(Adds company news items and futures)
Jan 17 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening down 21 points at 7,735.3 on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 down 0.16 percent ahead of the cash market open.
* INFORMA-UBM: Britain's Informa INF.L on Wednesday offered to buy events organiser UBM UBM.L for cash and stock. PEARSON: Education group Pearson PSON.L said it expected to deliver underlying profit growth in 2018 when stripping out disposals and changes to currency, despite ongoing pressures in its North American business. BURBERRY: British luxury brand Burberry BRBY.L reported a 2 percent drop in revenue for the three months to end-December after sales in Europe slipped against a year ago, when a fall in the pound helped it perform well in its home market. BEAZLEY: Lloyd's of London insurer Beazley BEZG.L said it expected to report 2017 pre-tax profit ahead of current market expectations, despite the sector having faced hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfire bills of over $135 billion. CINEWORLD: British cinema operator Cineworld Group CINE.L , which is buying U.S. peer Regal Entertainment for $3.6 billion, said total 2017 revenue grew 11.6 percent on strong box office takings for titles such as "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" and "Dunkirk". RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto Plc RIO.L on Tuesday said a U.S. regulator's lawsuit accusing the big Anglo-Australian mining company of fraud for overstating the value of Mozambique coal assets it had bought in 2011 should be dismissed. GKN-MELROSE: Any potential buyer of British engineering company GKN GKN.L should be aware of its billion pound-plus pension deficit, its pension trustees said on Tuesday, a day after Melrose MRON.L appealed directly to GKN investors to back its 7 billion pound takeover offer. CARILLION: Carillion CLLN.L collapsed only days after Royal Bank of Scotland RBS) RBS.L , one of the British group's main lenders, tightened the terms of its funding, court documents show. GOLD: Gold prices XAU= edged up on Wednesday, as the U.S. dollar slumped to three-year lows against a basket of currencies .DXY . OIL: Oil prices gave away earlier gains on Wednesday as analysts warned of a downward correction after prices have gained more than 13 percent over the past month. The UK blue chip FTSE 100 .FTSE index closed down 0.28 percent at 7,747.18 points on Tuesday, as oil and mining companies dragged the index, tracking energy and metals prices lower, after gaining earlier in the session on a fall in sterling. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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