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 [...]
Davies returns to the high street June 14, 2009 George Davies, the designer responsible for Next, George at Asda and Per Una at Marks & Spencer, is poised to make his comeback to the high street this autumn with his new label, GIVe. Davies is set to plough his own money into a venture that will sell a 150-piece ranges in up to six [...]
Supervisory breakdown at fault for crisis June 14, 2009 THE financial crisis was caused by lack of supervision of the financial sector, rather than bankers breaking the rules, according to the influential Adam Smith Institute. Director of the free-market think-tank Eamonn Butler likens recent financial troubles to the parliamentary expenses scandal – with everyone sticking to the rules, but without proper supervision of the [...]
Anna Mann enlists top businesswomen to help crack boardroom glass ceiling June 14, 2009 ANNA Mann, one of the City’s most respected head-hunters, will today launch a new initiative called Women on Board, aimed at tackling the problem of gender imbalance on the boards of Britain’s biggest companies. Mann, co-founder of Whitehead Mann and senior partner at MWM Consulting, argues that women bring “valuable diversity of thinking and a [...]
Scramble for talent among smaller firms June 14, 2009 SMALLER City financial firms are frantically headhunting top-tier staff who have become casualties of cost-saving job cuts at giants like Credit Suisse, HSBC and Dresdner Kleinwort. Firms such as Arbuthnot Securities, Blue Oar and Panmure Gordon are scrambling to emerge from the recession with higher profiles by grabbing seasoned talent on lower salaries than ever, [...]
M&A sector to dine out on Rio Tinto venture June 14, 2009 THE JOINT venture between mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto is to pay dividends for the revenue-hungry investment-banking sector, with Morgan Stanley, Gresham Partners, Goldman Sachs and Lazard lining up to benefit from the deal. The deal, the second largest so far in a year where mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity is down 43 [...]