Paddy Power completes £200m share buyback August 20, 2018 Paddy Power today completed the first £200m tranche of its share buyback programme. Goldman Sachs International bought up 2.4m shares on the bookmaker’s behalf, cancelling them all, as it embarks on the second tranche to repurchase £300m of shares, which Goodbody Stockbrokers is carrying out. The company is trying to reduce its share capital, announcing [...]
Mulberry shares plummet on cost of House of Fraser collapse August 20, 2018 Shares in Mulberry plummeted as much as 30 per cent this morning as it said that the restructuring of House of Fraser could cost it around £3m. The luxury leather goods brand, which operates 21 concessions in HoF stores, said that sales in the department stores had been particularly hard-hit by challenging retail conditions in [...]
PepsiCo buys SodaStream for $3bn August 20, 2018 PepsiCo has agreed to buy Israeli drinks firm SodaStream for $3.2bn (£2.5bn), in a sign that the company intends to persist with its healthy product ambitions amid the departure of its long-reigning chief executive. The landmark deal comes several weeks after PepsiCo boss Indra Nooyi said she would step down after 12 years of leading [...]
Superdry co-founder Julian Dunkerton gives £1m to anti-Brexit campaign August 19, 2018 Julian Dunkerton, co-founder of the fashion label Superdry, has given £1m to the People's Vote campaign, a group with cross-party support that has called for a second public vote on any Brexit deal. The donation is the largest ever received by the campaign group, and is expected to go towards funding opinion polls to rally [...]
Former Staples chain Office Outlet to close stores in new CVA filing August 19, 2018 Stationery chain Office Outlet, formerly known as Staples, is set to launch a Company Voluntary Arrangement – an insolvency procedure to reduce stores and costs – tomorrow and close a selection of its 96 UK stores. Sources today told Sky News that the retailer, which was bought by restructuring fund Hilco in 2016, will request a [...]
Energy switching startup breaks record for lowest equity deal on Dragons Den August 19, 2018 Energy auto-switching service Look After My Bills (LAMB) has broken the record for the lowest equity deal ever secured on hit TV show Dragons Den, as the startup scored £120,000 in exchange for a three per cent stake. Investors Tej Lalvani and Jenny Campbell took on the startup after a three-hour deliberation, in which all [...]
Dorchester Group profits boosted by Trump’s tax reform August 19, 2018 Luxury hotel group Dorchester saw profits soar to £50.6m thanks to US President Donald Trump's tax rate reduction. Pre-tax profit was £24.6m for the year ending 31 December 2017 compared to a £39.5m Brexit-related loss the previous year. The group’s two US hotels -The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles performed particularly [...]
Amazon eyes Homebase stores marked for closure August 19, 2018 Amazon is set to bid for a selection of Homebase stores in a move to improve its last mile delivery process. The online retailer could turn the stores into delivery warehouses when Homebase closes 42 of its 241 sites through a company voluntary arrangement this year. Amazon could use the sites, which are conveniently located in urban [...]
Will Smith launches sustainable bottled water brand August 19, 2018 Will Smith has launched a "sustainable" bottled water brand in the UK. Just Water, set up by the actor and his son Jaden, has 82 per cent renewable paper packaging and is recyclable in nine out of ten UK communities. The product will be stocked in 800 Boots stores and all Whole Foods Market shops across the country. [...]
House of Fraser owed millions to major brands before collapse August 18, 2018 House of Fraser racked up debts of almost £500m in the run-up to its collapse, owing major designer brands such as Gucci, Armani and Mulberry. Administrators Ernst & Young (EY) have reported that the chain’s creditors are owed sums totalling hundreds of millions of pounds, with more than 1,000 suppliers set to be out of [...]