BHP deal with Rio faces defeat August 19, 2010 Global miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto expect their $116bn iron ore joint venture will fail to gain regulatory approval. Mining executives involved in the process said yesterday that competition regulators in various jurisdictions had rejected the two miners’ arguments that the venture would not have price-setting power. “It’s dead and the coffin’s being lowered [...]
Facebook to track users’ location August 19, 2010 Facebook’s 500m-plus users will soon be able to track friends’ whereabouts across the world, as the world’s largest Internet social network adds technology to increasingly tie its virtual world to everyday life. The new “Places” feature – which begins rolling out on Wednesday and goes nationwide within weeks – is being touted as a tool [...]
BANKING CHEMISTRY GEEKS GET CREATIVE August 19, 2010 THANK heaven for the idle pairs of hands which yesterday provided The Capitalist with the throatiest chuckle of the week. Into the inbox popped a link that’s been doing the rounds in the City, containing a link to a “periodic table” – though not one that would be familiar to many from distant memories of [...]
EU objects to Unilever purchase August 19, 2010 The EU could scupper Unilever’s purchase of parts of Sara Lee’s European business, after its anti-trust agency filed a formal objection to the €1.3bn (£1.07bn) acquisition yesterday. The company said yesterday it hopes to come to a “positive agreement” by the end of the year, allowing the takeover of Sara Lee’s shower-gel and detergent businesses. [...]
Temasek hires BoAML high-flyer August 19, 2010 Singaporean investment group Temasek has hired Gregory Curl a former top executive at Bank of America Merrill Lynch to oversee its holdings in the US. Curl retired from the bank in March but was respected for his work on its investments in China. He is one of several high profile hires in recent months as [...]
Blow for Commonwealth Games August 19, 2010 Two Indian state-run firms have withdrawn their sponsorship of the Delhi Commonwealth Games in October due to allegations of mismanagement. The country’s biggest power producer NTPC and energy transmission firm Power Grid Corporation have scrapped a total of 600m rupees (£8.3m) on the back of the negative publicity. In another blow to the games, Australian [...]
A-Levels not enough, say City bosses August 19, 2010 BUSINESS leaders have called for more young people to study for practical qualifications as well as traditional A-Levels to stand out in the increasingly competitive fight for jobs. Around 170,000 applicants are expected to miss out on a university place this year, despite a record 97.6 per cent of students passing their A-Levels yesterday. Director [...]
MasterCard buys DataCash August 19, 2010 MasterCard will buy British payment services provider DataCash Group for £333m in cash to expand its e-commerce business. The world’s second-largest credit and debit card payment processer, said it will pay 360p per share, a 54 per cent premium to DataCash’s Wednesday closing price. MasterCard said the deal would increase its ability to process payments [...]
Cineworld hit by World Cup but given boost from the 3D film revolution August 19, 2010 CINEWORLD saw a fall off in the number of filmgoers in the first half of the year because of the World Cup but said the popularity of 3D films was helping to boost the business. Despite the drop in admissions, the company recorded pre-tax profits of £11.8m in the first half of the year up [...]
John Menzies on the up as aviation arm thrives August 19, 2010 JOHN Menzies yesterday upgraded its profit forecasts after its aviation business flourished despite the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud. Menzies Aviation more than doubled operating profits in the first half as cargo volumes returned following the end of the global recession. On the ground-handling side Menzies won 44 contracts, including a £70m five-year deal with Lufthansa/bmi [...]