The billion-dollar Tesla SolarCity merger is (El)on August 1, 2016 Green energy firm SolarCity has accepted a $2.6bn all-stock takeover deal from Elon Musk's Tesla. Both companies' stocks dipped on the news, with SolarCity's closing down 7.4 per cent to $24.72, while Tesla's share closed down two per cent at $230.01. SolarCity's stock also took a five per cent dive this morning after it snuck out a downgrade in its full-year [...]
Anticipation of $20bn Microsoft bond to finance LinkedIn deal drives up US Treasury yields August 1, 2016 US Treasury yields rose today in anticipation of a $19.75bn (£14.93bn) bond offering from Microsoft to finance its takeover of LinkedIn. The tech giant is expected to imminently launch the seven-tranche US dollar bond. Orders for the bond have reached more than $30bn, while 30-year yields hit a session high today of 2.244 per cent, Reuters reported. Yields [...]
Byron latest: High Holborn branch targeted by protesters following immigration claims August 1, 2016 Protesters have gathered outside Byron Hamburgers' restaurant on High Holborn three days after demonstrators released cockroaches and other insects in the branch. More than two thousand people had said on Facebook they would attend the protest at the High Holborn branch. It has been arranged in response to widespread claims that Byron acted in conjunction with [...]
UBS rogue trader Kweku Adoboli says his actions were like a self-sacrifice to chase his employer’s goals August 1, 2016 Rogue trader Kweku Adoboli has hit back at suggestions he acted out of greed, correcting his critics by saying his actions were motivated by wanting to benefit his employer. Adoboli was convicted on two counts of fraud in 2012 after his unauthorised trading lost Swiss banking giant UBS £1.4bn. He was released from prison last summer [...]
We’re dangerously close to an energy crunch but Hinkley isn’t the solution August 1, 2016 "I want to see an energy policy that emphasises the reliability of supply and lower costs for users.” Just two days before becoming Prime Minister, this key extract from Theresa May’s first major campaign speech in Birmingham was welcomed by the energy industry and consumers alike. But what would it mean in practice and in [...]
Ros Altmann is right: It’s time to scrap the state pension triple-lock August 1, 2016 As with many contemporary policy debates, the furore over the state pension triple-lock has its roots with Gordon Brown. Back in 1999, when Brown was chancellor, the state pension was increased by 75p per week. “Derisory”, claimed pensioner groups. Only “enough to buy a packet of peanuts”, bemoaned national newspapers. Scarred by the backlash, political [...]
Megabrew: AB InBev and SABMiller expect to seal the deal in October August 1, 2016 Anheuser-Busch InBev's £79bn takeover of SABMiller is expected to complete on 10 October, the companies said in a statement today. The brewers unveiled the agreed, expected timetable for the merger following the satisfaction of the pre-conditions, which were completed on 29 July after getting the all-clear from Chinese authorities. It is the first time a closing date has been given [...]
Opinion: Why more transparency is needed on letting fees to make sure both landlords and tenants are getting a good deal August 1, 2016 There has been much debate in the press and both Houses of Parliament regarding the subject of letting agents’ fees and whether these are fair or reasonable. Unfortunately as far as I am concerned, they are neither. The all-too-common practice of asking tenants to pay exorbitant administration charges, and a host of other overheads, to [...]
New homes on sale in London: from apartments on London City Island to family homes in Edgware August 1, 2016 London City Island From £405,000 A summer party heralded the sale of 100 new homes on the enormous London City Island complex on Saturday. Developer EcoWorld Ballymore offered champagne ice pops, a BBQ and a DJ to entice prospective buyers to look at the studio to four bedroom apartments on the Leamouth Peninsula. There will be [...]