Gherkin bought by Safra Group: Meet the Brazilian-Lebanese billionaire behind the £700m deal November 10, 2014 The City's iconic Gherkin has been snapped up for more than £700m by the Safra Group, the investment giant controlled by Brazilian-Lebanese billionaire Joseph Safra. Safra, which last month won a $682m (£430m) takeover battle for banana group Chiquita, said yesterday it had agreed to buy the 590-foot tower at 30 St Mary’s [...]
Dean Foods milks cost-cutting measures with profit forecast November 10, 2014 AMERICA’S largest milk processor Dean Foods yesterday forecast its first quarterly adjusted profit in a year, due to cost cuts and a steep fall in butterfat prices. The company’s shares surged 13.73 per cent to $16.40 – a three- month high. It also reported a smaller-than-expected adjusted loss for the third quarter. Dean Foods said [...]
Redrow warns of slowdown as housing boom spurred by Help-to-Buy fades away November 10, 2014 HOUSEBUILDER Redrow warned yesterday it has seen a drop in sales over the summer as the effects of the government’s Help-to-Buy scheme began to wear off. Chairman Steve Morgan said the demand for new homes generated by the launch of the equity loan scheme in 2013 reverted to “a more normal level of activity” in [...]
Honey, I‘ve shrunk your bonus November 10, 2014 Bonuses on Wall Street could be down as much as 10 per cent for some professionals this year, according to a closely watched survey by consulting firm Johnson Associates. Overall, the firm expects 2014 bonuses to be flat compared with last year. However, the size of bonuses varies significantly across the industry. Stock and bond [...]
Quindell share price plummets as confusion over share dealings reigns November 10, 2014 Confusion surrounding the convoluted share dealings of three of Quindell’s largest individual shareholders caused havoc for the price of the insurance outsourcer. Last Wednesday, Quindell said its chairman, finance chief and a non-executive director had entered into a loan facility to borrow £8.76m, secured against their own shares, in order to fund the purchase [...]
Transferwise in $1bn valuation for fundraising valuation November 10, 2014 LONDON money transfer startup Transferwise is on track to raise $50m (£31.5m) from US venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, in a deal that values the business at nearly $1bn. The investment, first reported by the Financial Times, would be Transferwise’s largest to date. The startup has so far raised $33m in the three years since [...]
CBI conference 2014: R2D2 upstages political heavies on big day November 10, 2014 Politicians have, in jest, been accused of being a ruling class of automatons, but yesterday’s CBI conference showed that robots can indeed go down well on politically charged stages, if they’re from Star Wars at least. Ivan Dunleavy, chief executive of Pinewood Studios, entered the stage with R2D2 and performed a little sketch [...]
Countdown star Rachel Riley helps Edwina Dunn launch Stem career push November 10, 2014 Putting her Tesco Clubcard days well and truly behind her, Edwina Dunn, co-founder of Dunnhumby, launched Your Life – a campaign to advocate for the importance of Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects for school children, in Google’s Holborn den yesterday. The tech giant’s trendy neon signage and cool “coffee-trike” doling out [...]
Better Capital’s Jon Moulton goes on £20m Walkabout with purchase of Australian-themed pub chain November 10, 2014 Better Capital, the turnaround fund owned by veteran venture capitalist Jon Moulton, yesterday announced it had bought Australian-themed pub chain Walkabout in a deal worth £20m. The fund said in a statement it had successfully acquired Walkabout’s parent company iNTERTAIN. The company had been controlled by creditors since 2009. It was formed out of the [...]
Dutch firm sweetens offer for Nutreco to see off Cargill bid November 10, 2014 FAMILY-run Dutch investment company SHV yesterday increased its offer for compatriot animal feed and nutrition firm Nutreco to €43.20 a share. The move comes in response to an expression of interest from US-based trading house Cargill and European private equity firm Permira. Nutreco said that its board was unanimously backing SHV’s bid as the offer [...]