William Hill and GVC get more time for Sportingbet bid November 13, 2012 William Hill and GVC Holdings have been given more time to make a formal offer for Sportingbet, with the deadline extended to 4 December. Following a £530m takeover approach, the UK Takeover Panel has extended the deadline from this afternoon to allow discussions to continue between Sportingbet, William Hill and joint bidder GVC Holdings. William [...]
Vodafone drops to loss November 13, 2012 Telecoms company Vodafone slumped to a pre-tax loss of £492m over the six months to September, as it was forced to write down the value of its business in Spain and Italy by £5.9bn. It was hit by customers in Southern Europe making fewer phone calls. Over the second quarter, group organic revenue fell 1.4 [...]
50,000 zombie firms to fail if rates rise November 12, 2012 TENS of thousands of firms are set to go bust when interest rates rise, taking hundreds of thousands of jobs down with them, business troubleshooting group the Institute for Turnaround (IfT) has warned. There are almost 150,000 zombie firms in the UK – businesses that are fundamentally broken, and only still alive because ultra-low interest [...]
Hoare Govett owner Jefferies sold in $3.6bn share deal November 12, 2012 INVESTMENT bank Jefferies, owner of UK corporate broker Hoare Govett, yesterday said it will merge with one of its largest shareholders, US holding group Leucadia National Corporation, in a deal valued at $3.6bn (£2.9bn). The bank, which has its European headquarters in the City, has agreed to approve an all share deal giving shareholders 0.81 [...]
Top executives quizzed by MPs on tax avoidance November 12, 2012 STARBUCKS, Amazon and Google were yesterday criticised by MPs following accusations that the multinational firms are moving profits abroad to minimise their UK corporation tax bill. MPs were critical of deals that appear to show firms diverting apparently British transactions through overseas divisions in low-tax countries. Members of the Public Accounts Committee accused the firms [...]
What the other papers say this morning November 12, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Nissan hits back at tax critics Nissan yesterday became the latest company to face scrutiny over its tax affairs after it was revealed that Britain’s biggest carmaker avoided millions in corporation tax every year by selling vehicles through a Swiss company that manages its European operation. The company hit back at the criticism, [...]
Tories stop bid to delay fuel duty rise again November 12, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT last night faced down a Labour bid to further delay the planned 3p rise in fuel duty, disappointing motorists but fending off a backbench rebellion. The motion, which would have pushed the rise back from January to at least April, was defeated by 282 votes to 234, resulting in a healthy margin of [...]
Parents will be able to share mothers’ leave November 12, 2012 PARENTS will be able to share out maternity leave, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg confirmed yesterday. As part of a general package of reforms designed to make hours more flexible, mothers will be able to share out their maternity leave – after the first two weeks – with a partner. But Nick Pearce at the [...]
BBC’s Entwistle payoff blasted as more depart November 12, 2012 THE BBC faced anger over the size of departed director-general George Entwistle’s payoff yesterday, as culture secretary Maria Miller raised the possibility of the National Audit Office (NAO) investigating the £450,000 package. “The NAO is empowered to conduct a value-for-money review,” Miller told the House of Commons yesterday. “In this day and age people expect [...]
Adoboli trial enters final stage as judge warns against biases November 12, 2012 THE judge in the trial of alleged UBS rogue trader Kweku Adoboli told the jury yesterday not to let their views about the banking industry influence their judgment, as the long running trial enters its final stage. Adoboli, 32, has been blamed for a loss of $2.3bn (£1.4bn) at the Swiss bank in September 2011. [...]