of his centrist allies.
Earlier in the Asia-Pacific market, SoftBank’s AI footprint further advanced after the Japanese giant announced a deal to acquire the robotics division of Swiss engineering firm ABB for $5.4 billion, with SoftBank’s stock soaring as much as 13% in a day.
In the United States, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% before midday trading in New York after the benchmark index rose to a record high earlier in the week.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Nur Hikmah Md Ali contributed to this market report.
