Dealmakers thrive in City’s flotation frenzy September 14, 2014 DEALMAKER of the year Although there has been a dearth of mergers and acquisitions so far this year, there has been a rash of initial public offerings (IPOs) for our dealmakers to get their teeth into. There has been some exciting deals for bankers to get a buzz from. Verizon Wireless’ $130bn deal to take [...]
Undercover Rupert Murdoch hits Scottish streets ahead of independence referendum September 14, 2014 If you were north of the border over the weekend breathing in Scotland’s febrile political atmosphere you may have been standing side-by-side with none other than Rupert Murdoch. But you may not have known it. According to a tweet by the media tycoon, he went undercover for a true Scots experience. We’re [...]
Popcorn maker to bubble up in China September 14, 2014 What started out as a kitchen cookery experiment by a 52-year-old retiree has just morphed into China’s next big snack trend. Joe & Seph’s, a gourmet popcorn maker founded by Joseph Sopher, has just signed a deal to be sold in supermarkets throughout Beijing and Shanghai. No word on cinemas yet though.
UK footfall takes a hit in August despite rebound in retail sales September 14, 2014 FEWER shoppers visited shopping centres and high streets in August, even as retail spending rebounded, new figures show. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard revealed this morning that footfall dropped by 1.1 per cent in August compared with the same time last year. This was greater than the 0.6 per cent fall in July [...]
Dr Martens profits take big stride forward September 14, 2014 BRITISH footwear brand Dr Martens has posted a leap in sales and profits in its first year since being bought out by private equity firm Permira. Revenues rose by 30 per cent to £209m in the year to March, as the retailer increased the number of shops from 13 to 41 across the US, Europe [...]
Photobox boss Stan Laurent: The man driving Moonpig’s growth story September 14, 2014 By the end of April, it became clear to Stan Laurent that London’s doors were effectively closed to new consumer-facing internet companies. There had just been the perfect storm of disastrous market debuts from Just Eat and AO World, along with two profit warnings from Asos that triggered a sell-off in shares of fellow fashion [...]
City Moves for 15 September 2014 | Who’s switching jobs September 14, 2014 Linklaters Stuart Bedford has been appointed London head of corporate at the law firm. Previously head of Linklaters’ corporate practice in Asia, he has a background in private and public mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and capital raisings. Bedford succeeds Sarah Wiggins. Lend Lease The property and infrastructure group has appointed Rob Heasman as project [...]
Best of the Brokers for 15 September 2014 September 14, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com JD WETHERSPOON Investec has kept its “buy” rating, but upped the target price to 885p from 870p. The broker says full year results were just ahead of expectations, and that cash generation remains strong, while the current year has started well with a [...]
London Report: Scotland and MPC minutes the main focus for the City September 14, 2014 ALL EYES will be on the result of Thursday’s Scottish referendum, with market watchers keen to know whether or not the 300-year-old union will continue. As far as more normal risk events are concerned, the main one will be Wednesday’s release of the latest set of MPC meeting minutes. That will be complemented by the [...]
Wall St The Week Ahead: Fed meeting in spotlight September 14, 2014 THE RECENT wobbly stretch in both stocks and bonds may persist for the short term if the US Federal Reserve this week lives up to expectations and signals the days of near-zero interest rates are numbered. Anxiety over the two-day Fed policy meeting, centred on expectations the central bank will likely drop its pledge to [...]