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 [...]
Goldshield management fail to trump AIT’s offer September 22, 2009 THE TAKEOVER battle for drug firm Goldshield was believed to be in its final stages yesterday. It now seems unlikely that someone will table a better bid than the £162m being offered by AIT, the investment vehicle of former chief executive Ajit Patel. Goldshield management, who own 9.62 per cent of the firm, on Monday [...]
Singapore’s GIC profits on Citi stake sale September 22, 2009 SINGAPORE’S sovereign wealth fund GIC has sold half of the nine per cent stake in Citigroup it acquired amid the banking crisis, booking a profit of $1.6bn (£980m) on the back of the rally in the markets. GIC offloaded the stake after the conversion earlier this month of $6.8bn worth of its convertible preferred stock [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 22, 2009 TAYLOR WIMPEYPanmure Gordon changed its recommendation on Taylor Wimpey from “hold” to “sell”. The broker said that, although it believes the firm is now on a much more stable footing following its rights issue earlier this year, the stock’s valuation versus the value of its sector peers has now run a little ahead of itself. [...]
Anglo Irish staff cuts likely September 22, 2009 Anglo Irish Bank is understood to be planning to lay off hundreds of staff as the nationalised bank bids to cut costs. The bank has an enormous wage bill, paying its 1,700 employees an average of €100,000 (£90,454) last year, including basic salary and extras such as share awards and pension schemes. The Irish government [...]
Intel boss reassures on PC sales September 22, 2009 Paul Otellini, chief executive of computer chip giant Intel, expects personal computer (PC) sales volume this year will at least match 2008’s, underscoring growing expectations that consumer spending is driving a mild recovery. Otellini, speaking at a product launch in San Francisco, said the PC industry remains “alive and well” in the middle of the [...]
Carnival lifts earnings forecasts September 22, 2009 Carnival, the world’s largest cruise operator, lifted its 2009 earnings forecast yesterday, citing stronger booking volumes, sending shares up as much as 8.4 per cent. Booking volumes for cruises slated for the remainder of 2009 and the first half of 2010 are running 19 per cent ahead of the prior year, spurred partly by heavy [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 22, 2009 Securities and Investment InstituteThe SII has appointed John Nichols, a former ambassador to Switzerland, as its new director of global business development. Nichols, 57, has spent 30 years in the Foreign Office, holding senior positions in the UK, Brazil and Bangladesh and as ambassador to Switzerland, Hungary and Liechtenstein. He was also previously deputy chief [...]