An analysis of the ACS / Dragados merger

JEL Classification System G14 - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies G34 – Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate GovernanceThis dissertation analyses the merger between ACS, Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. (“ACS”) and Dragados, S.A. (“Dragados”), which occurred between 2002 and 2003. ACS, one of the leading construction companies in Spain, growing through acquisitions since mid 1980’s, acquired in April 19, 2002, Santander Central Hispano’s stake in the competitor Dragados (23.5% of share capital). In the following year, ACS acquired, in the market, another 10% of Dragados share capital (as of March 21, 2003) and, later in that year (as of December 15, 2003), a merger between the two companies was completed and full integration was initiated. This dissertation characterizes both companies, goes through the mains events of the merger process, looks at the operation rationale, and tries to determine if the premiums paid by ACS versus Dragados’ closing price at (i) the date of Santander Central Hispano stake acquisition (59% premium), (ii) nine months later, at the date of the acquisition of the further 10% (36% premium) and (iii) implicit in the final merger conditions (1% premium) were, as of December 2003, positively outbalanced with stock price evolution until the merger was concluded and with future synergies to be achieved after full integration of the two companies. The final outcome is that, as of December 31, 2003, the merger had a strong rationale and, despite the referred premiums paid by ACS, globally created value to ACS shareholders, mainly due to both stock price evolution and the future synergies to be achieved: tax savings on goodwill amortization, headcount reduction and economies of scale in cost structure. Also, I present a brief event study to show that Dragados shareholders benefited from positive speculative movements around the target stock price at the day of the first acquisition announcement (April 19, 2002). Final Note – This dissertation contains information and forward-looking statements of the time of the merger process, with respect to ACS, Dragados and to ACS / Dragados new group (“New ACS”) compiled from different sources. Therefore, market evolution of both companies and actual results may differ materially from the information and results presented in this dissertation.Esta dissertação analisa a fusão entre a ACS e a Dragados, a qual ocorreu entre 2002 e 2003. ACS, uma das empresas espanholas de construção líderes em Espanha, a crescer via aquisições desde meados da década de 80, adquiriu, a 18 de Abril de 2002, a participação que o Banco Santander Central Hispano detinha na concorrente Dragados (23.5% do capital da empresa).No ano seguinte, a ACS adquiriu, em bolsa, outros 10% do capital da Dragados (concretizada a 21 de Março de 2003) e, mais tarde nesse ano (concretizado a 15 de Dezembro de 2003), a fusão entre as duas empresas foi concluída e deu-se início à integração total das duas empresas. Esta dissertação caracteriza ambas as empresas, descreve os principais eventos do processo de fusão, olha em detalhe para o racional da operação e procura determinar se os prémios pagos pela ACS versus a cotação de fecho das acções da Dragados: (i) na data da aquisição da participação do Santander Central Hispano (prémio de 59%), (ii) nove meses depois, na data da aquisição dos 10% adicionais (prémio de 36%) e (iii) implícito nas condições finais da fusão (prémio de 1%) foram, a Dezembro de 2003, contrabalançados positivamente pela evolução da cotação da acções da ACS e da Dragados até à data da conclusão da fusão e pelas sinergias futuras a serem alcançadas com a integração total das duas empresas. As conclusões obtidas com a dissertação indicam que, à data de 31 de Dezembro de 2003, a fusão possuía um forte racional e, apesar dos prémios pagos pela ACS, criou valor para os accionistas, principalmente devido à evolução da cotação de ambas as acções e às futuras sinergias a obter, nomeadamente poupanças fiscais com a amortização do goodwill, reduções na estrutura de pessoal e economias de escala na estrutura de custos. Adicionalmente, é apresentado nesta dissertação um breve event study que demonstra o benefício obtido pelos accionistas da ACS devido a variações especulativas positivas na cotação das suas acções, no dia do anúncio da aquisição da participação do Santander Central Hispano (19 de Abril de 2002). Nota Final – Esta dissertação contém informações e projecções da ACS, Dragados e New ACS, compiladas de diferentes fontes de informação, que se reportam ao período em que decorreu o processo de fusão. Assim, a evolução de mercado de ambas as empresas e os resultados actuais podem diferir materialmente da informação e resultados alcançados nesta dissertação

Profiling of Flavonol Derivatives for the Development of Antitrypanosomatidic Drugs

Flavonoids represent a potential source of new antitrypanosomatidic leads. Starting from a library of natural products, we combined target-based screening on pteridine reductase 1 with phenotypic screening on Trypanosoma brucei for hit identification. Flavonols were identified as hits, and a library of 16 derivatives was synthesized. Twelve compounds showed EC50 values against T. brucei below 10 \u3bcM. Four X-ray crystal structures and docking studies explained the observed structure-activity relationships. Compound 2 (3,6-dihydroxy-2-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-4H-chromen-4-one) was selected for pharmacokinetic studies. Encapsulation of compound 2 in PLGA nanoparticles or cyclodextrins resulted in lower in vitro toxicity when compared to the free compound. Combination studies with methotrexate revealed that compound 13 (3-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4H-chromen-4-one) has the highest synergistic effect at concentration of 1.3 \u3bcM, 11.7-fold dose reduction index and no toxicity toward host cells. Our results provide the basis for further chemical modifications aimed at identifying novel antitrypanosomatidic agents showing higher potency toward PTR1 and increased metabolic stability

Phagosomal removal of fungal melanin reprograms macrophage metabolism to promote antifungal immunity

Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (NORTE-01- 0145-FEDER-000013), the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (SFRH/BD/136814/2018 to S.M.G., SFRH/BD/141127/2018 to C.D.O., PD/BD/137680/2018 to D.A., IF/00474/2014 to N.S.O., IF/01390/2014 to E.T., IF/00959/2014 to S.C., IF/00021/2014 to R.S., PTDC/SAU-SER/29635/2017 and CEECIND/04601/2017 to C.C., and CEECIND/03628/2017 to A.C.), the Institut Mérieux (Mérieux Research Grant 2017 to C.C.), and the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID Research Grant 2017 to A.C.). M.G.N. was supported by a Spinoza grant of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. A.A.B. was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Collaborative Research Center/Transregio TR124 FungiNet (project A1). G.D.B. was funded by the Wellcome Trust (102705), the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology and the University of Aberdeen (MR/N006364/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Evaluation of magnetic field effect on quantification of aromatic components of humic acids by 13C CPMAS NMR

2 pages, 3 figures, 2 references.-- Comunicación oral presentada al citado Congreso, celebrado del 7-11 de mayo 2007, en Río de Janeiro, Brasil.High resolution 13C NMR spectroscopy, acquired with the CPMAS technique, has been a powerful tool to analyze chemical composition of soil organic mater (SOM), since 1980. The principal application of the CPMAS technique has been the quantification of the structural components of humic substances such as tile amount of aromatic, aliphatic, carbonyl and carboxyl groups.Peer reviewe

A methodology for assessing the impact of the interannual variability of wave energy resource on electrical energy conversion

This paper presents a methodology to assess the wave energy potential and the impact of inter-annual variability of the resource in overall energy production. This methodology was developed in the scope of a running H2020 project named Big-DataOcean, which aims to create a data repository and service marketplace for the maritime sector. The methodology is applied considering data from two different locations in the Portuguese coast for the years of2016 and 2017. Additionally, two wave energy converters are also used to verify the impact of inter-annual variability in the energy production through well-established KPI's.proofpublishe

Double Pulse Generator for Unipolar Discharges in Long Plasma Tubes for the AWAKE Experiment

High-voltage pulsed gas discharges can produce suitable plasma for wakefield particle acceleration experiments. Such plasmas are challenging loads characterized by significant parasitic elements and fast impedance transitions leading to hard-to-predict dynamic behavior. This hinders the use of solid-state pulse generators to replace inefficient and limited lifetime spark gaps or thyratrons. This article presents the development, simulation, and test of a new semiconductor-based double pulse generator for a 5-m-long plasma load. It uses two successive pulses. The first one consists of a step-up inductive discharge and leads to a low current arc (10 A) enough to set the plasma to a low impedance state. The second pulse, generated by a capacitive discharge, increases the arc current up to 400 A. The pulses are generated by two subcircuits integrated together and tested, showing a substantial reduction of the required instantaneous power compared with the one needed using a single pulse and resulting in a high ionization fraction gas discharge pulse with nanosecond jitter

Glutamine supplementation improves the efficacy of miltefosine treatment for visceral leishmaniasis

International audienceBackground: The disturbance of host metabolic pathways by Leishmania parasites has crucial consequences for the activation status of immune cells and the outcome of infection. Glutamine has been described as an immunomodulatory amino acid, yet its role during Leishmania infection is still unknown.Methods: We performed transcriptomics in uninfected and L. donovani-infected macrophages 6 hours post-infection. Glutamine quantification by HPLC was assessed in the supernatant of macrophages throughout the infection course. For experimental L. donovani infections, mice were infected with 1.0 x 108 stationary L. donovani promastigotes. Glutaminase (GLS) chemical inhibition was performed using BPTES and glutamine was administered throughout infection. For combined therapy experiment, a daily administration of miltefosine and glutamine was performed by oral gavage. Parasite burden was determined using a Taqman-based assay. Immune cell phenotyping and cytotoxicity were performed in splenic cells using flow cytometry.Findings: We show that glutamine is essential for the control of L. donovani infection. Transcriptomic analysis of L. donovani-infected macrophages demonstrated an upregulation of genes involved in glutamine metabolism. Pharmacological inhibition of glutaminolysis significantly increased the susceptibility to infection, accompanied by an increased recruitment of anti-inflammatory myeloid cells and impaired T cell responses. Remarkably, the supplementation of glutamine to mice infected with L. donovani during miltefosine treatment potentiates parasite clearance through the development of a more effective anti-Leishmania adaptive immune response.Conclusions: Our data indicates that dietary glutamine supplementation may act as a promising adjuvant for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis

SAR Studies and Biological Characterization of a Chromen-4-one Derivative as an Anti-Trypanosoma brucei Agent

Chemical modulation of the flavonol 2-(benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)-chromen-4-one (1), a promising anti-Trypanosomatid agent previously identified, was evaluated through a phenotypic screening approach. Herein, we have performed structure\u2013activity relationship studies around hit compound 1. The pivaloyl derivative (13) showed significant anti-T. brucei activity (EC50 = 1.1 \u3bcM) together with a selectivity index higher than 92. The early in vitro ADME-tox properties (cytotoxicity, mitochondrial toxicity, cytochrome P450 and hERG inhibition) were determined for compound 1 and its derivatives, and these led to the identification of some liabilities. The 1,3-benzodioxole moiety in the presented compounds confers better in vivo pharmacokinetic properties than those of classical flavonols. Further studies using different delivery systems could lead to an increase of compound blood levels