Lenders to M6 appoint UBS to run sale process; teasers out

I turned up a little titbit on the M6 toll road situation whilst on the rounds today.

The banks that took control of M6 signalled a couple a months ago they are plotting a sale of the business after taking control of the motorway from Aussie infrastructure fund Macquarie. Here are links to a Financial Times article and BBC piece on the topic.

Flag pole alert - part 6

Bryce Elder's stock market report column in the Financial Times caught my eye this morning.

The intrepid hack led his column with a juicy market tale about how UBS - British American Tobacco's longstanding corporate broker and financial adviser - had decided to stop carrying out equity research on the tobacco sector despite recently poaching a top sector analyst from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Fancy that: BAT appoints Deutsche Bank alongside UBS to advise on $4.7 billion investment in Reynolds/Lorrillard merger

I see British American Tobacco has finally put on an announcement effectively confirming my story on the front page of The Times a few months ago.

Back in May, I wrote that BAT had asked Deutsche Bank to work alongside UBS, the company's long-standing financial adviser, on how it should pursue and finance deals in America. Here is a link to the article: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/consumer/article4086903.ece

Wellcare Health Plans Inc said to be $4bn takeover target for US healthcare insurance giants

There is a bit of a buzz in European markets about a US company called Wellcare Health Plans Inc and I think I know why.

Wellcare Health Plans Inc - which provides Medicare and Medicaid managed care plans to its members in the US - has this year already been tipped as a takeover target by several leading Wall Street analysts, including scribblers round at Credit Suisse.