RICH TASTES June 14, 2009 GU, the upmarket chocolate dessert maker, is set to become even richer after receiving several approaches for the business. Founder James Averdieck founded the group in 2003 with just £100,000. The business is now valued at £50m. Private equity groups including Darwin are said to be interested, as well as trade giant Unilever.
Umbers raises Evolution stake June 14, 2009 Andrew Umbers, chief executive of investment bank Evolution Securities, has raised his stake in the London institution’s parent company Evolution Group almost fourfold. The former Credit Suisse heavyweight is thought to have exercised call rights on shares in the first part of an incentive package worth more than £2m, having met all performance conditions for [...]
Wood Mackenzie deal draws near June 14, 2009 Private equity firm Charterhouse is expected to announce today or tomorrow that it has bought energy consultancy Wood MacKenzie from rival Candover Investments for around £550m, in the biggest UK leverage buy-out this year. A sale of Wood Mackenzie would provide a welcome cash infusion for Candover, and could spur other private equity firms to [...]
Serco to control Dubai’s air space June 14, 2009 Support services firm Serco has secured a 10-year contract worth £245m to provide air traffic control at Dubai’s airports. The deal includes Maktoum Airport, which is projected to become the world’s busiest hub in the world when it is completed in 2017.
UK’s economy ready to grow June 14, 2009 BRITAIN’S economy is stabilising, with the worst of the recent quarterly falls in GDP having passed into history, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) will today predict. But the employers’ group warns that it will take until the beginning of next year before there is a return to economic growth. The report is published a [...]
Russian billionaire to rescue Setanta June 14, 2009 SPORTS broadcaster Setanta has been rescued by Russian-American industrialist Len Blavatnik, who has offered to put up £20m in return for a 51 per cent stake in the struggling business. Blavatnik’s company, Access Industries confirmed that it had submitted an offer, which is subject to a “number of pre-conditions”. “Access believes that this proposal would [...]
BBC braced to oppose Digital Britain proposals June 14, 2009 COMMUNICATIONS minister Lord Carter is expected to unveil his Digital Britain report tomorrow, ending months of speculation over his proposals for the BBC’s licence fee. The report will outline the government’s thinking on a range of subjects from high-speed broadband access to dealing with illegal file sharing and advertising downturns. But the most highly-anticipated proposal [...]
Milton Gate office block sold for 127m June 14, 2009 PRIVATE equity group Evans Randall has teamed up with Bahrain’s Al Salam Bank to buy the seven-storey Milton Gate office building in the City for £127m. The Moor Lane property, let to law firm Addleshaw Goddard, was put up for sale by UBS last year, but was taken off the market after the investment bank [...]
Loss of personal wealth drops June 14, 2009 Personal wealth loss from the credit crunch shrunk to £36,000 in May, from £40,000 in March, a survey out today will say. Recent recoveries in share prices and house prices have reduced the total UK household wealth loss from the credit crisis from its peak of around £1.9 trillion in March 2009 to around £1.7 [...]
Airbus not worried about slump June 14, 2009 Airbus SAS could cope with losing as many as 1,000 jetliner contracts without suffering unduly because of its formidable order book, chief executive Tom Enders said yesterday. Airbus is able to withstand its backlog of 3,500 contracts shrinking, he said. He added that, if the order book kept growing, customers would have to wait seven [...]