Virgin Active eyes £1bn sale as an alternative to floating July 25, 2010 VIRGIN ACTIVE, the gym chain owned by Sir Richard Branson, is considering a secondary private equity sale that could value the business at £1bn. Virgin is known to have been considering an initial public offering (IPO) as a way of raising capital for growth for some time, but stockmarket turbulence has made that route less [...]
Heritage must pay full taxes on Ugandan oil deal, says minister July 25, 2010 PETROLEUM explorer Heritage Oil must pay the full amount of tax on earnings from the sale of assets in Uganda before the government fully endorses the deal, the country’s energy minister said yesterday. The Ugandan government said on 6 July it had given Heritage conditional approval to sell its exploration assets in the country to [...]
Spill liabilities expected to reach $30bn July 25, 2010 BP IS expected to reveal that liabilities connected to the Gulf of Mexico spill have reached $30bn (£20bn) when it announces second quarter results tomorrow. The group has already ring-fenced $20bn into an escrow fund to help pay out liabilities and claims, but it is expected that all legal, clean up and fine related costs [...]
Relief well rig back at BP oil spill site in Gulf July 25, 2010 A RIG that had been drilling a relief well to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil leak was back on site yesterday after storm fears forced it to leave the area on Friday. The Transocean rig “is on location, and beginning the process of reconnecting,” a BP spokesperson said. Other vessels that had left the [...]
European bank stress tests were too soft, analysts say July 25, 2010 LONDON’S stockmarket will give its verdict on the European Union’s bank stress tests today after analysts warned they were not tough enough to give investors real confidence. Only seven of the 91 institutions investigated failed to meet the capital requirements demanded by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors under three “economic shock” scenarios. Five Spanish [...]
WH Ireland to hire new boss July 25, 2010 STOCKBROKER WH Ireland has taken on former Toscafund fund manager Paul Compton as its new chief executive, in an attempt to turn the ailing business around. Compton joins the firm at a torrid time for the small-cap broking industry. WH Ireland said on Friday that it had fallen into the red over the first half [...]
McLaren gets £260m boost for new sports cars July 25, 2010 FORMER Formula 1 racing boss and executive chairman of the McLaren Group Ron Dennis has successfully raised £260m to help fund a new sports car manufacturing business. McLaren Automotive, a subsidiary to the racing group, raised the new finance through a collection of new investors with a small portion of the funding raised through debt. [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 25, 2010 Chartered Insurance Institute Chris Hanks, currently a management board member at Allianz UK, has been elected as the 114th president of the CII, taking over from Fortis UK chief executive Barry Smith. Hanks, pictured, joined Allianz in 1999 and is currently general manager responsible for the commercial business at Allianz UK. In addition, Julian James, [...]
BPP becomes a university July 25, 2010 HIGHER education college BPP, which specialises in business and law degrees, is to become the first private provider to gain university college status in nearly three and a half decades. Universities and skills minister David Willetts will today award BPP the university college title, three years after it was granted degree-awarding powers. The move is [...]
The world’s centre of gravity is moving East July 25, 2010 THE Prime Minister, who leads a delegation of senior ministers including George Osborne, William Hague and Vince Cable to India this week, is right to commit his government to building a “special partnership” with Delhi. The world’s centre of gravity is moving East. Washington is shifting its attention from its post WWII Atlantic allies to [...]