Minerva hits back at rebel shareholder December 2, 2009 PROPERTY FIRM Minerva yesterday published a hard-hitting rebuttal to South African entrepreneur Nathan Kirsh’s £84.5m takeover bid, urging its shareholders to reject the “woeful” offer. Minerva chief executive Salmaan Hasan said the timing of the 50p per share bid from Kirsh’s vehicle KiFin, launched on 17 November was “opportunistic” and a “wholly inadequate” attempt to [...]
DOES KIRSH’S BID UNDERVALUE MINERVA? December 2, 2009 AARON GUY COLLINS STEWART“Minerva was a heavily indebted developer and had its struggles, but the value of its portfolio has now increased by ten per cent. The share price has bounced significantly recently making this bid seem low. There is a lot of equity chasing commercial property ahead of the recovery.” JOHN CAHILL KBC PEEL [...]
Top businesses urge Gordon Brown to fight for emissions cut in Copenhagen December 2, 2009 SOME of Britain’s biggest businesses are today urging the Prime Minister to fight for a global cut in carbon emissions at next week’s climate change negotiations in Copenhagen. The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change – which includes firms such as Shell, Tesco and Unilever – will tonight present a communiqué endorsed [...]
Ex-banker buys Folio Hotels December 2, 2009 Former global head of real estate at Citi’s investment bank James Brent yesterday announced he had snapped up the core Folio hotel business to launch a newly formed company, the Akkeron Group. Brent plans to build a portfolio of up to 150 regional hotels across the UK. Akkeron Hotels reported that it has established its [...]
Jump in cosmetic surgery December 2, 2009 The Harley Medical Group yesterday reported a surge in non-surgical cosmetic treatments in the run up to Christmas with bookings for the most popular treatments up by 14 per cent. Botox remains the most popular, accounting for 73 per cent of non surgical injectable treatments carried out during November.
Nokia forecasts growth in 2010 December 2, 2009 Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phonemaker, forecast handset market volumes would grow around 10 per cent next year, more than analysts’ 8.6 per cent consensus. Nokia also said its market share would be unchanged in 2010.“Going into 2010, the overall mobile devices market is stabilising and it is growing more in the areas where Nokia [...]
NEW EU REGULATORS GIVEN HUGE POWERS December 2, 2009 BRUSSELS grabbed huge new powers over the financial services industry yesterday amid growing fears that excessive red tape is destroying the City of London’s competitiveness. European finance ministers agreed a sweeping new regulatory framework that will see the EU take centre stage in the supervision of banks, markets and insurance companies. Ministers agreed to the [...]
…AS RBS HIT BY TREASURY BONUS CAPS December 2, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland’s board was on a collision course with the Treasury last night after the government threatened to veto the bank’s plans to pay up to £1.5bn in bonuses to its investment bankers. Stephen Hester, the bank’s chief executive, and the rest of the RBS board are said to be prepared to resign [...]
Myners and Walker clash over City pay December 2, 2009 A ROW was brewing last night after City Minister Lord Myners claimed 5,000 bankers will earn more than £1m this year. The figure is five times the estimate given by Sir David Walker, the man tasked by the government to review bankers’ pay, leaving the pair on a collision course. Myners, speaking in the House [...]
Bank of America to repay $45bn in bailout funds to regain independence December 2, 2009 THE United Arab Emirate’s National Day celebrations to mark the country’s 38th birthday yesterday were marred by the financial turmoil in Dubai. The International Monetary Fund said it expects to cut its 2010 growth forecast for the UAE because of fallout from Dubai’s debt crisis.