Ted Baker buys Ugly Brown Building headquarters for £55m December 17, 2015 Ted Baker's founder Ray Kelvin and his staff have become very attached to their quirky King’s Cross offices they call the Ugly Brown Building. So much so, the fashion brand has bought the freehold to the property, formally known as Block B, Canal Reach on St Pancras Way, for £55.25m through its subsidiary, Big Lobster, after [...]
Daily Mirror publisher loses phone hacking appeal in the Court of Appeal, and Trinity Mirror share price closes down for the day December 17, 2015 Mirror Group Newspapers had its appeal over the amount of damages it had to pay in relation to phone hacking thrown out by the Court of Appeal today. Earlier this year, the company was ordered to pay eight individuals compensation in range from £72,500 to £260,250 each, totaling £1.2m overall, after staff gained unauthorised access to their voicemail messages. The [...]
US dollar up against Argentine peso after Argentina’s new president Mauricio Macri lifts currency controls December 17, 2015 The US dollar has rocketed up over 40 per cent against the Argentine peso today, after the South American country revealed yesterday that it would be lifting currency controls. The peso was trading at 13.9 per dollar shortly after the market opened, compared to the official rate of 9.8 per dollar it was trading at yesterday, before [...]
R3 blockchain consortium : 12 new banks including Santander and Danske Bank join JPMorgan, Barclays and HSBC in blockchain experimentation December 17, 2015 Another 12 banks have joined the rapidly expanding blockchain consortium R3, including Santander and Danske Bank. The blockchain consortium was launched with nine members in September, but has grown explosively in the months that followed. With the new members, the total number of banks affiliated with the consortium has soared to 42. The idea is [...]
Paddy Power Betfair merger: Betty Power gets the green light from the Competition and Markets Authority December 17, 2015 The merger between betting giants Paddy Power and Betfair, dubbed Betty Power, has been given the green light by the UK regulator. The Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation into the deal in November and whether it would lessen competition in the market. The bookies have cleared the hurdle and the CMA has now ruled that the merger [...]
Purplebricks, the Neil Woodford-backed online estate agents, starts trading on AIM and sees share price fall December 17, 2015 Purplebricks, the online estate agents backed by superstar investor Neil Woodford, has started trading on London's junior market under the ticker PURP.L. Shares are currently trading down on the AIM market, at 96.5p, down six per cent from an opening price of 104.5p. The 240m ordinary shares were placed at 100p each, with proceeds of £25m and giving the [...]
Fracking companies Ineos and Cuadrilla win new UK licences as a further 2.8m acres of shale gas exploration in north west England, North Yorkshire and East Midlands approved December 17, 2015 Ineos has hailed a shale gas revolution in Britain, after the government's Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) granted 93 licences for fracking across a further 2.8m acres of land. “We are delighted with today’s announcement. The UK government has demonstrated it is determined to move forward with this exciting new industry," said Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe. "This is the start of [...]
Standard Chartered poaches Simon Cooper from HSBC to run Corporate and Institutional Banking business December 17, 2015 Standard Chartered has hired a top executive from HSBC to run its corporate and institutional banking (CIB) business. The Asia-focused bank said this morning that Simon Cooper would join the group in April of next year as CIB chief executive. Cooper's appointment is just the latest step for Standard Chartered in executing the new turnaround strategy it [...]
AstraZeneca buys majority stake in biopharma company Acerta for $4bn December 17, 2015 AstraZeneca has agreed to buy a majority stake of biopharma company Acerta for $4bn (£2.7bn), with the hope of expanding and improving its portfolio of medicines. Once the transaction goes ahead, the British pharmaceutical giant will take over 55 per cent of the private-owned company, which is based in the US and Netherlands. Acerta focuses [...]
M&G Real Estate buys Bloomberg’s new European headquarters in the City for £93m December 17, 2015 M&G Real Estate has bought Bloomberg’s new European headquarters near Mansion House in the City, in a £92.5m deal. The fund manager said it has bought the freehold ground lease of Bloomberg Place from Legal & General Property, which put the site up for sale two months ago after more than 60 years of ownership. The vast 750,000 square feet [...]