BP in $1.8bn asset sale October 18, 2010 Russia’s TNK-BP, half-Owned by BP, said it would acquire BP’s production and pipeline assets in Vietnam and Venezuela for $1.8bn (£1bn). The company will use its own funds to finance the new acquisitions, TNK-BP said in a statement. “The acquisitions in Venezuela and Vietnam mark a milestone in TNK-BP’s strategic expansion in the global energy [...]
RBC in £1bn deal for BlueBay October 18, 2010 BlueBay Asset Management has agreed an all cash takeover by Canadian bank Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). The deal values the company at around £1bn. BlueBay shareholders will receive 485p in cash for each of their shares. Shareholders will also get the dividend of 7.5p proposed at the end of last year. BlueBay is one [...]
SABMiller trading “in line” October 18, 2010 SABMiller has announced that it has been trading in line with expectations in the first six months. Lager volumes for the six months to the end of September rose one per cent compared to the previous year at the drinks giant. Some raw material cost reductions helped to keep the company on track, it said. [...]
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto ditch joint venture October 18, 2010 BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto scrapped their proposed $116bn (£72.6bn) iron-ore joint venture as expected, caving in to opposition from regulators, steelmakers and major investors 16 months after unveiling the plan. The collapse of the deal marks top global miner BHP’s second failed attempt to grab a piece of Rio Tinto’s superior iron ore assets [...]
ITEM: cuts won’t cause double-dip October 17, 2010 THE UK faces a slow economic recovery but fears of a double dip recession are overdone, one of the UK’s top forecasters will say today. The Ernst & Young Item Club – which uses the Treasury’s own economic model to make its predictions – also suggests that far from hurting the economy, Wednesday’s Comprehensive Spending [...]
AIA listing values firm at $20bn October 17, 2010 AIA Group could raise up to $20bn (£12.5bn) when it launches an initial public offering (IPO) later this month in Hong Kong, making it the world’s third largest IPO in history. US insurer AIG’s Asian unit said it would initially offer 5.86bn shares at between HK$18.38 (£1.48) and HK$19.68 each, or up to $15bn. But [...]
Cable ups the heat on banks October 17, 2010 BRITAIN’S biggest banks are today set to face up to small business organisations and business secretary Vince Cable in an attempt to show that they are committed to rebuilding trust between the sector and smaller firms struggling to get access to credit. Cable will chair the first meeting of the Small Business Economic Forum, which [...]
Corporate spending set to rescue UK October 17, 2010 THANK goodness for the private sector. With the exception of parts of the property investment industry, it is now in reasonably good shape. Contrary to what many believe, this means that Wednesday’s Comprehensive Spending Review – and the all too necessary spending cuts it will detail – won’t derail the UK economy. Sure, a chunk [...]
Miners get City Freedom October 17, 2010 CHILEAN president Sebastian Pinera and the 33 miners rescued last week after over two months trapped underground in a collapsed mine are set to be awarded the Freedom of the City of London. Pinera will today attend a lunch at the Mansion House hosted by Lloyd’s of London chairman Lord Levene, standing in for absent [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 17, 2010 THE SUNDAYS The Sunday Telegraph LORD LAWSON URGES OSBORNE CUTS Lord Lawson of Blaby, the former Chancellor and a man used as a sounding board by George Osborne, has urged his successor to “be bold” when making cuts to expenditure in this week’s Comprehensive Spending Review. Lord Lawson said that in spite of fears of [...]