Private deals gain traction July 28, 2009 APPETITE for private equity backed deals increased during the second quarter, with a 38 per cent increase in the value of deals compared to the first quarter. According to the Candover Unquote Private Equity Barometer, published yesterday, the number of European private equity transactions rose to €4.8bn (£4.1bn) in the period, compared to €3.5bn in [...]
PZ Cussons profits lather up as swine flu epidemic fuels hygiene awareness July 28, 2009 IMPERIAL Leather soap maker PZ Cussons yesterday said it was cleaning up in the swine flu epidemic, reporting a 16 per cent jump in annual pre-tax profits. The group yesterday reported its Carex range of waterless antibacterial hand gels were “performing particularly well” in “a climate where there is additional consumer focus on hand hygiene”. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 28, 2009 PEARSONGoldman Sachs upgraded Pearson to “Neutral” from “Sell” after seeing some recovery from the publisher’s recent underperformance, and upped the price target by six per cent to 766p. Pearson said that the firm has seen solid first half results and that valuation had dropped more in line with peers. This has resulted in more positive [...]
CITY MOVES Who’s switching jobs July 28, 2009 Noble The independent investment bank has hired Mileen Rash for its equity sales team, Sanjay Vidyarthi as lead analyst covering retail and Marianne Headey as head of roadshows. These appointments further the expansion of Noble’s equities business and corporate broking division, following the recent appointment of Michael Burt to lead research in real estate, and [...]
Treasury refuses to examine cost of EU hedgie crackdown July 28, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling is refusing to investigate how much European plans to crackdown on hedge funds will cost the industry. The Treasury has admitted it will not carry out an “impact assessment” on a EU draft law which could damage London’s position as a global hedge fund centre by imposing a strict disclosure regime and [...]
Branson and sheikh go for final frontier July 28, 2009 VIRGIN Galactic’s space flight business is selling a $280m (£170m) stake to Manchester City football club’s Middle Eastern owner. Sir Richard Branson will sell 32 per cent of the company to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who last month made a £1.5bn profit selling shares in Barclays. Branson aims to have commercial space flights running [...]
IBM unveils giant SPSS buyout July 28, 2009 IBM unveiled plans to buy business analytics company SPSS yesterday for $1.2bn (£730m) in cash, to better compete with rivals Oracle and SAP in the growing field of business intelligence. The offer, under which SPSS shareholders would get $50 a share, could trigger mass consolidation in the industry.
UBS client in US admits tax fraud July 28, 2009 A US client of Swiss bank UBS pleaded guilty yesterday to using Swiss bank accounts to hide more than $8m from US tax authorities. And he said a Swiss government official received $45,000 to help cover up the fraud. Jeffrey Chernick of New York admitted using using a UBS account for tax fraud, as he [...]
SJ Berwin lawyer drowned self July 28, 2009 A top lawyer threw herself into the Thames after struggling with the demands of motherhood and a City career, an inquest heard yesterday. Catherine Bailey, a partner at SJ Berwin who specialised in banking and commercial law, may have been suffering from postnatal depression, the inquest heard. She was found dead near Richmond bridge six [...]
Coffee Republic snapped up July 28, 2009 Coffee Republic, the chain that was on the brink of collapse after sales plummeted in the downturn, is to be bought by Arab Investments. It is thought the private property firm that is building the Pinnacle skyscraper in London will today confirm the buyout, with an eye to expanding the brand.