Sanofi sticks with $69 per share offer for rival drug firm Genzyme September 9, 2010 French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis yesterday poured cold water on reports it had raised its offer for Genzyme, saying it was sticking to its bid of $18.5bn (£11.9bn), or $69 per share. “There is one offer, at $69 a share,” said spokesman Jean-Marc Podvin. “No other offer has been made to or discussed with the Genzyme board, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 9, 2010 Clifford Chance The law firm said yesterday that Michael Dakin, the chief legal officer at Dubai-based investment firm Future Group, is to rejoin its ranks on the European high-yield team. Dakin left Clifford Chance to join Future in August last year, having been a partner at the law firm for four years. Prior to that, [...]
IG eyes turbulence after revenues rise September 9, 2010 SPREADBETTING and derivatives specialist IG Group is eyeing an uptick in trading activity as the prospect of further government debt woe in the Eurozone looms. Chief executive Tim Howkins said he was “quite gloomy” about the outlook for global equity markets given the need to gradually withdraw fiscal props in the wake of 2008’s financial [...]
US slips in WEF’s competitiveness rankings for 2010 September 9, 2010 SWITZERLAND remains the world’s most competitive economy, while the United States has fallen from second to fourth after losing the top spot last year, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) annual rankings. Sweden, in second spot, and Singapore in third leapfrogged the United States in the WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report 2010/2011. Last year the [...]
Lion Capital set to sell Dutch retailer Hema September 9, 2010 PRIVATE equity group Lion Capital said yesterday it had appointed Citigroup and RBS to explore selling retailer Hema, the second Dutch retailer to be placed up for sale this year. Lion Capital bought Hema, a household name in the Netherlands, for an undisclosed sum in July 2007 from Dutch retail group Maxeda, and has since [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: ARE YOU CHANGING YOUR ESTIMATES AFTER IG GROUP’S FIRST QUARTER RESULTS? September 9, 2010 JAMES HAMILTON | NUMIS SECURITIES In aggregate, the first quarter was a little better than we would have expected but at this point of the year we are not loking to change our forecasts and continue to look for 12.8 per cent revenue growth for the full year. IG is valued at 14.8 times this [...]
Accountants take up top FTSE 100 jobs September 9, 2010 ACCOUNTANTS now hold senior roles at six out of 10 FTSE 100 companies in the UK, according to new research. A survey conducted by recruiter Marks Sattin found that 40 per cent of senior figures at the UK’s largest companies have an accounting or financial background. The number has more than doubled from the 1990s [...]
Amagerbanken raises £99m to secure lifeline September 9, 2010 SMALL Danish bank Amagerbanken has raised 898m Danish crowns (£99.3m) in a fully subscribed rights issue of new shares, fulfilling a tough condition for a government lifeline. In June, Denmark told struggling Amagerbanken to raise 750m crowns by 15 September to qualify for a guarantee for a $2.3bn bond issue carried out in July. Amagerbanken [...]
ALTERNATIVE MANAGER OF THE YEAR | The Shortlist September 9, 2010 INNOVATION is at the heart of the City, and nobody demonstrates it better than the top hedge funds and private equity houses. Our varied shortlist makes clear the chutzpah and sheer-brain power needed to become a leader in this toughest of sectors. And it also makes the clear the massive rewards awaiting the brightest and [...]
Interest rate frozen at 0.5pc September 9, 2010 The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has siad it will keep the UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5 per cent for the 19th consecutive month. Meanwhile the quantitative easing programme also remained on hold.