Worldpay confirms intention to float on the London Stock Exchange September 18, 2015 Payments processing company Worldpay has confirmed plans to raise £890m through a float on the London Stock Exchange's main market in October. The company, owned by Advent International and Bain Capital, is expected to have a free float of at least 25 per cent after its listing. "The IPO is an exciting and logical next [...]
Australia throws spanner in the works for Shell’s takeover of BG Group September 18, 2015 Australian regulators have voiced concerns about Royal Dutch Shell's takeover of rival BG Group, due to the potential impact on domestic gas supplies. In a statement today, Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), claimed the deal was not in the best interests of Australian consumers, as it might result [...]
Best of the Brokers for 18 September 2015 September 18, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com SERCO GROUP Berenberg thought yesterday’s £250m sale of offshore operations BPO to Blackstone was a turnaround and updated its rating from “sell” to “hold”, with a target price unchanged at 100p for public services contractor Serco. The disposal brought the company’s debt back [...]
AB InBev and SABMiller need to tap into craft beer trend September 18, 2015 The long-awaited announcement that Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) was officially considering a takeover of rival SABMiller saw the companies’ share prices jump 19.89 per cent and 6.41 per cent respectively. However, yesterday the hangover kicked in, and SABMiller’s shares closed down 0.25 per cent at 3,605p, having dropped as low as 3,593p. The [...]
Celebrity rehab center The Priory in talks with banks over London flotation September 18, 2015 Priory Group, the mental care homes provider famous for its celebrity clientele, has moved closer to realising plans for a public listing after kicking off a search for bankers to work on the float. The company, which runs a chain of rehabilitation clinics, best known for treating pop stars such as Robbie Williams, is understood [...]
Lidl promises to pay above the National Living Wage to all its UK staff September 18, 2015 Lidl has already beaten the big four supermarkets on price. Now, the German discounter also plans to trump them on employee benefits, after revealing that it will pay its staff above the living wage from October. The fast-growing chain announced yesterday that it will adopt the new higher rate it expects the Living Wage [...]
Glencore’s equity placing attacked for ignoring shareholders’ rights September 17, 2015 The Institute of Directors (IoD) has slammed mining giant Glencore for its recent £1.6bn equity placing, saying that the firm’s “conduct falls short of what we would expect of a major global company”. Oliver Parry, senior corporate governance adviser at the IoD, said that Glencore’s decision “appears to be in direct contravention of the [...]
Here’s what a new City office scheme with five garden roof terraces will look like at 80 Fenchurch Street September 17, 2015 Work on a new office tower that will boast the biggest number of roof gardens in the City got underway this week, as developers began knocking down the old site. Partners Group, a Swiss private equity firm, is developing a 245,000 square feet office tower at 80 Fenchurch Street together with joint venture partner Marick Real [...]
JD Sports share price rises: Retailer posts record first half profit but warns National Living Wage will bite September 17, 2015 JD Sports share price climbed 1.4 per cent this morning as the retailer revealed record first-half profit. But the company has tempered its outlook for the future with a warning over the impact of the Living Wage – yet another company to do so. The figures JD Sports' adjusted pre-tax profit jumped 82 per cent [...]
One third of Brits have already started Christmas shopping September 17, 2015 If you haven’t already done your Christmas shopping, then you might want to get stuck in because a third of UK shoppers are already one step ahead of you this season. A survey conducted by New York-listed technology company Rubicon Project found that 30 per cent of us have already started Christmas shopping. Among parents [...]