Vadera joining Temasek fund July 4, 2010 Baroness Vadera is set to join Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek. Vadera, Gordon Brown’s closest economic policy adviser, is reportedly wanted for her financial and geopolitical expertise. Temasek is restructuring parts of its S$127bn (£60bn) investment portfolio. Vadera has recently been advising Dubai World and is an adviser to the rotating G20 presidency.
Ocado issues IPO prospectus July 4, 2010 OCADO will this morning unveil the prospectus for its ambitious initial public offering, which it hopes will value the firm at more than £1bn. The online grocery delivery firm will begin a two week roadshow tomorrow as it seeks to convince investors it is worth the monster sum despite never turning a profit. Ocado, which [...]
ISC rights issue inquiry to focus on demand side July 4, 2010 THE INSTITUTIONAL Shareholders Committee (ISC) has launched a consultation for its formal inquiry into rights issue fees, which it said would be complementary to a similar investigation announced by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) last month. The ISC’s inquiry, spearheaded by Doug Ferrans, said its own inquiry would focus on the demand for investment [...]
BBC: keep top wages secret July 4, 2010 MARK Thompson, the director general of the BBC, fired a warning shot to the government and the BBC Trust yesterday, insisting it would be “damaging and destructive” to publish the salaries of the corporation’s top stars. He said he accepted the decision by the BBC Trust to force the corporation to publish the names of its highest earners [...]
Ukraine is set to receive a $15bn IMF stability grant July 4, 2010 THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to grant Ukraine $14.9bn (£12.3bn) to stabilise its ailing economy. The “preliminary co-operation agreement” is good news for president Viktor Yanukovich, but is only offered on the basis his coalition government delivers upopular economic reforms, such as increasing the price of natural gas. Final approval would not be [...]
Luxury motor company Aston Martin considers a £1bn IPO July 4, 2010 LUXURY carmaker Aston Martin is considering a joint venture with another manufacturer or an initial public offering (IPO) to boost its brand’s range and and technology. Chairman David Richards said over the weekend he thought the firm would be valued at over £1bn for the purposes of an IPO. A second alternative would be a [...]
BUFFETT GIVES AWAY HIS BILLIONS July 4, 2010 US billionaire Warren Buffett has pledged to give away 99 per cent of his wealth – around $1.93bn (£1.27bn) in shares of his company Berkshire Hathaway – to five charitable groups, financial filings showed. In notifications to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Buffett showed the donations included $1.6bn to the Bill and Melinda Gates [...]
E&Y demands more support for midcaps July 4, 2010 MEDIUM-SIZED companies could be major drivers of the UK economy but some are being hampered by the political and regulatory environment, according to a report published today by Ernst & Young. The report says many midcaps are caught between focus on big business and support for small businesses. Research conducted by YouGov for the report [...]
Birds Eye and Findus in battle for Unilever arm July 4, 2010 FISH finger maker Birds Eye Iglo is set to go head to head with crispy pancake makers Findus Group in the final round of bidding for Unilever’s Italian frozen food arm. The Italian division was put on sale earlier this year, and final bids are due tomorrow. The final competition is thought to be between [...]
Rates to stay on hold but tensions rise July 4, 2010 TENSIONS are growing within the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) but they are not yet sufficient to cause a hike in interest rates from the current level of 0.5 per cent, economists say. The minutes of the June meeting showed that Andrew Sentance voted for a 0.25 per cent rise while the other [...]