Icahn is out: Compares Dell board to a dictatorship as he gives up the chase September 9, 2013 Activist investor Carl Icahn's letter is now out (as pre-announced on Twitter) and he's out too. After several failed attempts to take tech giant Dell, Icahn is giving up the chase. But he does say: I continue to believe that the price being paid by Michael Dell/Silver Lake to purchase our company greatly undervalues it, [...]
Activist investor Icahn uses Twitter to announce new letter to Dell shareholders September 9, 2013 Activist investor Carl Icahn still hasn't got bored of Twitter. After adding $14bn to Apple's value with a single Tweet he's back on old ground, talking Dell. We intend to release a letter to all Dell shareholders shortly. — Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) September 9, 2013 That's Icahn's 17th Tweet, and follows multiple takeover rejections [...]
Koch brothers snap up electronics manufacturer Molex for £4.6bn September 9, 2013 The electronic components manufacturer Molex has just announced that it's being bought by Koch Industries for $7.2bn (£4.6bn) (release). That value is a 42 per cent premium on Molex's closing price on Friday. Koch Industries, owned by brothers David (pictured) and Charles Koch, take the sixth and seventh spots on the Forbes rich list – [...]
Canadian building permits see huge rebound in July September 9, 2013 Candian building permits just smashed expectations in July. Rising by 20.7 per cent in a single month, that dwarves estimates of a 1.0 per cent rise. Of course, this follows a huge drop in June, when permits fell by 10.6 per cent (revised from -10.3 per cent). The increase in July came mainly from higher [...]
Doubts that Greece economy has reached a turning point despite higher GDP in second quarter September 9, 2013 Despite improvements to Greek GDP last Friday showing that the economy contracted by just 3.8 per cent compared to a year earlier (down from a previous estimate of a 4.6 per cent contraction), the country may have not have reached a turning point. Ben May, European economist, Capital Economics: No seasonally adjusted data are published, [...]
Political backing for army’s general Sisi fuels speculation for Egypt’s head of state September 9, 2013 Chief General Abdei Fattah al-Sisi has received public support from former Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq and former Arab League chief Amr Moussa. Despite the country's ongoing turmoil, the diverse support for Sisi signals an emergence of a public and popular figure. Shafiq, speaking in an interview with Dream 2 television, said he would back [...]
OECD sees growth firming in the UK September 9, 2013 The OECD has announced that it sees growth firming in the United Kingdom, as the UK's composite leading indicators (CLIs) move above their long term average (shown by 100 in the figure above). Stronger data saw the UK's CLIs increase to 101.0 in July, from 100.8 in the month before. Only the United States and [...]
Google goes further on concessions in a bid to end European Commission probe September 9, 2013 EU antitrust regulators have received further commitments from the technology giant after a three-year investigation highlighted concerns that it was working to block competitors. Anticipation of such a move began back in May: Joaquin Almunia, the European Commission’s competition commissioner, said he was “almost 100 per cent” certain that the search engine will have [...]
TSB launch could perform poorly unless Lloyds can convince customers of bank’s reputation September 9, 2013 Newly launched TSB branches could fail to impress unless marketing can convince customers of their trustworthiness, analysts warn. 632 branches have been launched, with 100,000 of its 4.6m customers logging on yesterday. TSB's website is already struggling, with technical issues emerging both yesterday and today. Unlikely to do the new project's brand image any favours. [...]
Osborne’s hair cut too far and too fast September 9, 2013 that new Osborne haircut in full: The parting has gone. pic.twitter.com/BvM9TTiEi1 — Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) September 9, 2013 Chancellor George Osborne seems to have gone for a very austere haircut (we're all in it together?) Quite a contrast to the mop of his Bullingdon Club days. And while Osborne elected to give his speech [...]