Engineer ABB close to buying Thomas & Betts January 29, 2012 SWISS engineering giant ABB was near an agreement last night to acquire US manufacturer Thomas & Betts for about $4bn (£2.5bn), the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. An agreement could be announced as soon as today, though the talks could still fall apart, the paper said, citing the same [...]
Fear of more bank failures still to come January 29, 2012 ANXIETY over the future of banks throughout the world has reached its highest point since a survey of potential “banana skins” was launched 13 years ago, with economic crises leading the list of concerns. The wide-ranging analysis, conduced by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) and PwC, reveals today that many people [...]
Iceland chief rules out PE January 29, 2012 ICELAND founder Malcolm Walker has ruled out working with a private equity house on a bid for the supermarket. Walker, the chief executive who with his management team has a 23 per cent stake, said he would “move on” if he could not buy the chain. A spokesman said, however, he had no knowledge of [...]
Police arrest Murdoch staff January 29, 2012 POLICE arrested four current and former staff of Rupert Murdoch’s Sun tabloid plus a policeman over the weekend as part of an investigation into suspected payments by journalists to officers, police and the publisher said. Police also searched the paper’s London offices at publisher News International in a corruption probe linked to a continuing investigation [...]
Rank in talks to take over Gala casinos January 29, 2012 LEISURE OPERATOR Rank Group is eyeing rival Gala Coral’s casinos business, in an estimated £250m deal that would make Rank the largest casinos operator in Britain. Talks between the two parties are ongoing, although it is understood discussions to merge Rank’s 35 Grosvenor Casinos with Gala’s 24 gaming venues are at an early stage, with [...]
Sir Stelios: EasyJet board can be easily replaced if pay deal leads to resignations January 29, 2012 EASYJET founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has again hit out at the remuneration of the budget airline’s board members, after reports suggested directors might resign if shareholders voted down their pay packages. “These guys are welcome to resign anytime. I know as shareholders we could easily replace them with talented executives and experienced non-executive directors who [...]
Acquisition volumes jumped as equities’ prices declined in 2011 January 29, 2012 CORPORATE acquisition volumes jumped in 2011 as prices fell, with the retail sector experiencing the biggest rise, professional services firm BDO revealed yesterday. The group’s Private Companies Price Index (PCPI) showed the price-earnings multiples paid by trade buyers fell from an average of 11.7 times in 2010 to 10.6 times in 2011, helping boost sales. [...]
February will need a new set of equity buyers January 29, 2012 NEW buyers, please. One month down, 11 to go. It has been a nice January so far for most of the long equity brigade, with markets putting in a respectable performance. The problems are the same that have blighted the upside momentum for the past two years. Already I hear some of the smart money [...]
New SNB chief to be named soon January 29, 2012 The new Swiss National Bank chief could be named in February after the resignation of chairman Philipp Hildebrand earlier this month, a Swiss newspaper said yesterday. Finance minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said finding a successor could take until May, but Der Sonntag reported that the announcement could come as early as February.
Costa wreck could sit for months January 29, 2012 The wreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia could remain where it lies near the Tuscan island of Giglio until the end of the year before it can be broken up or salvaged, the official in charge of the recovery operation said yesterday. Civil Protection agency chief Franco Gabrielli said that it could be another [...]