In Europe on Wednesday the equities markets saw advances, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 up 0.7 percent to 1,289.1 and Germany’s Xetra Dax adding 0.8 percent to 5,543.93. The Dax was helped by an announcement by Deutsche Borse that it will make it easier for companies to list on the Dax. The change means that that companies will not need to be registered in Germany to list there, but only must be headquartered there.
European aerospace company EADS has said it would pursue a listing on the Dax, sending its shares up 4.1 percent to €26.75. EADS has headquarters in both Paris and Munich.
Utilities were up on the day, largely on mergers and acquisitions issues. In the utilities sector, Suez, working on a merger with Gaz de France, was up 3.3 percent to €30.15 after Enel of Italy said that it was still interested in pursuing a deal with Suez. Enel gained 0.9 percent to €7.12, while Gaz de France added 0.2 percent to €26.43.
Endsea, the Spanish electrical group, was up 2 percent to €26.20 after Credit Suisse raised its target share price from €28.50 to €29.50. Gas Natural, a Spanish rival, and Eon of German are currently in a bidding battle over Endsea.
In the telecommunications sector, France Telecom said it will sell its 54 percent share in PagesJaunes, a directory publisher. The sale will raise up to €3.4 billion for FT, which is rumored to be in talks, joined by private equity group Carlyle, to purchase Austrian mobile company One. Other rumors have FT interested in purchasing a stake in Belgium’s Mobistar. All the talk sent PagesJaunes 1.1 percent higher to €22.77, while France Telecom added 2.3 percent to €17.60.