RSA hoping for better offer as bidders Zurich, Axa and Aviva circle August 2, 2015 Insurer RSA is hoping to attract a better offer than Zurich’s potential bid, revealed last week, with several other companies believed to be interested in entering the race for the troubled British firm. City analysts expect Zurich to make an offer of around 550p per share. That price would provide investors with a premium [...]
Tyrrells buys Yarra Valley Snack Foods for global growth August 2, 2015 Upmarket crisps maker Tyrrells is speeding up its global expansion after announcing its acquisition of Melbourne-based organic snacks company Yarra Valley Snack Foods. Tyrrells launched a range of products in Australian supermarket Coles in April last year, and says the purchase will “accelerate the international growth”. It reported a net worth of over £26m last [...]
Stephen Hester’s role at risk as offer for RSA looks likely August 2, 2015 RSA boss Stephen Hester was given a hero’s welcome when he was appointed to lead the embattled insurer just over 18 months ago. However, following last week’s revelation that Zurich is mulling an offer for the group, he could be set to leave before finishing what he has started. The former Royal Bank of [...]
Insurgents Allenby Capital and Beaufort Securities lead charge up Aim broker rankings August 2, 2015 Two small stockbroking firms have zipped up the Aim adviser rankings after winning more than a dozen new clients in the last three months. Allenby Capital and Beaufort Securities were the standout performers from the quarterly ranking of junior stock market listed brokers, according to a study out today. Allenby gained six new [...]
Stock market comeback mooted for London bus operator Arriva August 2, 2015 Arriva, the company which runs London’s distinctive Routemaster buses, could make a return to the London stock market five years after being privatised. The firm’s German owner Deutsche Bahn last week flagged it was open to a partial privatisation by selling a minority stake in the group, but vowed not to sell it outright. An [...]
Gym Group IPO: Fitness chain warms up ahead of a £300m London market listing August 2, 2015 The owners of low-cost fitness chain Gym Group are eyeing a £300m float on the London stock market just over a year after abandoning plans to merge with rival Pure Gym. Phoenix Equity Partners, which bought controlling stake in the business in 2013, is understood to have held talks with bankers regarding a potential market [...]
Thirty years of mosquitoes, failed trials and few financial rewards: The rocky road to creating the world’s first malaria vaccine August 2, 2015 “I screamed with joy and pulled up at the side of the highway, but when I tried to push the clutch and start the car I couldn't because I was too overwhelmed,” says Moncef Slaoui as he recalls the moment he found out all the bites, blood and days spent poring over lab results had [...]
Afren share price timeline: What went wrong? July 31, 2015 A torrid year for oil producer Afren came to a bitter end today when it called in the administrators, having failed to agree a new funding deal with lenders. The London-listed company – which was unceremoniously turfed out of the FTSE 250 earlier this year – is one of the first casualties of oil prices, [...]
Lloyds share price falls as profits come in below expectations while total PPI bill surges July 31, 2015 Shares in Lloyds were down 2.21 per cent this afternoon to 83.81p per share after profits missed expectations and it announced a £1.4bn provision to cover the cost of mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI). The figures The state-backed bank said pre-tax profit rose 38 per cent to £1.19bn in the six months to the end of [...]
Oil producer Afren goes into administration July 31, 2015 The story of embattled oil producer Afren came to a sorry end today after the company called in the administrators, having been unable to agree a new funding deal with its lenders. "The board believes that all the possible routes have now been explored during the course of this process, which was subject to a [...]