Carlyle cashes in with £650m sale of Talaris February 14, 2012 PRIVATE equity house Carlyle Group provided a ray of light for the buyout industry yesterday when it agreed to sell cash-counting equipment firm Talaris to a Japanese rival for £650m. Glory, Japan’s largest money-handling machine maker, has agreed to buy Talaris in its largest acquisition so far. It marks a quick exit for Carlyle, which [...]
Volcker hits back as critics attack controversial rule February 14, 2012 BANKS and trade associations have filed hundreds of letters outlining their objections to the Volcker rule, with UK groups adding their concerns on the rule’s international impact. The aim of the rule, which comes into force in July, is to stop US banks carrying out proprietary trades if they also own private equity or hedge [...]
M&A deals up by 10 per cent during last year February 14, 2012 A STUDY of M&A activity in Europe, the Middle East and Asia has revealed that year-on-year deal numbers were up 10 per cent during 2011, with the aggregate deal value increasing by one per cent. According to research by Mergermarket and Merrill DataSite, the year was split between an encouragingly busy first half and a [...]
MEET THE ADVISERS February 14, 2012 Barclays Capital is advising Misys through this deal. The team is led by London frontman Matthew Smith, a former employee of Citigroup and now head of UK M&A at BarCap. Heading the New York team are Lehman Brothers alumni Michael Carter and Erik-Jaap Molenar. JP Morgan Cazenove’s corporate finance managing director Andrew Hodgkin and vice [...]
High inflation forces King to explain again February 14, 2012 BANK of England governor Mervyn King has been forced to write his ninth consecutive letter to the chancellor to explain why inflation is still so far above its two per cent target. Inflation fell to 3.6 per cent on the consumer price index (CPI) in January, the Office for National Statistics revealed yesterday – down [...]
CITY VIEWS: HOW DAMAGING WOULD IT BE FOR GEORGE OSBORNE IF THE UK LOST ITS TRIPLE-A RATING? February 14, 2012 ROB HUNT | NEED TO KNOW NEWS “I am still amazed that people take heed to what the ratings agencies say after 2008. I think a downgrade could affect the UK globally but everyone is in the same boat. The chancellor and the coalition government are doing what they can.” SHAUN GORVIN | BNP PARIBAS [...]
Zynga swings to loss but revenues surge February 14, 2012 ZYNGA, the US developer of games for social networking sites, fell to a $435m (£277m) quarterly loss last night despite beating Wall Street revenue expectations in its first results as a public company. Revenue soared 59 per cent to $311.2m, edging past analysts’ forecasts of $301.08m, as the FarmVille creator reported a 13 per cent [...]
Murdoch puts his top lawyer onto News Corp panel February 14, 2012 RUPERT Murdoch (pictured) is working to stem a growing rebellion within his newspaper business, as he beefs up the group’s oversight committee and prepares to fly back to the UK. The company’s new top corporate lawyer Gerson Zweifach has joined the management and standards committee, a source familiar with the company said yesterday. The panel [...]
FRC to look into tougher comply or explain policy February 14, 2012 THE FINANCIAL Reporting Council (FRC) has issued research suggesting companies should provide greater detail when they choose to exempt themselves from corporate governance procedures. The regulator, which has responsibility for promoting the UK Corporate Governance Code, will now consider the proposals as part of an ongoing process to revise its guidelines. The research noted that [...]
Berenberg set to increase its staff in the City February 14, 2012 GERMAN boutique investment bank and wealth manager Berenberg has boosted its headcount in London by one third, bucking the gloomy trend of lay-offs in the City. The bank is hiring investment bankers and analysts, against the industry trend of downsizing, which has dented many 2011 bank results. Lenders across Europe, Asia and the US have [...]