Tullow finds crude again September 10, 2008 Tullow Oil, the Africa-focused explorer, said yesterday it had made another crude discovery at its Kigogole-1 well in the Butiaba region of Uganda. Tullow, which holds more exploration licences than any other British firm in Africa, said that the well was drilled to a total depth of 616 metres and found two oil zones. The [...]
BG concedes defeat over deal with Australia’s Origin September 10, 2008 BG group said yesterday it would not increase its hostile takeover bid for Australian Origin Energy after the company agreed to a joint venture with American oil giant ConocoPhillips. BG’s offer of A$15.50 (£7.08) a share, which expires on 26 September, will not be extended and is expected to lapse, BG said in a statement. [...]
More women make it to the top in City law profession… September 10, 2008 More women are landing top jobs at the UK’s leading law firms than ever before, according to a study released yesterday. The research, which was commissioned by The Lawyer magazine, showed that although men still outnumber females by four to one throughout the profession, ratios in the top ranks are slowly improving. Nearly 20 per [...]
Tullet Prebon and GFI end merger talks September 10, 2008 Merger talks between GFI and Tullett Prebon ended last night after the two interdealer brokers failed to agree on the terms of a deal. Tullett, the second largest broker between banks, combined with GFI, the largest interdealer broker of credit derivatives, would have created a firm to rival market leader ICAP. This is the second [...]
Cowdery gets his man as Tiner joins Resolution team September 10, 2008 Cowdery assembles crack buyout team Clive Cowdery set up the first incarnation of Resolution in 2003 with £500,000 of his own money, after leaving General Electric’s insurance unit. The company began life as a closed life fund consolidator, before Cowdery transformed it into a FTSE 100 insurance behemoth through a series of tie-ups. A merger [...]
Resolution to float as Tiner becomes CEO September 10, 2008 Acquisitions vehicle appoints new board members and gears up for spending spree Clive Cowdery’s buyout firm Resolution yesterday announced plans to raise £1bn through an initial public offering in November, as it prepares for a series of acquisitions of financial services companies in need of restructuring. Cowdery has pulled off a major coup by landing [...]
Brain-drain? It’s nothing but a blip September 10, 2008 Lots of City workers are heading for Dubai at the moment, but don’t worry: London will lure them back soon, says Max Orbach We all know somebody who has re-located to Dubai, Singapore or even Moscow in the last few months, as the British economy has wobbled, house-prices have fallen and inflation has risen. While [...]
EDF may face £1.5bn fee for BE takeover September 8, 2008 French energy giant EDF is facing yet another hurdle in its British Energy (BE) takeover bid – a £1.5bn approval fee. Close to finalising the bid, investors Invesco and M&G, which own 21 per cent of the shares, are understood to have pushed for a sweetener at the eleventh hour and will reiterate their position [...]
Builders set for mega loss on portfolios September 8, 2008 Homebuilders Barratt and Redrow are expected to report a £300m loss on their portfolios later this week. Barratt chief executive Mark Clare will announce they had to write £160m off the value of their land bank and work in progress. Despite Barratt boosting its shares earlier in the summer when refinancing debts and covenants, shares [...]
Nationwide merger will suit all sides September 8, 2008 Nationwide’s merger with The Derbyshire Building Society and The Cheshire Building Society, which was confirmed yesterday, will see it stretch its lead at the top of the list of UK mortgage lenders. The tie-up will hand the building society an extra 95 branches to add to the 900 retail locations it already operates, reinforcing its [...]