Essar directors shun investor’s offer as too low February 24, 2014 ESSAR Energy’s independent directors have rejected a plan from the firm’s biggest investor to take the company private, saying the 70p offer price “clearly undervalues the company and its prospects”. The board members with no links to the Ruia family’s Essar Global Fund (EGF) unanimously shunned the proposal yesterday. EGF owns 78.02 per cent of [...]
Game’s landlords win key case on rent owed by collapsed firms February 24, 2014 COLLAPSED retailers must pay to use their shops even if the rent bill was due before they failed, the Court of Appeal said yesterday, marking a major change to the way retail administrations are handled. Landlords for Game Group, which filed for administration the day after its quarterly rent was due in March 2012, are [...]
Shrek moving to the South Bank February 24, 2014 DREAMWORKS Animation’s green ogre Shrek will star in a tourist attraction opening on the South Bank in the summer of 2015, the first of six attractions based on the franchise that will be built over nine years. Dreamworks has licenced Shrek and other characters to Merlin Entertainment, which will build and operate “Shrek’s Far Far [...]
Zucker-bore is set on pushing his Internet.org February 24, 2014 THE TECH geeks currently nerding it out over at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona couldn’t believe their luck that just five days after Facebook splurged $19bn on Whatsapp, the connectivity wunderkind himself Mark Zuckerberg delivered the keynote speech last night. The Facebook chief exec showed up in his trademark jeans and T-shirt and like some [...]
Journo has phone nicked at Mobile Congress February 24, 2014 It might look like fun and games at the Mobile World Congress, with giant Android costumes (pictured) entertaining the crowds, but editor of Tech Crunch UK and co-founder of Tech Hub Mike Butcher had his phone swiped at the event yesterday. “Phone stolen (pick-pocketed) in Barcelona during Mobile World Congress (yes, finally they got me)” [...]
Calver resigns as Mothercare chief executive February 24, 2014 MOTHERCARE chief executive Simon Calver has stepped down just six weeks after a hefty profits warning that sent shares in the baby products chain tumbling by more than a third. The firm brought in the former head of online movie rental service Lovefilm two years ago to lead its turnaround and overhaul its UK estate. [...]
Stellar Primark growth offsets falling sugar sales at AB Foods February 24, 2014 ASSOCIATED British Foods (ABF) said yesterday that first half profits will be in line with forecasts after a standout performance at its clothing chain Primark helped offset falling profits at its sugar business. Sales at Primark, which launched its first two stores in France in the period, were up 13 per cent, driven by new [...]
Bwin.party executives play their cards right for winning pay deal February 24, 2014 BWIN.PARTY shareholders yesterday voted in a new pay scheme offering top executives at the online gaming group up to 550 per cent of their annual salary. At an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in Gibraltar, some 70 per cent of voters waved the new deal through, but a significant 30 per cent objected. The new incentive [...]
Soaring number of low deposit mortgage deals February 24, 2014 NEW FIGURES released this morning suggest that the number of products for the highest loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages has tripled since the surprise launch of the second phase of Help to Buy in October. The number of products available for buyers with only a five per cent deposit has soared from 43 to 132 in less [...]
Plans for a new tower at Vauxhall February 24, 2014 MCLAREN Property and Citygrove have submitted plans to build a 50-storey tower in Vauxhall, joining a string of developers adding to the skyline on London’s south bank. The developers lodged plans with Lambeth Council yesterday for the mix-used scheme at 69-71 Bondway comprising of 450 flats, shops and offices. The scheme, known as New Bondway [...]