Former Iglu.com owner, Growth Capital Partners (GCP), raises a new £205m investment fund as UK’s lower mid market defies the Brexit gloom July 10, 2017 The former owner of online travel agent Iglu.com, Growth Capital Partners (GCP), has closed its latest private equity fund above target as data shows the UK’s lower mid market is booming. Read more: How Iglu.com founder Richard Downs is taking on the world in the growing market for cruise holidays GCP received £40m from the [...]
A consortium, including Apollo and Austin Reed’s lender Alteri Investors, is circling controversial hire-purchase business Bright House, owned by Vision Capital July 10, 2017 Once under fire for saddling consumers with debt, it is now the turn of hire-purchase electricals chain Bright House itself to deal with a mounting debt problem. Private equity giant Apollo Global Management and turnaround firm Alteri Investors are circling the business, which saw a 13.6 per cent drop in revenues over the last financial [...]
Brexit? What Brexit? M&A deal values between the UK and rest of Europe double in first half of 2017 July 10, 2017 The value of deals between the UK and the rest of Europe more than doubled year-on-year in the first six months of 2017. Deals worth $32.5bn (£25.2bn) were announced in the first half of the year, up from $14.6bn in the same period of 2016. French and German companies, in particular, have been highly acquisitive [...]
Spider-Man: Homecoming movie surprise box office success lifts Sony shares July 10, 2017 Shares in Sony climbed 1.7 per cent today after new film Spider-Man: Homecoming swung into the box office with a better-than-expected sales performance. Read more: Is Spider-Man: Homecoming the character-defining movie we’ve waited for? The movie spun a cool $117m (£91m) on its opening weekend at the North American box office, but industry experts had [...]
Luck of the Irish? Dublin has been the biggest Brexit winner (so far) in financial services July 10, 2017 Dublin has been the biggest Brexit winner in financial services so far, a new report today shows. Just over one year after the EU referendum, 59 out of 222 financial services companies tracked by EY, 27 per cent, have said they are moving staff and operations out of the UK or are reviewing their options. [...]
Amazon Prime Day 2017: ecommerce giant extends dominance as it courts new members with day of deals July 10, 2017 Amazon Prime Day begins at 6pm today, just as new research reveals that 37 per cent of online spend now goes through Amazon, with the ecommerce giant only set to grow as more consumers turn to online shopping. Nearly three quarters (73 per cent) of people surveyed by ecommerce consultancy Salmon said they plan to [...]
The Blockchain Brothers: BTL’s Guy and Hugh Halford-Thompson on running the world’s first public blockchain firm July 10, 2017 Based on Fenchurch Street, it’s not so often I mosey down to Canary Wharf. I suffer a terrible contradiction of mind when I do. Its Dubai-lite pastiche is soulless and underwhelming, yet as a location, its essence is one of unassailable purpose: a financial powerhouse, driving upwards of £100bn into the UK economy every year. [...]
“Britain has woken up to opportunity India”: Cobra beer founder Lord Karan Bilimoria on trade, immigration, and Brexit July 9, 2017 A month ago the received wisdom across the political spectrum was that Prime Minister Theresa May was about to command a majority of Margaret Thatcher-like proportions as she led the UK to Brexit. A month later the context has changed utterly: although we have the same Prime Minister, the hung Parliament has thrown the government [...]
G4S wins another government tagging contract for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) despite £109m fraud scandal and ongoing probe July 9, 2017 G4S, the security services company which appears unable to do any wrong, has won a new tagging contract despite a fraud scandal which saw it repay almost £109m to the government. Read more: G4S agrees to tagging payout as profits slide The Ministry of Justice confirmed that G4S has again been selected to supply tagging [...]
Fashion technology startup Metail raises £10m from Hong Kong’s TAL to become “Google of size and shape” July 9, 2017 A tech startup which offers retailers technology that lets online shoppers try items on virtually, and wants to become the “Google of size and shape”, has bagged millions of pounds in fresh funding from investors. Metail has raised a £10m series B led by TAL, a Hong Kong-based apparel manufacturer, bringing total cash ploughed into [...]