City Moves for 6 August 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 1, 2013 White and Case The law firm has announced the appointment of Ross Allardice as partner in its UK and European private equity team. He has 11 years’ experience working with private equity funds, and was most recently at Kirkland & Ellis. Barclays The bank’s corporate and employer solutions division has recruited Sean McGowan to its [...]
Best of the Brokers January 1, 2013 HANSTEEN HOLDINGS Peel Hunt rates the real estate investment trust “buy” and has a 79p target. The broker sees last week’s £60m industrial property acquisition as a classic deal for the firm, with low capital values and high yields coupled with asset management opportunities. VOLVO Morgan Stanley rates the carmaker “overweight” with a target of [...]
Statoil to develop North Sea oil field for £4.3bn December 21, 2012 Norway’s Statoil is to develop a $7bn (£4.3bn) North Sea oil field, the largest offshore development in the UK in more than 10 years. Statoil will start work on the Mariner project, 150km southeast of the Shetland islands, in 2017. Average production is expected to average 55,000 barrels of oil a day. The project will [...]
ArcelorMittal takes £2.6bn write down on European business December 21, 2012 Steelmaker ArcelorMittal said today it would write down the value of its European business by about $4.3bn (£2.6bn), as a weak European market hurt demand. The world’s largest steelmaker said that steel demand in Europe had fallen by around eight per cent so far this year, marking a 29 per cent drop since 2007. “This [...]
Aviva disposes of US operations in £1.1bn deal December 21, 2012 Insurer Aviva today said it had agreed to sell its US operations for $1.8bn (£1.1bn). Britain’s number two insurer, which will dispose of its US operations to Athene Holding, will retain its US asset management operations. The sale forms part of an overhaul launched by Aviva in July to offload 16 businesses aimed at bolstering [...]
FTSE 100 down as US budget deal hopes fade December 21, 2012 The leading share index slipped back this morning – the final full trading day before Christmas – and fell 0.7 per cent in early deals, as a deal on the US budget looked less likely. US Republican lawmakers have rejected party leader John Boehner’s proposal in the fiscal cliff talks, leading to fears that $600bn [...]
UK economy grew by 0.9 per cent in second quarter December 21, 2012 UK GDP grew by a less-than-expected 0.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2012, marking a greater challenge for the economy to expand in the last three months of the year. The official figures from the Office for National Statistics were revised down the original estimate of one per cent. Third-quarter GDP growth was [...]
Nokia and RIM settle patent dispute December 21, 2012 Nokia has settled a patent licence dispute with Blackberry maker Research In Motion over use of its Wi-Fi technology. The agreement will involve a one-time payment from RIM to the Finnish mobile phone maker, but the terms are confidential, Nokia said this morning. The agreement covers all existing patent litigation between the two companies. The [...]
Xstrata ramps up zinc production at Australian mine December 21, 2012 Xstrata Zinc this morning said ore production would jump a further 33 per cent at its Lady Loretta mine in Australia. The miner’s zinc arm said production would hit 1.6m tonnes a year at the Queensland-based mine by 2016, which started production in September. The FTSE 100 miner has spent A$362.2m (£232.7m) on Lady Loretta [...]
BAE Systems snaps up £2.5bn deal with Oman December 21, 2012 Defence firm BAE Systems this morning said it had signed a contract worth £2.5bn with Oman to supply aircraft. The contract, which starts in 2017, will see the FTSE 100 company deliver 12 Typhoon and eight Hawk aircraft. Guy Griffiths, group managing director for BAE Systems’ international business, said that BAE had a long history [...]