Encouraging signs for job-seeking graduates February 10, 2010 THE number of opportunities for graduates remains in decline, but not by as much as previously expected. And for those hoping to enter the City after university, prospects remain good, according to the latest report from the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR). As I have argued in this column before, the City remains an excellent [...]
Autonomy builds a £500m war chest for acquisitions February 10, 2010 AUTONOMY was back on the acquisition trail yesterday, raising £500m in a convertible bond issue to snap up a target in the US. Chief executive Mike Lynch said: “We’ve got our eye on a couple of potential targets, but we need to get the cash before we can start having proper conversations.” He said Autonomy [...]
Bidders circle German Kabel February 10, 2010 A CLUSTER of private equity firms are circling Kabel Deutschland, the German cable TV operator chaired by former BSkyB chief executive Tony Ball, it emerged yesterday. BC Partners and CVC Capital Partners joined forces earlier this week to launch a combined offer for the business. Bain Capital is also considering making an offer, while other [...]
Competition Commission to continue fight over BAA sale February 10, 2010 THE Competition Commission (CC) is continuing its fight to force BAA to sell some of its airports, challenging a tribunal judgement giving BAA the right to appeal. The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) last year ruled that the CC’s decision that Ferrovial-owned BAA should dispose of London Stansted and Scotland’s Edinburgh or Glasgow airports within two [...]
Tories accuse Labour of planning £20,000 levy to fund social care February 10, 2010 THE Tories yesterday accused Labour of planning a £20,000 “death tax” to fund the care of the elderly. Yesterday morning health secretary Andy Burnham said a compulsory levy on every estate was not on the agenda. “I do not believe that would be the right way,” he said. But Gordon Brown refused to rule it [...]
GRAINGE IS?NO.1?AT?UNIVERSAL MUSIC February 10, 2010 LUCIAN Grainge, who has helped nurture artists such as Duffy, Amy Winehouse, U2 and Elton John, is to become the chief executive of Vivendi’s Universal Music Group. Grainge, who has been chairman and chief executive of Universal’s International division, which operates in more than 50 countries, will take over the New York-based top job at [...]
BHP Billiton is set to go on a buying spree February 10, 2010 GLOBAL mining heavyweight BHP Billiton today announced plans to ramp up its spending despite its interim profits falling victim to the commodity downturn in 2009. The FTSE 100 group posted a seven per cent drop in profit to $5.7bn (£3.7bn) in the final six months of 2009 as “significant volatility and continued uncertainty in the [...]
Savile quits Air Partner role February 10, 2010 DAVID Savile, the chief executive of aviation services provider Air Partner, yesterday denied rumours that he will replace Andy Harrison as Easyjet’s chief executive when the latter steps down in June. Air Partner announced yesterday that Savile will leave at the end of March. Mike Stoddart, an analyst at Daniel Stewart, said yesterday that he [...]
ArcelorMittal is back in profit after a dire year for the world’s steel markets February 10, 2010 ARCELORMITTAL recorded a $1.07 bn (£684 m) profit in the fourth quarter of 2009 on the back of improved steel demand. The results are a significant turnaround from the same period last year when the steelmaker reported a $2.6bn loss. But the company’s profit for the year was $118m, a large drop from the $9.4bn [...]
Google to trial high speed network in United States February 10, 2010 GOOGLE said yesterday it would build a super high-speed broadband network for up to half a million people around the United States in order to experiment with the possibilities of a network running at 100 times current speeds. The company has long argued that it can sell more Web ads – the way it makes [...]