ITV is offered Setanta stake June 1, 2009 ITV HAS been offered a 30 per cent stake in Setanta, the struggling pay-TV sports channel, CityAM has learnt. The offer came amid recent talks between the two channels, with Setanta desperate to raise cash to help it fund forthcoming rights payments to the Football Association, the Premier League and other sporting bodies. ITV is [...]
End of an era as Brown faces disaster June 1, 2009 ALL of Westminster was only talking about one story last night – and for once, it was only indirectly related to MPs’ expenses. I am, of course, referring to the astonishing Ipsos Mori poll showing Labour down 10 points and neck-and-neck with the Liberal Democrats on 18 per cent. The Tories are on 40 per [...]
JPMorgan, Amex sell stock June 1, 2009 JPMORGAN Chase and American Express yesterday announced plans to sell $5.5bn (£3.34bn) of stock, to position themselves to quickly repay funds from the government’s bank bailout plan. JPMorgan will sell $5bn of stock and American Express will sell $500m. JPMorgan’s offering, which is led by chief executive Jamie Dimon, will be priced by this morning. [...]
StanChart dials up deal June 1, 2009 STANDARD Chartered (StanChart) Bank could underwrite up to $5bn (£3bn) to back Bharti Airtel’s $23bn tie-up with South African telecom operator MTN, according to banking sources. The sources said the bank was expecting to underwrite the full amount of the financing for the proposed deal, or as much as $5bn. If the deal materialises, StanChart [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 1, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES CANDOVER FACES RUN-OFF IF BUYER CANNOT BE FOUNDCandover faces a crucial month as the ailing private equity group pushes to raise capital and cut costs before a key test of its debt covenants on 30 June. The group needs cash urgently and is considering a range of options, including an outright takeover, selling [...]
French Airbus lost at sea June 1, 2009 An Air France Airbus 330-200 carrying 228 people from Brazil to France has vanished over the Atlantic after flying into turbulence, airline officials said yesterday. The Airbus sent an automatic message four hours after leaving Rio de Janeiro, reporting a short circuit. It may have been damaged by lightning.
BoA-Merrill fill senior posts June 1, 2009 Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said yesterday it filled two of its most prominent research positions, North America economist and US chief equity strategist, with analysts from rival Wall Street firms. Ethan Harris will leave Barclays Capital to fill BofA-Merrill’s economist slot, while David Bianco will leave UBS to be BofA-Merrill’s strategist.
Building businesses is like a highly addictive drug June 1, 2009 YOU had me at “hello”, says Renée Zellweger’s character to Tom Cruise after he proclaims his love for her in Jerry Maguire. Love at first sight should be savoured; I fall in love once decade and relish it. But, like most entrepreneurs, I fall in love with my business too – only every day. Like Zellweger, I [...]
Berlin set to buy out HRE June 1, 2009 The Germany government is set to buy out property lender Hypo Real Estate, in a move seen as a big step towards resloving its banking crisis. Berlin insists that HRE – which is said by by authorities to pose a systemic risk to the banking system – needs to be taken into state control.
TNT denies bidding for Royal Mail but insists it remains interested June 1, 2009 DUTCH mail company TNT yesterday said it had not yet made a bid for Royal Mail, but said it was interested in the company and would consult shareholders if it does make an offer. Private equity group CVC Partners is thought to have offered just under £2bn for a 30 per cent stake in state-owned [...]