M&A

KENDAL GAPINSKI

US DISPOSABLE cup manufacturer Dart Container has agreed to buy Solo Cup in a deal valued at $1bn (£632m).

Dart paid $315m in cash for all of Solo’s equity, and plans to use remaining reserves to clear roughly $700m of Solo’s debt.

The world’s largest maker of foam cups, Dart said it has no plans to drop Solo’s iconic red plastic cups, which have inspired a hit song by US country star Toby Keith, and become a mainstay at American barbeques and college parties.

In addition to the red cups, Solo, which has $1.6bn in annual sales, also makes a variety of disposable food and drink containers out of paper, plastic, and recycled materials.

In 2004, Solo bought competitor Sweetheart for $917m. The deal pushed Solo into a loss making position after it failed to integrate the acquisition and struggled with the debt it assumed in the purchase.

Dart has said it plans to fully integrate the two US-based companies to make the deal as successful as possible. The two companies, which are both family-owned, will operate independently until the agreement closes.

The deal is expected to close by the third quarter, Dart said, pending regulatory approval.

http://www.cityam.com/latest-news/world-s-largest-foam-cup-maker-dart-container-buy-solo-cup-1bn

ENERGY

KENDAL GAPINSKI

ROYAL Dutch Shell has signed the first ever shale gas production sharing deal with China, it announced yesterday, as the country tries to tap into its potentially lucrative energy assets.

Shell has already done some exploration works on the 3,500 square kilometer Fushun-Yongchuan block, and will now work with state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation on the site.

Inspired by a shale boom in the US, China started its shale push in late 2009. Its at-home companies have drilled several dozen wells and brought in firms, such as Shell and Chevron, for joint studies.

“China has huge shale gas potential and we are committed to making a contribution in bringing that potential into reality,” Peter Voser, chief executive officer of Shell, said in a statement.

Shell already operates in tight-gas fields in Sichuan in partnership with PetroChina, as it is also assessing opportunities for coalbed methane. The company also has a fast-growing downstream retail business in the country.

China’s largest energy agency, the National Energy Administration (NEA) has set a target to produce 6.5bn cubic metres (bcm) of shale gas by 2015, with hopes of producing 60-100bcm by 2020, a figure that may be too ambitious said some analysts.

China is believed to hold the world’s largest shale resource, but has yet to start commercial production.

The country is likely to tender its second batch of shale gas blocks in April or May after awarding two out of four blocks in its first auction in July last year, Xiong Bingqi, an official with the Ministry of Land and Resources, has told reporters.

http://www.cityam.com/latest-news/shell-set-share-china-s-shale-work

Getting out of bed can be tough but these nifty high-tech alarm clocks can help take some of the pain out of your morning routine

Kendal Gapinski

ZEN TIMEPIECE
£95
now-zen.com

By striking a subtle B-note on a brass bowl, the Zen Timepiece promises to “summon your consciousness with complex tones” to wake you up. The small hammer strikes the bowl every 5 seconds until it is turned off, and is meant to set a calming tone for the day.

WAKEUP WORKOUT
£22
gadgetsandgear.com

For those who need a little motivation in the morning, this dumbbell clock forces you to get up and work out. The clock’s alarm will only shut off after you complete 30 bicep curls, tracked by the built-in motion sensor that counts the number of reps completed.

AXBO
£165
axbo.com

The aXbo alarm clock measures the biorhythm of the person sleeping by using a wristband that must be worn every night. After setting a wake-up time, the aXbo will sense when the body is naturally ready to get up, and plays a birdsong to gently wake you.

BIOBRITE SUNRISE CLOCK
£112
amazon.co.uk

This alarm is meant to waken people by gradually getting brighter, mimicking the light of a sunrise. The ball can be set to glow within 15 to 90 minutes before the designated wake-up time, and also comes with a white noise option to help fall asleep faster.

OPUS AROMA DIFFUSER ALARM CLOCK
£72
amazon.co.uk

The alarm clock has multiple features to make it easier to get up more naturally in the morning. The clock switches from a light colour to an intense one within a half hour of the set time, while its aroma diffuser creates a scented mist. It also has a variety of sounds to serve as the alarm.

SLEEPTRACKER WATCH
£95
sleeptracker.com

A movement sensor inside the watch sets off the alarm when your arm moves, waking you within a half hour of the set wake-up time. It is based on the belief that when a person fidgets, they have moved out of their deep-sleep phase, making it easier to wake up.

http://www.cityam.com/lifestyle/waking-never-easy

Kendal Gapinski chooses the best super-compact netbooks on the market

Asus Zenbook UX21E £849

Cheaper than many of the other ultrabooks out there, the Asus Zenbrook measures 17mm at the back at its thickest point, but tapers down to 3mm in the front. This ultrabook is particularly well-designed because it is made out of one piece of aluminum. It also packs a punch with a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor with 6 GB of RAM.

Acer Aspire S3 £699

Another company looking to catch on to the ultrabook trend is Acer. The Aspire is 16mm at its thickest point, with a width of 321mm and depth of 217mm. The case is made of aluminum, however, it lacks the unibody design of many of its competitors.

HP Folio 13 $899.99 (£570)

Despite its small size, the keyboard on the HP Folio ultrabook is larger and more comfortable than many competitors. It also contains a memory card slot as well as an Ethernet cable, meaning its great for those who prefer a traditional laptop. The body is made out of aluminum and soft-touch plastic.

Dell XPS 13 £650

A bit bulkier than the others, the Dell XPS 13 measures 18mm thick at the back and tapers down to 6mm in the front. It weighs just under 1.4kg. The keyboard and trackpad are similar to a typical laptop, and are also backlit. Additionally, the Dell XPS is less delicate than many other ultrabooks thanks to its Gorilla Glass cover for additional protection.

Lenovo Thinkpad X1 $1,199 (£760)
This ultrabook is ultra light weighing at 1.8kg. It also comes equipped with a fun, high
tech fingerprint scanner, which logs the user into their Windows operating system. Its
power comes from the laptop’s Intel Sandy Bridge processor.
Samsung 9 Series Notebook 900X3A £1,300

Rivaling the MacBook Air, the Samsung Series Notebook 900X3A is light and mobile with a slim line body made of metal and glossy plastic. It also has power with an Intel Core i5 2530UM processor. It comes with a higher resolution screen and an SD card slot, rivaling many of its competitors. This ultrabook boasts a long battery life, and at its thickest point is merely 16.3mm.

MacBook Air £1,399

The one that set many of the standards in the ultrabook market, the extremely portable MacBook Air is 3mm at its thinnest edge. Despite its small size, it has a powerful performance thanks to its 1.8GHz Intel Core i7 processor and 4GB RAM. On the outside, the unibody design is sturdy, yet sleek.

RETAIL

KENDAL GAPINSKI

Home Retail, the owner of Argos and Homebase, reported a big drop in sales in the eight weeks to 25 February, sending shares down 0.6 per cent.

Argos sales decreased 8.5 per cent, while like-for-like sales at Homebase dropped 6.5 per cent, worse than the full year decline of 2 per cent.

Despite this Home Retail said it was on track to meet analysts’ expectations for a full-year underlying profit of around £100m, down from £254m the previous year.

This will be the firm’s fifth consecutive year of falling profits.

Finance Director Richard Ashton said that a more modest decline in the current financial year was to be expected, with an underlying profit of £80m.

“Trading remains tough and there is a long way to go before we begin to see margins recover at Argos, in our view,” Espirito Santo analysts said in a note.

However, the company, Britain’s largest household goods retailer, said there were reasons to be optimistic about the outlook for the coming year, with inflation falling and increased spending at events such as the Olympic Games in London and the Queen’s diamond jubilee.

http://www.cityam.com/latest-news/sales-drop-owner-argos-and-homebase