Shire rebuffed over £12bn move for its listed Swiss rival Actelion June 7, 2015 ADHD drug-maker Shire is looking at a £12.4bn takeover of Europe’s biggest biotech company Actelion – just months after completing another $5bn (£3.3bn) acquisition. The Irish-headquartered firm, which is led by chief executive Flemming Ornskov, approached the listed Swiss company with a proposal for a full-blown takeover but was turned down, despite offering a [...]
Legal and General calls for an end to quarterly financial report June 7, 2015 The UK’S biggest asset manager has written to the UK’s biggest 350 listed companies, urging them to ditch quarterly financial reports. Reporting which focuses on short-term performance is not necessary to building a sustainable business as it may steer management to focus more on short-term goals and away from future business drivers, Legal and General [...]
Chinese builder CCECC considering bid for UK’s Balfour Beatty June 7, 2015 British construction group Balfour Beatty is being considered as a potential takeover target by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), despite chief executive Leo Quinn’s commitment to keeping Balfour an independent company. The Chinese state-owned firm is reported to be in talks with the aim of making an offer for the company, which is [...]
Ineos crowned biggest private company in UK June 7, 2015 Chemicals group Ineos has been named as Britain’s biggest private company according to The Sunday Times Top Track 100 report. Ineos was founded in 1998 by Jim Ratcliffe, a Lancastrian industrialist turned billionaire who built the business from scratch via a decade-long acquisition spree, snapping up unwanted operations from the likes of BP, Bayer and [...]
WPP shareholder Guy Jubb set to confront advertiser over boardroom pay practices as Martin Sorrell pockets £43m June 7, 2015 One of WPP’s top shareholders is set to confront the advertising giant at its annual general meeting this week over chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell’s £43m pay package. Standard Life’s head of governance and stewardship Guy Jubb is understood to be travelling from Edinburgh to WPP’s meeting in London tomorrow to address outgoing chairman Phil [...]
Virgin staff on parental leave get year’s pay up to 100 per cent of basic salary June 7, 2015 Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin will offer staff who take shared parental leave after the birth of their child up to a full year’s pay, under new policies announced today by the fitness-to-financial services giant. The government introduced new rights in April allowing parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of [...]
Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Asda recall “gluten free” products over fears they contain gluten June 7, 2015 Three of the UK's biggest supermarkets are warning customers the “gluten-free” products they bought may contain gluten. Asda, Sainsbury's and Waitrose have all issued statements recalling certain products branded as gluten-free, ranging from pitta breads to pizza bases and pancakes. On its website, Asda said: It has been brought to our attention [...]
Deutsche Bank co-CEOs Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen resign, John Cryan to step up as replacement June 7, 2015 The co-chiefs of Deutsche Bank are resigning amid increasing pressure from investors over their management of a series of problems to have beset the bank. The German bank was hit with a £1.7bn fine over Libor manipulation in April, which co-CEO Anshu Jain took ultimate responsibility for, while fellow co-CEO Juergen Fitschen is embroiled in a legal [...]
Netflix to debut in Italy and Portugal in October June 6, 2015 Netflix is to take to the stage in Italy and Portugal this October, to add to the more than 50 countries where it is already available. In an announcement this Saturday in California Netflix made the big reveal, just days after it announced the service would soon be available in Spain. In March, the company [...]
Tesco: What assets has it sold off and what’s heading to the checkout as billion-pound South Korea sale considered? June 5, 2015 Streamlining, belt tightening, slimming down: call it what you will, but Tesco assets are making their way through the checkout at a swift pace, as the troubled supermarket attempts to raise funds for its turnaround. The latest item heading for the bagging area after reporting its biggest ever loss, is part of its large and [...]