Usmanov waits on the touchline as Arsenal board mulls over rights issue July 2, 2009 THE BOARD of Arsenal football club was yesterday locked in talks over major stakeholder Alisher Usmanov’s proposal that the club should launch a £75m-£150m rights issue, to pay off some of its £320m debt and fund player transfers. Despite having significant influence through his 25 per cent stake in the company, the Uzbeki billionaire was [...]
Intermediate Capital in 351m fund raising as it eyes market opportunities July 2, 2009 PRIVATE equity lender Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) said yesterday that it plans to raise £351m to grow the business, boosting its share price by 3.16 per cent to 506p. IPG managing director Tom Atwood said the proceeds of the rights issue will allow the company to capitalise on the investment opportunities in the primary and [...]
Lawson: The Tories need to find the bottle to cut public spending July 2, 2009 FORMER chancellor Lord Lawson is feeling hot under the collar. It’s not just because he’s finished delivering a lecture in a stuffy, airless room at the London Stock Exchange. He’s also fed up with travelling on the underground in the sweltering heat. “The problem with the tube is not so much the heat,” he tells [...]
CITY PETROLHEADS WHIZZ OFF TO GOODWOOD FOR FESTIVAL OF SPEED July 2, 2009 GOODWOOD’S glorious Festival of Speed begins today, continuing City socialites’ merry lurch into the silly season after the combined joys of Epsom, Ascot and Wimbledon. This year’s motor extravaganza is themed “True Grit – Epic Feats of Endurance”, and is celebrating the 100 year anniversaries of petrolhead favourites Bugatti, Audi and Morgan. Apparently, ticket sales [...]
BRITAIN’S GREAT TRAIN DEBACLE July 1, 2009 NATIONAL Express was last night fighting to remain in the rail industry, as fears mounted it could be stripped of its two remaining franchises. The operator announced it was walking away from its east coast rail franchise, triggering a shock renationalisation of the Kings Cross-Edinburgh line. The news capped a day of woe for the [...]
EXCLUSIVE July 1, 2009 STANDARD Chartered, the emerging markets bank, is close to confirming acting chairman John Peace as its new chairman, sources said last night. The impending appointment, after a period of search led by consultants Egon Zehnder, means it is ever more likely that Win Bischoff, the 67 year-old former chairman of Citigroup, will take the job as chairman of Lloyds [...]
SABMiller in S Africa deal July 1, 2009 SABMILLER, the world’s second largest brewer, yesterday signed a deal to sell black investors 10 per cent of its South African business to comply with post-apartheid rules. The deal will hand black employees and other stakeholders a $775m (£454m) chunk of the company’s Johnannesburg-based subsidiary, at an estimated cost of $220m in the biggest empowerment deal [...]
Britain’s transport policy in deep crisis July 1, 2009 BRITAIN’S transport policy is in chaos. This is hardly news, you might say, but the issue is once again at the fore. It is clear that there is a big problem with the way the rail franchises have been allocated. Firms have an incentive to bid too much for a franchise because they know that [...]
Royal Mail sell-off shelved July 1, 2009 THE government yesterday shelved controversial plans for a part-privatisation of the Royal Mail due to the depressed state of the economy. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson told the House of Lords that “market conditions” had made it “impossible” to complete a deal on “favourable terms.” He added there was “no prospect” of the proposed sale of up [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 1, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES SCRAPPAGE INCENTIVES REVIVE CAR DEMAND Car sales rose in several big European and Asian markets last month, lifted largely by government scrapping incentives aimed at reviving consumer demand. The numbers give weight to the notion that stimulus measures are pulling the global motor industry out of its deep downturn, but carmakers and industry [...]