M&B to offload pubs for £373m August 20, 2010 Pubs and restaurants group Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) has announced plans to sell 333 pubs as it concentrates on its premises offering food. The pubs are being sold to Stonegate Pub Company – which is controlled by TDR Capital – for £373m. Earlier this month, M&B announced the sale of its Hollywood Bowl 10-pin bowling [...]
Online sales surge August 20, 2010 INTERNET sales grew in July at their fastest pace since before the recession as wet weather encouraged home shopping, a survey found Online sales surged by 18 per cent in the month compared with a year earlier, IMRG said. UK shoppers spent £5bn online in July. The average UK shopper made purchases worth £81 online, [...]
PTT plots bid for Carrefour assets August 20, 2010 PTT, Thailand’s biggest energy company, said it plans to bid for French retailer Carrefour’s Thai assets, worth an estimated $600M (£386m), under a plan to diversify its businesses. Carrefour, Europe’s top retailer, wants to sell its Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand units at a potential price of $1BN to focus on core markets where it holds [...]
Dubai to go on road to ease investor fears August 20, 2010 The Dubai government, which is restructuring $23.5bn (£15.1bn) in debt, will launch a roadshow for fixed-income investors in Asia starting on 26 August, a statement said. The plan follows a similar program for European investors in June, as part of the government’s strategy for “providing regular updates to both existing and prospective fixed income investors [...]
KNOC launches £1.7bn hostile bid for Dana August 20, 2010 State-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) has made a hostile $2.6bn (£1.7bn) cash bid for Dana Petroleum, reflecting South Korea’s growing urgency to boost oil reserves. Seoul gave KNOC a $6.5bn warchest this year to compete with energy-hungry Asian state firms aiming to secure future supplies for their growing economies. Chinese and other firms have [...]
BHP deal to hand Potash CEO $400m August 19, 2010 POTASH chief executive Bill Doyle stands to make more than $400m (£257m) from the firm’s sale to mining giant BHP Billiton if the controversial takeover goes ahead, as BHP ramps up its efforts to persuade its shareholders a $40bn hostile bid is worthwhile. Doyle, head of the Canadian fertiliser firm, could make even more if [...]
Rowland in U-turn over Tory role August 19, 2010 DAVID Rowland, the property tycoon who was set to take up the role of Tory party treasurer, has decided to sacrifice the role to concentrate on his business interests. Rowland, who donated millions of pounds to the Conservative party in the run up to the general election, returned to the UK from the Channel Islands [...]
Intel in $8bn McAfee buy August 19, 2010 INTEL continued a run of big money technology deals yesterday when it announced it will buy security software maker McAfee for $7.7bn (£4.9bn) – its biggest ever acquisition. The chip-maker will pay $48 per share in cash, a 60 per cent premium on McAfee’s closing price. The purchase, which marries a hardware and software maker, [...]
Why the Green row won’t go away August 19, 2010 SOMEWHAT predictably the recent appointment of Sir Philip Green to the post of efficiency tsar is turning out to be one of the most ill-judged moves of the government’s (reasonably successful) first 100 days. The tycoon’s call-up has cruelly exposed the differences in policy between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats on tax avoidance. This in [...]
Brittan takes trade role August 19, 2010 LORD Brittan, who made his name as trade and industry secretary in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet, is to return to government as a trade adviser. David Cameron said that 71-year-old Brittan, who is taking a six-month sabbatical from his job as UBS vice chairman, would help “drive forward Britain’s ambitious trade agenda”. However, the Prime Minister [...]