JP Morgan in $800m deal to buy Gavea October 26, 2010 JP MORGAN has agreed to buy Brazilian hedge fund and private equity firm Gavea for an undisclosed sum. The second largest US lender by assets will acquire a 55 per cent stake in the company, with an option to purchase the remainder in the next five years. The deal is expected to value the Brazilian [...]
Macquarie division cuts staff by 10pc October 26, 2010 Australian lender Macquarie will slash a tenth of its staff from its global infrastructure and real assets division. The move, which the bank confirmed to City A.M. last night, will see it shed 60 of its 590-strong workforce, as part of a streamlining operation mooted over the summer. Martin Stanley, the new London-based head of [...]
United Biscuits deal is close to the rocks October 26, 2010 UNITED Biscuits’ investors held their breath last night after reports a £2bn deal to offload the firm to China’s Bright Foods was close to hitting the rocks. Blackstone Group and France’s PAI Partners were close to a deal to sell the snack maker after entering exclusive talks but negotiations were near to collapse last night, [...]
GSK hit with $750m fine October 26, 2010 GlaxoSmithKline yesterday agreed to pay $750m (£473m) after pleading guilty to manufacturing and distributing adulterated drugs from a plant in Puerto Rico. The company admitted in July it had reached an agreement in principle relating to problems at the plant and would pay out to resolve the allegations. The case centred around the anti-nausea medicine [...]
Government launches junior ISA for children October 26, 2010 THE government yesterday said it would introduce a new tax free savings account for children, to replace the child trust fund it scrapped when it came into office. Funds in the so-called “Junior ISA” will be deposited by parents, but the account will be owned by the child and will be locked until they reach [...]
BA’s chairman attacks security checks in US October 26, 2010 THE chairman of British Airways has attacked US airport security checks and has called for the UK to stop “kowtowing” to US security demands. Practices such as forcing people to take off their shoes, and checking laptops separately, should be abandoned, Martin Broughton said. Speaking at the UK Airport Operators’ Association annual conference, Broughton – [...]
Warning on demand dents ARM October 26, 2010 CHIP designer ARM’s confidence that it would see more growth, after third-quarter revenue beat expectations, was overshadowed by a warning from one of its chipmaking customers that demand could be weakening. Its shares, which have risen by 120 per cent since the start of the year, fell 5.9 per cent to close at 366.20p after [...]
Government launches junior ISA for children October 26, 2010 THE government yesterday said it would introduce a new tax free savings account for children, to replace the child trust fund it scrapped when it came into office. Funds in the so-called “Junior ISA” will be deposited by parents, but the account will be owned by the child and will be locked until they reach [...]
WPP sees best organic growth in over 10 years October 26, 2010 WPP enjoyed its strongest quarterly organic revenue growth for ten years, according to chief executive Martin Sorrell. However, Sorrell said there is “a tremendous amount of uncertainty” among company bosses about the future direction of the world economy. He said: “Everything we see in the rear view mirror is good,” adding growth was helped by [...]
Investment bank loss hits profits at UBS October 26, 2010 SWISS bank UBS yesterday shocked the City with the worst set of third quarter numbers from the banking sector so far, with muted client activity in the wealth management division compounded by a spectacularly poor investment bank performance. Pre-tax profit crumbled by over two thirds quarter-on-quarter to SwFr818m (£524m), 45 per cent below consensus analyst [...]