GM still needs Opel buyer July 8, 2009 American carmaker General Motors said yesterday that Canadian car parts firm Magna remains the preferred buyer for Opel, the European arm of its business which also includes Vauxhall in the UK. A deal has been in the offing since June, but Chinese group Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corporation is also in the running to buy [...]
NRG asks Exelon to try again July 8, 2009 US power firm NRG Energy saw share values rise by nearly five per cent yesterday, after rejecting a buyout offer from rival electricity supplier Exelon, understood to exceed $7bn (£4.4bn), before inviting Exelon to return with a higher offer.
YRC goes to Rothschild July 8, 2009 YRC Worldwide, the ailing US trucking company, has asked investment bank Rothschild to evaluate potential bond exchanges as part of its restructuring plans, it emerged yesterday. Rothschild was retained early this year by YRC, but has only recently been asked to take a more active role. Rothschild, which specialises in mergers and acquisitions and restructuring, [...]
SLICE OF OLD-BOY STYLE HITS CITY FINE WINING AND DINING CIRCUIT July 8, 2009 NOT so long ago, City types were busy bemoaning the lack of decent restaurants on their patch. But now, just weeks after the Galvin brothers announced they were opening a new pad near Spitalfields market, I hear there’s a new eatery coming to town, courtesy of Simon Parker Bowles, former brother-in-law to Camilla, Duchess of [...]
EVOLUTION NOT REVOLUTION July 8, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling yesterday unveiled a white paper on financial regulation that will reform the way banks operate while retaining all the major aspects of the global financial system. Darling’s proposals, while costly and onerous to the City, will mean that giant global financial institutions are here to stay, most activities will continue to be [...]
IMF hikes its growth forecasts July 8, 2009 THE global economy is starting to pull out of the worst recession since the Second World War but, with the recovery expected to be sluggish, policies need to remain supportive, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday. The IMF updated its world economic outlook, revising upwards its economic growth forecast. A 1.4 per cent contraction [...]
US names PPIP fund managers July 8, 2009 BLACKROCK and Invesco are among nine fund managers named yesterday by the US Treasury to run the public-private partnerships (PPIP) that could buy up as much as $40bn (£25bn) of toxic securities from banks. The Treasury plans to invest up to $30bn into the programme, which will be smaller than the Obama administration initially envisaged [...]
Darling’s report: good in parts but flawed overall July 8, 2009 THERE will be no return to business as usual, not by any stretch of the imagination. But yesterday’s Treasury white paper also confirms that financial capitalism as we know it is here to stay. The authorities want to reform global finance to make it work better and to try and avoid extreme booms and busts; [...]
AIG in talks with MetLife July 8, 2009 STRICKEN US insurer American International Group (AIG) has restarted talks to sell its American Life Insurance Co (Alico) unit to rival MetLife in a deal that could raise $15bn (£9.3bn), it emerged yesterday. The preliminary talks over Alico could break down, as they did in March when AIG, led by chief executive Edward Liddy, and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 8, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES ARCELORMITTAL ATTEMPTS TO EASE DEBT BURDENArcelorMittal has started talks with its banks about making conditions for re-paying its $26bn (£16.2bn) of debt less onerous, in a bid to reduce financial pressure on the company as the global downturn continues. The world’s biggest steelmaker has taken this step as an insurance policy against its [...]