Chris Hohn’s Children’s Investment Fund has stepped up its bid to end the €8.5bn Safran-Zodiac deal March 20, 2017 Sir Chris Hohn’s activist hedge fund has stepped up its campaign to halt an €8.5bn (£7.4bn) takeover. And now, it’s getting personal. The Children’s Investment (TCI) Fund has written to the board members of Safran, the aircraft engine maker that has agreed to buy plane-seat maker Zodiac, threatening to sue them personally if the deal goes [...]
Shareholder uprising: Santander, UFJ, Sumitomo and a number of other banks are at risk March 20, 2017 A number of banks have been marked as likely targets of a shareholder uprising, including UFJ, Sumitomo and Santander. More than half, or 58 per cent, of banks are located in countries facing potential governance shifts, according to new research by MSCI. Of those, 17 per cent, or nearly one in five, are at risk of [...]
Southern rail will agree to fresh talks with the RMT if the union suspends all strike action March 20, 2017 Southern owner Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has extended an olive branch to the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union. Well, sort of. The train company has offered to meet the RMT for fresh face-to-face talks if the union suspends industrial action in its year-long dispute over changes to the role of the guard. Read more: Southern [...]
Through the roof: The seven London boroughs where house prices will rocket in 2017 March 20, 2017 House prices will rocket in east London this year while values in the centre of the capital have stagnated, and in some boroughs, have started to fall. Outer boroughs such as Redbridge, Havering and Croydon recorded double-digital growth last year and are among the seven boroughs that are tipped to see the highest house price growth this year. Read [...]
Hundreds of flights cancelled by airlines including EasyJet and Ryanair due to Italian air traffic control strike March 20, 2017 An Italian air traffic control strike today has caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights, as airlines warned of travel disruption throughout the day. Passengers flying to and from Italy will have their travel disrupted due to the industrial action, which is expected to last for four hours this afternoon. Airlines for Europe (A4E) said it [...]
Theresa May confirms she will trigger Article 50 on Wednesday 29 March, kicking off Brexit process March 20, 2017 The kick-off date for the Brexit process has been confirmed as Wednesday 29 March. The UK's ambassador to the EU, Sir Tim Barrow, contacted EU council president Donald Tusk today to provide advance notice of the launch of Brexit talks. May will contact Tusk directly to launch negotiations. A spokesperson for May said: "We have always been [...]
Mkango and Metalysis team up to develop 3D printed earth magnets to power up electric vehicles in the UK March 20, 2017 Two firms have teamed up to develop 3D printed rare earth magnets, components for electric vehicles, in the UK. Aim-listed Mkango Resources and South Yorkshire-based Metalysis have entered into a memorandum of understanding to jointly research, develop and commercialise rare earth metal alloys for use in 3D printed permanent magnets. Read more: Business Committee launches inquiry [...]
House of Fraser owner Sanpower pulls investment in digital challenger bank Tandem March 20, 2017 Sanpower, the Chinese conglomerate which owns House of Fraser, has been forced to pull back on a multimillion pound investment in digital challenger bank Tandem, City A.M. can reveal. A £29m tranche of cash due to bolster the startup's capital requirements for launching as a full bank has been halted over concerns that Chinese authorities are [...]
Meet Revolt: The agency with the humble ambition of changing the world March 20, 2017 To say we are living through interesting times is, perhaps, an understatement as obvious as it is true. For many the world is increasingly polarised and difficult to comprehend: known-knowns have become unknowns; unpredictability has become predictable. Among the social media hubris, in which public accountability is unavoidable and reputational damage but 140 characters away, [...]
The GDPR Doomsday Clock strikes a minute closer to midnight March 20, 2017 The lugubrious ticking of my internal GDPR Doomsday Clock struck a minute closer to midnight last week. Tick, it chimed: “only 5 per cent of marketers fully understand what the GDPR means for their business.” Tock, it said: “50 per cent say they don’t really understand it at all, or [literally] don’t know.” The Chartered [...]