Andor looks for White Knight after fresh bid December 2, 2013 SCIENTIFIC camera maker Andor Technology has once again shot down Oxford Instruments’ attempts to negotiate a takeover, labelling the firm’s £159m offer as disappointing. Andor said it is still pursuing its long-term stand-alone growth strategy and also actively soliciting a recommendable offer from Oxford Instruments or any other parties. Oxford Instruments, which designs and manufactures [...]
Debenhams relaunches flagship store December 2, 2013 DEBENHAMS lined up its roster of British fashion collaborators yesterday to help celebrate the relaunch of its Oxford Street flagship store. Henry Holland, Jenny Packham and Julien Macdonald – who all design collections for the high-street retailer – were among 20 special guests marking the completion of the £40m makeover.
Hilton hotel and Aramark price New York floats December 2, 2013 THE US new issues market showed no signs of slowing down yesterday after two American hospitality giants with substantial UK operations priced their forthcoming market floats. Hotel operator Hilton Worldwide and catering company Aramark, both backed by private equity firms, announced plans to raise up to $2.37bn (£1.44bn) and $833.8m respectively in initial public offerings [...]
Elephant & Castle mall sold off with plan to build new homes December 2, 2013 ELEPHANT & CASTLE Shopping Centre has been sold for £80m, with the new owners pledging to carry on with plans to demolish the site and replace it with rental homes. Pension fund APG and real estate group Delancey have bought the site from regeneration specialist St Modwen and Kuwait’s Salhia Real Estate, who owned the [...]
Saab resumes production December 2, 2013 The new owners of Swedish car maker Saab, National Electric Vehicle Sweden, yesterday restarted production at the Trollhattan factory in Sweden. NEVS, which is 22 per cent owned by the Chinese city of Qingdao through the city’s investment company, bought most of the assets of Saab last year. The electric version of the 9-3 sedan [...]
Trinity’s £300m distribution deal December 2, 2013 Smiths News and Menzies Distribution have both secured five year extensions to their distribution agreements with Trinity Mirror worth £293m in total. On Smiths News’s new £143m deal chief executive Mark Cashmore said in a statement: “Our longstanding relationship with Trinity Mirror has delivered incremental revenue growth over the past five years as they have [...]
Innovation slips despite growth December 2, 2013 Innovation Group, the business software and processes firm, saw its share price drop 2.1 per cent yesterday despite reporting 22 per cent profit growth to £14.4m during the year to 30 September. Investors were troubled by the company’s North American operations that reported a £1.2m loss. However, the company said restructuring efforts would return the [...]
City Moves for 03 December 2013 | Who’s switching jobs December 2, 2013 Holley Holland The consultancy has appointed Alex Cameron as a principal consultant. He has over 25 years’ experience in financial services, qualified as a solicitor at Allen & Overy, and has worked with the Bank of England, Barclays Capital and Barclays Business Banking. Altius Associates The private equity advisory firm has appointed Rhonda Ryan as [...]
Best of the Brokers for 03 December 2013 December 2, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com THOMAS COOK UBS has cut the travel firm from buy to neutral but raised its target from 180p to 200p. The broker said Thomas Cook had a strong year following cost reductions, which will be ramped up in coming years to give investors a [...]
London Report: Miners and Tesco drag on the FTSE December 2, 2013 WEAK miners dented top UK shares yesterday, tracking copper prices lower as traders bet on more falls for the broader market, while Tesco dropped on analyst downgrades ahead of a trading update this week. Miners shed two per cent, hit by a lower copper price as concerns over swelling supplies overshadowed improved manufacturing data from [...]