International stocks trading in New York closed lower on
Tuesday. The Bank of New York index of American depositary receipts
fell 0.85% to 152.37. The European index decreased 1.1% to 149.97,
the Asian index dropped 0.23% to 149.08, the Latin American index
fell 0.86% to 290.23 and the emerging markets index declined 0.44%
to 297.31. Among the companies with shares that actively traded
were AstraZeneca PLC (AZN, AZN.LN) and Shire PLC (SHPG,
SHP.LN).
A handful of companies that investors once viewed as ripe for a
takeover by U.S. rivals aren't looking so attractive early Tuesday,
after the White House late Monday unveiled a sweeping effort at
cracking down on the tax benefits of cross-Atlantic mergers.
Companies affected include AstraZeneca, the target of a failed bid
from Pfizer Inc. (PFE), and Shire, which agreed to a $54 billion
takeover from American rival AbbVie Inc. (ABBV). AstraZeneca shares
fell 4.7% to $71.13. Shire shares fell 2.2% to $250.74 .
Philips NV (PHG, PHIA.AE) said Tuesday it would split into two
new companies and prepare its lighting business for a future as a
separate business. The Dutch electronics group said it would break
itself in two by merging its health care and consumer-electronics
divisions and creating a lighting business that could be spun off
through an initial public offering, possibly by 2016. Shares rose
3.7% to $31.26 .
Brazilian shares and the real continued to be buffeted by a
combination of a weak economy and political uncertainty. Decliners
included state-controlled electric utility Centrais Eletricas
Brasileiras SA (EBR, ELET6.BR), or Eletrobras, which fell 2.3% to
$2.98 and state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR,
PETR3.BR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, which declined 1.2% to
$15.92.
UniCredit SpA Chief Executive Federico Ghizzoni said Tuesday the
bank has decided to enter exclusive talks with Banco Santander SA
(SAN, SAN.MC) to combine its Pioneer Investments asset-management
unit with Santander Asset Management. The plan, which was reported
earlier Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal, would see the creation
of one of Europe's top 15 assets managers, with 350 billion euros
($449.7 billion) in assets under management. Santander shares fell
1.5% to $9.70.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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