Bumi stock sale deals blow to Nat Rothschild February 18, 2013 THE BITTER battle for control at coal miner Bumi was blown wide open yesterday as a key Indonesian investor sold his 10 per cent stake just days before the crunch vote, potentially scuppering co-founder Nat Rothschild’s bid to gain control of the coal miner. Recapital Group, which owns 13 per cent of Bumi voting rights, [...]
BORIS TO EU: BACK OFF ON BANK PAY February 18, 2013 BORIS Johnson last night told City A.M. that “we don’t need Europe butting in on bonuses,” as he launched a staunch attack on the EU’s plan to cap bonuses at the same level as salaries. “I’ll always be the first to defend the City – we need to remain competitive,” said the Mayor, as he [...]
WH Ireland snaps up £270m of Seymour Pierce wealth assets February 18, 2013 CITY broker WH Ireland yesterday announced it had swooped on the remnants of bankrupt broker Seymour Pierce and snapped up its wealth management business for just £25,000. The acquisition struck between Tenebris Realisations – Seymour Pierce’s moniker since administration – and WH Ireland on Friday follows rival broker Cantor Fitzgerald’s agreement to buy substantial portions [...]
Equistone exits UK energy firm at a premium February 18, 2013 EQUISTONE, the private equity group, yesterday exited its majority stake in oil and gas company Hydrasun after selling it to a Bahraini-listed investment company. The sale, which comes over five years after Equistone backed a management buyout of the firm, represents more than a 2.5x premium to the firm’s original money investment of £38m. The [...]
Cameron demands India opens up economy to City February 18, 2013 DAVID Cameron yesterday called on India to open up its economy to British banks and insurers, in return for relaxing UK visa rules for executives from the subcontinent. But the Prime Minister faced difficulty as he waded into the debate over two troubled defence contracts and tried to convince India to hand major infrastructure contracts [...]
Rothschild heir backs launch of merchant bank February 18, 2013 EDMOND de Rothschild, the wealth manager chaired by an heir of the Rothschild banking dynasty, is to launch a UK merchant bank after winning regulatory approval for the plan. The new outfit, which was given consent to launch by the Financial Services Authority in mid-January, will be called Edmond de Rothschild Private Merchant Banking and [...]
Whaam! Merrill seeks street cred with graffiti and tattoo project February 18, 2013 BANK of America Merrill Lynch, sponsor of the Tate Modern’s highly anticipated Lichtenstein exhibition, is also backing a far less traditional venture – an outdoor graffiti art project. With the retrospective finally opening this week, the firm is getting involved with a Lichtenstein-inspired art education project with Graffiti Life – a collective of tattooists and [...]
Best of the Brokers for 19 February 2013 February 18, 2013 ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS UBS has a buy rating on the clothing-to-sugar conglomerate and has raised its target price from 1,705p to 2,000p as currency tailwinds lift the firm. The broker also expects Primark to accelerate further this year, which combined with lower restructuring costs in grocery and ingredients should help deliver double digit earnings growth [...]
BLP’s trainees told to march to the firm’s tune February 18, 2013 SPARE a thought for the latest intake of trainees over at Berwin Leighton Paisner, who started last week. The law firm is not only sending the fresh recruits off today for a relaxed day of team bonding at Army officer training centre Sandhurst – a video of their exploits will feature on the web. The [...]
FTSE funds help raise £1bn for infrastructure February 18, 2013 A HOST of FTSE 100 retirement funds yesterday revealed they had raised £1bn to plough into the UK’s creak- ing infrastructure as inf luential investor Edmund Truell called on government to do more to boost building investment. Pension schemes run by BAE Systems, BT, Lloyds TSB and British Airways are among ten schemes launching a [...]