Investec Agrees to Buy U.K.'s Subprime Bank Kensington for $560 Million

(Bloomberg) -- Investec, a South African private and
investment bank with units in the U.K. and Australia, agreed to buy
Kensington Group Plc for 283 million pounds ($560 million) to
expand its mortgage-backed securities business in Britain.

The offer values each Kensington share at 519.5 pence, a
premium of 6 percent over the London-based bank's closing stock
price yesterday, Johannesburg-based Investec said. Investec offered
0.7 new shares for each Kensington share and a special dividend
from Kensington of 26 pence, based on the value of Investec's
closing stock price of 705 pence yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

S.Africa Jan PMI up as business activity grows

South African manufacturing activity grew faster in January and buoyant new sales coupled with upbeat expectations suggest further robust growth ahead, the country's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed on Thursday.

Sponsors Investec said the PMI index rose to 57.2 in January from 54.8 in December on a seasonally adjusted and annualised basis, moving further above the 50 line that divides growth from contraction.

Read more at Reuters South Africa