Tepper makes $7bn profit December 21, 2009 Hedge fund firm Appaloosa Management, run by David Tepper, has made about $7bn (£4.4bn) of profit so far this year, Reuters reported yesterday. Through February and March, Tepper scooped up beaten-down bank shares as many investors were running for the exits. He bought Bank of America shares, then trading below $3, and Citigroup preferred shares, [...]
Chinese miner ditches US deal December 21, 2009 A Chinese mining company has withdrawn from a deal with Nevada mining company Firstgold after the Obama administration objected on national security grounds, Firstgold’s chief executive said yesterday. “They basically let me know it was a tough call, but they felt they would not have success with the appeal and didn’t feel it was in [...]
END OF THE ROAD December 21, 2009 THE end of the road for Sweden’s Saab looks near after talks to sell the company owned by General Motors broke down. GM plans to shut Saab after failing to strike a deal with Spyker Cars of the Netherlands, although it was evaluating several new enquiries last night including a renewed offer from Spyker. The [...]
Dawson sees loss as media December 21, 2009 MEDIA services company Dawson Holdings has reported a pre-tax loss of £6.1m in the year to the end of September, which compares with a £3.5m profit the year before as the recession takes its toll. Dawson said it had established a package of cost-cutting measures in an attempt to improve its finances. The bleak figures [...]
It’s still possible to build a business in a recession December 21, 2009 THOSE of us who were there in the early part of this century when Alastair Lukies was walking the streets of the City of London with his vision for Mobile Money can remember the days before the banks adopted the Monilink platform. Last Thursday, the Aim-listed firm announced a new joint venture (JV) deal with [...]
Scottish government calls for a probe into the collapse of airline Flyglobespan December 21, 2009 THE SCOTTISH government yesterday upped its demands for an investigation into the collapse of Flyglobespan as it emerged credit card firm E-clear withheld around £35m of payments to the Scots airline. Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond has called for a police probe into E-clear payment methods after it emerged Flyglobespan collapsed last week with debts [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 21, 2009 Persimmon The housebuilder has hired Jonathan Davie as a non-executive board director, effective from 1 January. Davie, 63, is chairman of financial spread-betting firm IG Group, and is also currently a non-executive director of Portland Gas and chairman of First Avenue Partners. He has previously held roles as vice chairman of Credit Suisse and chief [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 21, 2009 CLAPHAM HOUSE Following a gloomy outlook from the restaurant group for 2010, Seymour Pierce yesterday said it pulled back its recommendation on the shares and is now taking a neutral stance on Clapham House. The broker had hoped a bidder would emerge for the troubled group, but without any suitors on the horizon and difficult [...]
Sanofi to buy US rival with $1.9bn offer December 21, 2009 SANOFI-Aventis will buy US consumer healthcare firm Chattem for around $1.9bn (£1.2bn), in a deal which will give the French drugmaker over-the-counter presence in the US market. Sanofi said it would start a tender offer for all of Chattem’s shares at $93.50 per share, a premium of 34 per cent over Friday’s closing price. The [...]
Credit Suisse picks M&A head December 21, 2009 CREDIT Suisse has promoted banking veteran Boon Sim to lead its global and European mergers and acquisitions businesses. The Swiss bank announced the decision in an internal memo yesterday, in which it confirmed Sim would take up the new role from 1 January next year. He succeeds Marc Granetz, who is also co-head of global [...]