Hong Kong tycoon eyes Shaftesbury takeover

SHARES in London landlord Shaftesbury soared to a six- month high amid rumours a Hong Kong billionaire could be about to launch a takeover bid.

Samuel Tak Lee has built up a stake of just over 18pc in the company, which owns vast swathes of Soho, including property in Carnaby Street and Chinatown.

The 78-year-old property magnate, who is estimated to be worth around £2.4bn, is thought to be preparing a full-blown takeover bid. He has owned the Langham Estate in London’s West End since 1994, when he bought it for £60.3m, and his possible interest comes as foreign investors look to snap up British property on the cheap following the fall in the pound.

Shaftesbury shares closed up 3.3pc, or 30.5p, at 949p.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.01pc, or 0.43 points, to 7348.94.

Gold miners failed to shine as the price of the precious metal edged down 0.15pc, hit by a stronger dollar. Randgold Resources fell 2.4pc, or 180p, to 7230p. Fresnillo, which mines gold through subsidiary companies, was down 2.5pc, or 41p, to 1583p. Centamin was hit after reporting gold output had fallen by a fifth in the first quarter of 2017. It has spent the past three months digging out an area of its Sukari gold mine in Egypt, sacrificing part of its first-quarter production to increase the rest of the year’s output.

The company previously warned investors to expect a drop in the quarter ending March 31, and remains on course to meet its 2017 production target. Broker Panmure Gordon said the firm remains an acquisition target and reiterated its ‘buy’ rating. Shares fell 2.8pc, or 5.2p, to 179.6p.

Pharmaceutical firms were a mixed bag as the influence of brokers helped and hindered in equal measures. AstraZeneca, a favourite of star fund manager Neil Woodford, saw shares slide after broker Jefferies slashed it to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’. Jefferies said investors are overestimating the biopharmaceutical company’s revenue potential over the next four years by as much as £2bn.

Last week, analysts at HSBC also cut the company, lowering it to ‘reduce’ from ‘hold’. Shares slid 1.2pc, or 55.5p, to 4738p.

But an upgrade to ‘ buy’ from ‘ hold’ by analysts at Investec placed Mediclinic among the highest jumping blue-chips.

Investec said a recent decline in the private healthcare provider’s share price has provided a buying opportunity for UK investors.

Mediclinic has been hit by its exposure to the South African rand, which has plummeted fol- lowing the sacking of the country’s finance minister at the end of March. Shares shot up yesterday 3.6pc, or 25p, to 724.5p.

Ongoing concerns around the rand’s value coupled with a 2.1pc drop in the price of platinum led to a shocking session for Lonmin.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said the platinum producer was also hit by a recent Goldman Sachs paper which argued that mining asteroids for platinum in space could be a lot nearer and cost effective than many investors believe. Shares tanked 9.7pc, or 11.5p, to 107p.

Associated British Foods performed strongly following reports it is looking to replace its chairman of eight years. The Primark owner has reportedly hired a headhunter to find a replacement for Charles Sinclair, a former chief executive of the Daily Mail & General Trust. ABF was raised from ‘neutral’ to ‘ buy’ by analysts at Goldman Sachs last month.

Its shares yesterday rose 3.8pc, or 94p, to 2578p.