WEBVTT - BP Climbs, Evoke Surges , Commerzbank Rises 

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News.

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<v Speaker 2>The Stock Movers Report, your roundup of companies making moves

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<v Speaker 2>in the stock market, harnessing the power of Bloomberg data.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, let's take a look at some stocks on the

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<v Speaker 3>move today in Europe. I'm Stephen Carroll and I'm joined

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<v Speaker 3>by Bloomberg's Breaking News editor Louise Moan and Louise, good morning.

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<v Speaker 3>We're watching the moves higher in oil prices this morning

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<v Speaker 3>after the weekend's developments in the Middle East. How are

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<v Speaker 3>the likes of BP firing this morning.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you've got BP Shell both the top two gainers

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<v Speaker 1>on the FOOTZEO hundred, so both firmly into the green

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<v Speaker 1>and leading gains there. And that's also tracking across Europe

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<v Speaker 1>as well, so you know, the likes of Title Energies

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<v Speaker 1>in Paris also up. As you say, this is after

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<v Speaker 1>a turbulent weekend in the Middle East and essentially casting

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<v Speaker 1>doubts on the prospects for peace talks. Obviously, the c's

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<v Speaker 1>five deadline is looming and there's very differing of views

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<v Speaker 1>being offered from both sides, so that's causing oil to rise,

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<v Speaker 1>and then of course oil related stocks to track those rises.

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<v Speaker 1>As well, so oil eraising much of the declines that

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<v Speaker 1>we saw on Friday and you know, reversing that and

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<v Speaker 1>as I say, shell BP the top two again is

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<v Speaker 1>on the foot seat one hundred this morning.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay.

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<v Speaker 3>In other sectors, the owner of William Hale Evoke could

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<v Speaker 3>be in takeover talks tell us more.

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<v Speaker 1>Indeed, yes, they've confirmed their in talks to be acquired

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<v Speaker 1>by a company called Bally's Intralot. This is a joint

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<v Speaker 1>venture between Bally's, the US casino operator, and a Greek firm.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's listed in Athens, but the majority holder is

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<v Speaker 1>the US company. So they've offered fifty p per share

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<v Speaker 1>for a Voke that's about thirty percent above its closing

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<v Speaker 1>price on Friday. It would value Evoke at about two

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and twenty five million pounds, So Vokes the owner

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<v Speaker 1>of William Hill eighty eighty eight used to be called

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<v Speaker 1>eight eighty eight, so a big gambling company here in

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<v Speaker 1>the UK. It's been on a financial strain for quite

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<v Speaker 1>a long time and it's been exploring a sale since

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<v Speaker 1>late last year, so it's got a lot of debt.

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<v Speaker 1>So on the one hand, it's got a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>debt after it acquired William Hill in twenty twenty one.

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<v Speaker 1>It's then also been hit by a lot of higher taxes.

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<v Speaker 1>So of course Rachel Reeves imposed higher taxes on gambling

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<v Speaker 1>firms in the November budget. They came into effect this

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<v Speaker 1>month and as a result of Volkes said as a

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<v Speaker 1>direct result of that, it planned to close two hundred

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<v Speaker 1>betting shops due to those tax sikes. They announced that

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<v Speaker 1>last month. So it's been under a lot of strain

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<v Speaker 1>and now confirmed that it's in talks with Ballet's Inchlot

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<v Speaker 1>to be acquired. So as a result, shares shot up

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<v Speaker 1>this morning of Volks shares shot up. It didn't quite

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<v Speaker 1>match how much they've fallen over the past twelve months,

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<v Speaker 1>but they did shoot up. I mean, and as I say, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>hasn't quite matched that falls and if you look back

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<v Speaker 1>even further, they're far off their peak in twenty twenty one,

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<v Speaker 1>so still trading a lot lower than historically, but shares

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<v Speaker 1>up as a result of that potential deal coming down

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<v Speaker 1>the line.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, so that's on Evoke. Let's turn then to Commerce Bank.

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<v Speaker 3>Of course, the lender that's seen quite a lot of

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<v Speaker 3>headlines around a potential takeover offer. What's the latest this morning.

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<v Speaker 1>Indeed, Yeah, some fresh comments from Unicredits. So obviously been

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<v Speaker 1>trying to buy Commerce Banks since about September twenty twenty four,

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<v Speaker 1>and then recently presented a thirty five billion takeover offer

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<v Speaker 1>which is set to kick off this month. Already at

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<v Speaker 1>Commerce Bank's largest shareholder, they've got a stake of just

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<v Speaker 1>under thirty percent, but they essentially have been stepping up

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<v Speaker 1>their push to acquire the bank. So the CEO, there's

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<v Speaker 1>been some comments from the CEO saying that Commerce Bank

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<v Speaker 1>needs deep changes, suffers from structural weaknesses, it's an ongoing

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<v Speaker 1>story of underperformance, and saying that Commerce Bank hasn't engaged

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<v Speaker 1>with it in what it calls a meaningful way in

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<v Speaker 1>regards to that attempt of a takeover office. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>been consistently kind of shut down rebuffed by Commerce Bank,

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<v Speaker 1>the two banks essentially saying they've got very different views

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<v Speaker 1>on how to go forward, and Commerce Bank's own CEO

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<v Speaker 1>last week kind of vowed to stick with their own

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<v Speaker 1>standalone strategy. So at heads on this and as I say,

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<v Speaker 1>there's been there's been fresh comments from UniCredit this morning.

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<v Speaker 1>Commas Bank shares rose and Frankfurt compared with declines across

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<v Speaker 1>the sector, so potentially those that rebuffing is continuing to

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<v Speaker 1>be welcomed, so we'll be keeping a close eye to

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<v Speaker 1>see to see how that one develops.

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<v Speaker 2>The Stock Movers Report from Bloomberg Radio. Check back with

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