Mail.ru share price up as Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov takes full stake in “Russian Facebook” VKontakte for $1.47 billion September 16, 2014 Moscow-based internet company Mail.ru has bought a remaining 48 per cent stake in the social network VKontakte, Russia's answer to Facebook, for $1.47bn (£909m) taking full ownership of the business. Mail.ru said in addition to the sale, all legal action among itself, United Capital Partners which sold the stake and VK founder Pavel Durov had [...]
Uber’s German ban just got overturned September 16, 2014 A judge in Germany has reversed a country-wide ban on Uber, the taxi app. The service had been told it could no longer operate in the country, but after an appeal Frankfurt Regional Court Judge Frowin Kurth decided the original complainants – other taxi companies in the country – had waited too long before they [...]
Lord Myners to lead review into the IPO process? September 16, 2014 After a quiet couple of months, it looks like Royal Mail is at the top of the parliamentary agenda again. Lord Myners has been drafted in to lead yet another review into the handling of the controversial, £3.3bn privatisation of the company, it was reported this morning. Former City minister Myners will lead a panel [...]
Petra Diamonds share price slips as rare blue diamond from Cullinan mine sells for only $28 million September 16, 2014 Spending $28m (£17m) on this rare blue diamond was actually a bit of a bargain for one unknown buyer. The rare 122.52-carat blue diamond has been sold by Petra Diamonds.after being discovered in its Cullinan mine back in June when some predicted it could break the record price paid for a rough cut diamond. It might [...]
Why shares in Elon Musk’s Tesla dropped 9 per cent yesterday September 16, 2014 For several years now, Tesla and Paypal founder Elon Musk has been able to do no wrong. Having founded the company which is doing for the electronic car what the iPod did for MP3 players, his status has been upgraded from "tech legend" to "tech god" – as shares in his company underwent a similar [...]
Scottish independence: How likely is it that the Scots will vote Yes? September 16, 2014 How likely is it that Scotland will vote yes? It's a hard nut to crack as there are so many variables in play, but luckily there are a group of people who work out such probabilities for a living: betting companies. By looking at the results for 23 different bookies, we can arrive at some [...]
UK house prices hit record highs and are now 11.4 per cent above the pre-crisis peak September 16, 2014 The average house in the UK cost £284,000 in July – an increase of 11.7 per cent over last year. This takes the index score (February 2002 = 100) to 206 – a new record and 11.4 per cent above the January 2008 pre-crisis peak. The latest statistics from the ONS have shown that house [...]
Why an independent Scotland could be faced with a huge £450m NHS funding gap September 16, 2014 Will the NHS in Scotland really be better off, as Alex Salmond has promised, if Scotland votes for independence on 18 September? Civil servants seem to think it will face a huge funding gap. It was reported today that the government has outlined a radical cost-cutting plan for NHS Scotland, presented to a meeting [...]
Publicis share price jumps as management shake up after omnicom merger failure sees Maurice Levy stay on until 2017 September 16, 2014 Publicis Group's share price jumped 1.4 per cent in early trading after chief executive and chairman Maurice Levy announced his intention to stay in charge of the world’s third largest advertising group until 2017. The 72 year-old’s term at the helm, which began in 1987, was expected to come to an end in 2015, however Levy [...]
Britain’s biggest companies call on Westminster for fundamental business rates reform September 16, 2014 Some of Britain's biggest businesses including Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, Tesco, General Motors and Tata Steel have called on the government to rip up the current business rate regime claiming the current system is “a critical problem for all of British business”. The controversial tax delivers around £25bn to the Treasury every year, but [...]