Shell and BG Group’s £47bn merger receives Australian approval – now it just needs the OK from China and the FIRB November 19, 2015 The mega-merger between oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group has taken a step closer, after receiving unconditional clearance from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The £47bn takeover of BG, which was announced back in April, has already received approval from competition bodies in Brazil and the European Union, meaning that three of [...]
Tinder parent company Match Group “clarifies” Sean Rad’s statements as company prices IPO at lower end of range November 19, 2015 Tinder's parent company Match Group has filed a last-minute submission to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the app's chief executive Sean Rad went rogue in an interview during the company's "quiet period" in the run-up to its IPO. Rad's interview with the Evening Standard ran yesterday, the same day that Match Group [...]
City regulators to look into possible bans for HBOS execs November 19, 2015 City regulators will today decide if bans should be imposed on chiefs at HBOS after a long-awaited report into the bank’s collapse is published. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are expected to announce that they will undertake more work on potential enforcement action against individuals. Sky News also reported that [...]
HBOS report: Crisis probe is the Never-Ending Story November 19, 2015 It has been 2,617 days since Lloyds TSB’s merger with HBOS was struck. Today – at last – we will get the fullest account yet of why HBOS needed rescuing in the first place. The delay in publication isn’t the least shocking aspect of Britain’s banking crisis. If the purpose of such inquiries is to [...]
Blackrock fund Global Ascent to be wound down November 19, 2015 Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, is shuttering another of its macro funds, citing headwinds facing the industry. The Global Ascent Fund, which makes bets on stock, bond and currency markets, will return money to investors. The fund’s assets under management had reportedly fallen to under $1bn (£660bn), having previously numbered multiple billions. In a [...]
Danone aims for five per cent sales rise by 2020 November 19, 2015 French food giant Danone unveiled yesterday new sales growth targets as it vowed to bolster the profitability of its struggling dairy division. The world’s largest yoghurt maker is aiming for organic sales growth – which excludes acquisitions and currency moves – of more than five per cent by 2020, and an increase of at least [...]
Silicon Valley and Wall Street eye Square’s IPO price in litmus test for tech unicorns November 18, 2015 It’s the moment of truth for Square, as the mobile payments company is set to price its IPO in a highly-anticipated deal that will act as a litmus test for tech unicorns, showing how close Silicon Valley's tech bubble is to bursting. The official price for the company, which is listing tomorrow, won't be announced [...]
NewRiver Retail shares boosted by record 217 per cent jump in profits November 18, 2015 NewRiver Retail said profits leapt by a record 217 per cent in the first half of the year, boosted by a frenzied acquisition spree that saw the retail and pub landlord’s assets under management hit £1bn for the first time. The company, which owns shopping centres including Regents Court in Leamington Spa, reported pre-tax profits [...]
Barclays investors unfazed as bank slapped with $150m forex fine by New York State Department of Financial Services November 18, 2015 Barclays has just been slapped with an additional $150m (£98m) fine for its manipulation of the Forex markets by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The British bank has also agreed to "terminate" its global head of electronic fixed income, currencies and commodities as part of the settlement. The fine owes specifically to misconduct on [...]
Valeant’s “female viagra” pill flops with just 227 prescriptions in first month November 18, 2015 After a turbulent few weeks of allegations relating to its pricing and sales techniques, Canadian pharmaceutical giant Valeant has suffered yet another setback. Its new female libido-enhancing drug Addyi, dubbed the “female viagra”, was prescribed just 227 times during its first month on the US market, according to reports. Valeant was not immediately available to comment [...]