Virgin close to bank deal January 3, 2010 VIRGIN Money hopes acquiring a bank as early as this month could help the company become a major player in consumer finance. It has already approached Quayle Munro, the bank founded by the chairman of parent company Virgin Group, to advise on a transaction. It is thought Virgin’s banking arm will focus on providing a [...]
Omega board faces coup January 3, 2010 OMEGA Insurance is under increasing pressure to replace the directors of its board after Invesco Perpetual, its largest shareholder, secured the backing of other investors to request a special general meeting. Neil Woodford, Invesco’s star fund manager, wants to oust Walter Fiederowicz and replace him with former Benfield man John Coldman as chairman of the [...]
Fall in house prices lets in new buyers January 3, 2010 LOWER house prices and falling interest rates have made homes significantly more affordable for first-time buyers in the past 12 months, according to the Halifax. The average price paid by a firsttime buyer in 2009 was affordable in nearly 40 per cent of local authority districts, compared with 24 per cent in 2008 and just [...]
Brown casts doubt over an early election January 3, 2010 SENIOR politicians were busy drawing battle lines at the weekend after the New Year heralded the start of the general election campaign proper for the major parties. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was confident “there will be a Labour Budget this spring”, casting doubt over the likelihood of the party calling an early election, [...]
Kraft ready to up its bid for Cadbury January 3, 2010 KRAFT Foods is preparing to raise its £10bn hostile bid for Cadbury in order to convince shareholders to accept its takeover. Investors in the British confectionary company have been holding out for a higher offer, and Kraft now wants an extension on the deadline for its current cash-and-shares bid. The offer was due to expire [...]
Weill lays the blame on his successor Prince for big problems at Citigroup January 3, 2010 FORMER Citigroup chief executive Sanford Weill has blamed the bank’s recent problems on personnel decisions and blamed his successor, Chuck Prince, for letting its balance sheet balloon and for taking on large risks, according to the New York Times, citing a series of recent interviews. “One of the major mistakes that I made was my [...]
Russia halts oil flow to Belarus January 3, 2010 RUSSIA has halted oil supplies to Belarussian refineries after failing to agree terms for 2010, traders said yesterday, threatening a repeat of a dispute which disrupted supplies to elsewhere in Europe three years ago. Deliveries to Belarus refineries were halted after talks broke down on New Year’s Eve. Transit flows to other parts of Europe [...]
EX-LEHMAN ANALYST’S SITE IS FULL OF HOT AIR January 3, 2010 WHEELER dealers in the City may already be aware of the name Nicolas Dickreuter the former Lehman Brothers M&A analyst who hit the headlines last year with a penny auction site, psychoauction.com, offering iPods, stereos and other expensive goods for a fraction of the price. Not content with his first stab at entrepreneurialism, Dickreuter is [...]
COLD AS ICE January 3, 2010 Continuing on its aggressive drive for diverse cultural supremacy, Canary Wharf has decided to treat its army of suits to yet another arty extravaganza for the New Year – in the form of the annual London Ice Sculpting Festival will take place on 15 and 16 January next to the ice rink in Canada Square [...]
TAN TASTIC January 3, 2010 City types might think they’ve got a rough deal from the UK government after it introduced a damning windfall tax on bank bonuses last month, but spare a thought for our poor US counterparts, who are struggling with an altogether uglier reality. Before packing up for the holidays, lawmakers in Washington pushed through a 10 [...]