Vodafone in $2bn Indian tax setback June 1, 2010 VODAFONE’s long-running battle over an acquisition it made three years ago continued yesterday when India’s tax department served a new notice on it, which could see the pair battle it out in court afresh. The case relates to Vodafone’s $11bn (£7.5bn) acquisition of Hutchison Essar in 2007. Indian authorities believe Vodafone should have paid a [...]
ISPs slam Ofcom’s piracy rules June 1, 2010 OFCOM yesterday confirmed it will apply tough new anti-piracy laws only to internet service providers (ISP) with over 400,000 subscribers. The controversial Digital Economy Bill (DEB), passed after Gordon Brown had dissolved his government, will force ISPs to write to users suspected of piracy and could eventually force them to cut the users off. The [...]
O2 bites into Apple with package for Dell’s tablet June 1, 2010 TELECOMS giant O2 hopes to muscle in on the roaring success of Apple’s iPad by offering a package for Dell’s new tablet device. It will give free mobile connectivity to users already signed up to its mobile broadband package costing from £25 a month. Dell hopes its new Streak tablet computer, which can double as [...]
Google bans Windows over security fears June 1, 2010 GOOGLE is phasing out internal use of rival Microsoft’s Windows operating system because of security concerns following a Chinese hacking incident. The decision to move to other operating systems including Apple’s Mac OS and open-source Linux began in January after Google’s Chinese operations were hacked. Internet security firm McAfee said the cyber attacks on Google [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE IPAD – IS IT THE FUTURE FOR BUSINESS? June 1, 2010 DANIEL MORGAN | VTB CAPITAL “It really is the biggest waste of money ever. I can’t see what the ? difference is between the iPad and other computers. If it was a standalone device I could see the attraction, but it needs to link with a Mac computer to get the most out of it.” [...]
Regulators to look again at Unilever deal June 1, 2010 EUROPEAN Union regulators yesterday extended their probe of Unilever’s bid for Sara Lee Corp’s body care business after the Anglo-Dutch company refused to offer concessions to address competition concerns. European Union watchdogs have said they will need to carefully scrutinise the deal to buy Sara Lee’s personal care business as they fear it could give [...]
Shopping guru slams food chains June 1, 2010 TV shopping guru Mary Portas has blamed supermarkets for “killing” Britain’s smaller shops. The star of BBC’ s Mary Queen Of Shops, raised the alarm over what she describes as the “seemingly unstoppable march” of the superstores. Writing in the Radio Times, Portas said she believed communities were suffering for the sake of convenience. She [...]
Whitbread quashes City rumours of plans to issue equity in business June 1, 2010 PREMIER Inn and Costa Coffee conglomerate Whitbread yesterday insisted that it has no plans for a rights issue to boost its finances. Whitbread, which was responding to City speculation, said it was looking at “diversifying the sources and tenure of its debt” and could issue new debt in the next 12 months. Whitbread, which also [...]
Northern Foods relies on Goodfella’s June 1, 2010 NORTHERN Foods has said it hopes the relaunch of Goodfella’s pizzas will help it to cope with tough trading conditions as it yesterday repor?ted flat annual profits. Chief executive Stefan Barden said the firm aimed to replicate the success it achieved with the relaunch of its Fox’s biscuits, which lifted it to number two in [...]
NAB gets time to finalise its Axa Asia deal June 1, 2010 INSURER AXA has given National Australia Bank (NAB) six more weeks to win regulatory approval for its takeover bid for insurer and wealth manager AXA Asia Pacific Holdings (APH). All three firms are locked in an exclusivity agreement until 15 July while NAB continues talks with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which blocked [...]