Thomas Cook sells forex business November 18, 2013 THOMAS Cook has sold its corporate foreign exchange business for £4.5m, as part of its continued drive to pay down debts and turn itself around. The travel firm announced yesterday it has offloaded Thomas Cook Corporate Foreign Exchange to Moneycorp, a rival operator owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Special Opportunities Fund. However, it [...]
Aviva-derci to Italian life insurance group November 18, 2013 AVIVA has sold off its stake in Italian life insurance group Eurovita as part of an overhaul of the business. The firm will net €33m (£27.7m) by selling its 39 per cent holding in Eurovita to JC Flowers. Its partner Banco Popolare, which owns the rest, is also selling out to the private equity firm. [...]
Costain picks Liberum as its new joint broker November 18, 2013 ENGINEERING group Costain has hired Liberum Capital as its joint corporate broker alongside Investec, in the latest client win for Simon Stillwell’s investment bank. FTSE All Share-listed Costain, which tried to merge with May Gurney this year but was blocked by a higher bid from Kier, named Liberum’s Steve Pearce as its new joint broker [...]
US appeal court revives Apple-Samsung row November 18, 2013 A US appeals court yesterday breathed new life into Apple’s long-running attempt to secure an injunction against Samsung Electronics, ordering a California judge to reconsider imposing a permanent sales ban on some Samsung products. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said that the lower court abused its discretion in denying the injunction [...]
Contract loss takes its toll on Aveva’s shares November 18, 2013 ENGINEERING software company Aveva saw its shares fall 7.83 per cent yesterday as investors reacted to disappointing growth during the first half of the year. Investors focused on results from the company’s enterprise division, which saw growth of only five per cent – growth of 20 per cent had been expected – on the back [...]
City Moves for 19 November 2013 | Who’s switching jobs November 18, 2013 Knight Frank The property company has hired Liz Crawford as an associate within its healthcare team. She was most recently at Humberts Leisure, where she was a director. Prior to that, Crawford was head of licenced and leisure at Lambert Smith Hampton. Axa Investment Management The investment management business has recruited Shajahan Alam as a solutions [...]
Next Fifteen fills finance role November 18, 2013 NEXT Fifteen, the communications group that owns five PR brands including Text100, has appointed the former finance chief of Engine Group as its interim finance boss. The appointment of Peter Harris comes after David Dewhurst’s resignation at the end of last month, at the same time the company issued a profit warning due to audit [...]
ITE in Chinese partnership November 18, 2013 EXHIBITIONS group ITE has announced a new £33m venture in partnership with Hong Kong-based Worldcoat Exhibitions as the company pushes into China. The new partnership, Sinostar ITE, acquired the rights for Worldcoat’s SF China exhibition, showcasing the paint and coatings industries. The partnership is currently a 50/50 investment with Worldcoat as part of ITE’s push [...]
Ahrendts wins top luxury gong November 18, 2013 BURBERRY’S outgoing chief executive Angela Ahrendts collected the top prize at the 2013 Walpole Awards for Excellence last night at the Banqueting House in Whitehall. Ahrendts – who will swap luxury handbags for iPads when she joins Apple next year – was awarded the medal of excellence for her “monumental success in reinventing Burberry”. Walpole’s [...]
Salmond fuels salmon demand November 18, 2013 FLAT whites are so last year – those on the cutting edge of beverages will be quaffing green vegetable drinks in 2014, according to the consumer clairvoyants at Mintel. The research firm said yesterday that new EU rules on caffeine labelling will push drinkers away from coffee and energy drinks and into natural alternatives. Its [...]