Brookfield bails out US firm August 2, 2010 Canadian asset manager Brookfield has bailed out US firm Fairfield Residential from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the States by promising to make $150m available for future investment. The group, along with a Canadian pension fund, had already agreed to stump up $29m to recapitalise the troubled property manager in exchange for a 65 per cent [...]
Global IPOs reach pre-crisis level August 2, 2010 Proceeds from initial public offerings (IPOs) in July soared on a global basis, hitting their highest level since before the 2008 financial meltdown, according to Thomson Reuters data. The $30.5bn (£19.2bn) that new issues raised globally in July was the most since November 2007 and exceeded the amount raised by follow-on issues for the month. [...]
ATKINS BUYS US FIRM PBSJ FOR £178M August 2, 2010 ENGINEERING group Atkins, led by chief executive Keith Clarke (above), said it would buy US engineering design firm PBSJ for £178m yesterday, filling a gap in its geographic coverage. Atkins, which helps design big building projects such as London’s 2012 Olympic site, will fund the purchase with cash reserves and a £150m four-year facility.
Tullett Prebon looks to growth markets August 2, 2010 TULLETT PREBON will focus on hiring in South America and Asia Pacific rather than replacing departed staff in the US, chief executive Terry Smith said yesterday. Smith said the world’s second largest interdealer broker had “certainly built people back into the main areas” affected by the defection of 10 senior brokers from its North American [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW IS TULLETT PREBON PERFORMING? August 2, 2010 JAMES HAMILTON | NUMIS SECURITIES “Tullett retains a strong balance sheet. The firm remains cheap, and having avoided the substantial profit decline we forecast the profit and loss account has remained relatively resilient through the recession. As a stand-alone business likely to be valued at seven times earnings, the group is a clear buy. With [...]
Broadband bus comes to town August 2, 2010 A mobile broadband bus is being launched today by mobile operator Three as part of a drive to get more than 100,000 people online. The bus is being unveiled by UK digital campaigner, Martha Lane Fox and the Minister for culture, communications and creative industries Ed Vaizey. It will offer people across the country specialist [...]
European car sales slow in July August 2, 2010 Spanish, Italian and French car sales plummeted in July from a year ago as scrappage schemes were phased out and austerity measures kicked in, figures showed yesterday. Car sales in Spain fell 24 per cent to 82,167; French new car registrations fell 12.9 per cent to 169,804; and Italy’s new car sales were down almost [...]
E-book sellers face probe August 2, 2010 Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal is investigating deals struck by Amazon.com and Apple to offer low prices on electronic books, saying the agreements may block rivals from providing attractive pricing. Earlier this year, Amazon and Apple worked out a “most favoured nations” deal with major publishers, ensuring rival booksellers would not be able to work [...]
GEELY COMPLETES VOLVO PURCHASE August 2, 2010 CHINESE carmaker Geely has completed the purchase of Swedish rival Volvo from Ford for $1.5bn (£944m). The deal, which was agreed in March, ends the US firm’s involvement in overseas car brands. Li Shufu, Geely’s chairman (above), said former Volkswagen America chief executive Stefan Jacoby would take over as chief executive at Volvo on 19 [...]
Toxic writedowns fall at BNP Paribas August 2, 2010 BNP Paribas, France’s largest bank, was boosted by the lowest level of toxic debt writedowns for two years as it revealed a 31 per cent jump in net income yesterday. In a set of results described by one analyst as a “mixture”, BNP Paribas reported a 54 per cent year-on-year drop in provisions for bad [...]