Setanta pair hanging on June 10, 2009 SETANTA founders Michael O’Rourke and Leonard Ryan were last night locked in talks to salvage their moribund sports channel. The duo were determined to launch one last audacious bid to save their pay-TV venture by raising the funds to buy out investors Goldman Sachs and Doughty Hanson – who have refused to plough more money [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 10, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES RIKSBANK BORROWS €3BN FROM ECBThe European Central Bank (ECB) stepped in yesterday to help avert a Baltic financial crisis by lending €3bn (£2.6bn) to the central bank in Sweden, whose banks dominate the region’s financial sector. The ECB move signalled the Frankfurt institution’s willingness to shore up official European help for countries such [...]
UKFI in bond plan for bank stakes June 10, 2009 The government is mulling an early exit from its £70bn stakes in bailed-out RBS and Lloyds Banking Group before their share prices recover, by selling off “exchangeable bonds” in the groups. UK Financial Investments has discussed creating the complex instruments to allow an early sale of the stakes at a premium to their still-depressed share [...]
Citigroup defends tax benefit June 10, 2009 Bailed-out US banking giant Citigroup last night brought in a mechanism to deter investors from owning over 5 per cent of its stock. It is designed to protect a $43bn (£26bn) tax break it receives if under 50 per cent of its shareholders own over 5 per cent. The move came as it launched its [...]
BGI staff await 360m payout June 10, 2009 Staff at Barclays’ BGI asset management arm are set to receive a £360m windfall from its sale to US asset manager BlackRock. The group’s top four executives could net shares worth £115m.
Chrysler and Fiat seal their partnership June 10, 2009 ITALIAN carmaker Fiat and Detroit giant Chrysler said yesterday their ambitious partnership deal is now in action, a day after the US Supreme Court gave it the go-ahead. The tie-up will see Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne become the new head of Chrysler. In a message last night to his new employees he said he [...]
City fears a distracted UK government may be unable to fight EU regulation June 10, 2009 FEARS are growing in the City that a weakened UK government may not be able to fight off strict European Union proposals to regulate the financial services sector. The UK government, led by chancellor Alistair Darling, has spent the last few weeks battling plans for the European Central Bank to take charge of a new [...]
FED EMAILS CRITICISE BoA’s LEWIS June 10, 2009 BANK of America boss Ken Lewis was criticised by Federal Reserve officials in emails to each other as he tried to back out of plans to buy failing peer Merrill Lynch in December, documents have revealed. Fed boss Ben Bernanke said Lewis’ threats to drop the deal were a “bargaining chip” while others said Lewis’ [...]
Investor rebellion rumbling over executive pay at Man June 10, 2009 INVESTORS in hedge fund manager Man Group could demand that the company revise its bonus scheme, after revelations that chief executive Peter Clarke was paid $14.4m (£8.8m) last year, despite shareholder return diving by 58 per cent. Ahead of Man’s annual meeting on 9 July, shareholders and advisory bodies were reviewing the firm’s annual report, [...]
BLOCKBUSTER BOOST June 10, 2009 FILM studio owner Pinewood Shepperton, chaired by ITV boss Michael Grade, was yesterday hopeful that it would win more commissions from Hollywood, after the Screen Actors Guild in America agreed a salary deal. The agreement comes after a year of heated debate over pay. Pinewood’s UK filming facilities have played host to the production of [...]