Yell in 500m fundraising September 23, 2009 STRUGGLING publisher Yell said yesterday it plans to raise at least £500m through a rights issue as it attempts to repay its £3.8bn debt-pile. The Yellow Pages publisher has been in discussions with its creditors since June about its debt repayments, and confirmed yesterday that its proposals now had the backing of “a significant proportion” [...]
Goldshield agrees 166m deal with AIT September 23, 2009 PHARMACEUTICAL firm Goldshield last night said it had agreed terms on an improved £165.7m offer made by AIT, its former chief executive’s bid vehicle. AIT yesterday raised its offer to 450p, up from its 440p original bid. Goldshield, which manufacturers appetite suppressant drug Appesat, found itself in the centre of a bid battle after the [...]
Pensions body opposes McCreevy’s EU directive September 23, 2009 THE National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has hit back of the proposed Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, branding parts of it “misguided”. In a letter to the European commissioner for internal market and services Charlie McCreevy, NAPF chief executive Joanne Segars opposed the directive, saying it would reduce investment returns, boost costs and increase [...]
BlackRock deal for BGI gains approval of EC September 23, 2009 FUND manager BlackRock has won regulatory approval from the European Commission (EC) for its $13.5bn (£8.2bn) purchase of Barclays Global Investors (BGI). The Commission said the deal did not raise competition concerns, despite overlaps between the two firms in areas such as retail asset management. It said the new entity, BlackRock Global Investors, would be [...]
Business activity picking up across the eurozone September 23, 2009 PRIVATE sector output in the eurozone increased for the second consecutive month in September, as the services sector returned to positive territory, according to data released yesterday. Markit’s purchase managers index (PMI) for the eurozone rose to a 16-month high of 50.8 in the period, up from 50.4 in August, though this was a smaller [...]
WILL YELL’S REFINANCING PROPOSALS BE ENOUGH TO SECURE ITS FUTURE? September 23, 2009 ALEX DEGROOTE PANMURE GORDONBased on what was said today, the plans seem fairly well-advanced. I think it is a step in the right direction, but it has been well-trailed and the news has already been priced into the shares, which have been hit today by the underwhelming trading outlook given by the firm. ANDY VINER [...]
Construction firms accused of bid rigging September 22, 2009 CONSUMER watchdog the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) yesterday dealt out fines adding up to £129.5m to some of the UK’s biggest building companies, punishing them for colluding while bidding for work on projects such as hospitals, schools and housing refurbishments. Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Connaught, Interserve, Kier and Galliford Try were among the 112 named [...]
Chime eyes sports marketing growth with 18.23m takeover of Essentially September 22, 2009 BRITISH marketing services group Chime Communications said yesterday that it has agreed to buy Essentially Group for £18.23m to boost its sports-marketing business. Based on FTSE Small Cap firm Chime’s Monday closing price of 177.75p, the offer values each Essentially share at 8.08p, a premium of about 7.7 per cent to Essentially’s closing price of [...]
NICK WESTLAKE September 22, 2009 Numis Securities acted as corporate broker and sponsor to Chime in the execution of its acquisition of Essentially. EPL Advisory were Chime’s financial adviser, while Cenkos Securities was financial advisor to Essentially. Numis has advised Chime for five years, and previously advised on its acquisition of advertising agency VCCP – of Comparethemeerkat.com fame – and [...]
Suntory bids for Schweppes September 22, 2009 JAPANESE brewer Suntory has made a binding bid for soft drinks maker Orangina Schweppes, its private equity owners said, in a sign buy-out houses may find it easier to exit investments. Suntory will pay €2.6bn (£2.4bn) for Orangina, two sources familiar with the situation said, allowing Blackstone Group and Lion Capital to double their money [...]