WPP continues China growth December 17, 2012 Advertising giant WPP has expanded its reach in China with the acquisition of entertainment marketing agency Filmworks China. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, follows the creation of a chief executive role for WPP China. The boss of the world’s largest advertising firm, Sir Martin Sorrell, expects China to overtake the UK as WPP’s second-largest market [...]
Kentz nets three Iraq contracts December 17, 2012 FTSE 250-listed engineer Kentz has snapped up three contracts in Iraq worth $55m (£34m) through its technical support services business. Over the next three to four years, Kentz will be involved in the development of in-plant process facilities and infrastructure on upstream facilities in Basra and Baghdad, to boost oil and gas production capacity.
D&D owner plans a dynamic future December 17, 2012 We are building restaurants to last several business cycles… it shouldn’t matter when you build them” DES GUNEWARDENA peers into his wine glass and wrinkles his nose. The chairman and chief executive of D&D London has invited me for lunch at the Angler, the group’s new seafood restaurant at South Place Hotel in the City [...]
South Place is a haven for the denizens of Silicon Roundabout December 17, 2012 REVIEW SOUTH PLACE HOTEL 3 South Place, EC2M 2AF 020 3503 0000 The music, man, it reminds me of last night. It makes me want to dance.” These words are probably not what you expect to hear from the reception staff at a new opening by D&D Group – the company behind Coq d’Argent, Le [...]
Who’s switching jobs December 17, 2012 Kleinwort Benson Lucy Gazmararian has been appointed head of investment advisory at the private bank. She joins from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where she was an executive director. Gazmararian previously held roles at Schroders and began her career in journalism. Argonaut Capital Partners Dennis Pellerito has been appointed head of UK sales at the fund [...]
Best of the Brokers December 17, 2012 AZ ELECTRONICS Numis has cut the chemical maker from “buy” to “hold”, due to lower than expected growth and a weak market for PCs, which has not seen a boost by the launch of Windows 8. MYTRAH ENERGY N+1 Singer has a “buy” rating on the India-based power producer after a rise in revenues. The [...]
Aggreko fails to light up FTSE 100 December 17, 2012 Temporary power solutions provider Aggreko weighed heavily on the blue chip index in early trading, sinking more than 17 per cent. This morning it warned of a slowdown in 2013, following a strong current year of trading. Paul Jones, analyst at Panmure Gordon, said this morning that 2013 has “stronger headwinds than expected, and previous [...]
Spain’s Santander to absorb Banesto December 17, 2012 Spanish bank Santander said this morning it is to absorb its 90 per cent owned subsidiary Banesto through a merger. Banco Santander currently holds 89.74 per cent of Banesto’s share capital. Banesto shareholders will receive Santander shares at a premium of 24.9 per cent. Trading in both banks’ shares was suspended this morning. The transaction [...]
BP offloads stake in North Sea field December 17, 2012 Oil major BP this morning announced it was to sell its interest in a North Sea gas field to SSE for $288m (£177.8m) in cash. Completion of the deal, to sell BP’s non-operated 50 per cent stake in the Sean gas field, is expected in the first half of next year. Sean is currently operated [...]
Kcell starts trading on the LSE December 17, 2012 Kazakh mobile telecoms provider Kcell started trading on the London Stock Exchange this morning. Trading in Kcell’s global depository receipts started at 8am. Last week, Kcell announced it had raised $525m (£324m) in its London and Almaty-based initial public offering for parent company TeliaSonera. Credit Suisse, UBS Investment Bank and Visor Capital acted as joint [...]