Irish bankers prepare Royal Exchange sale February 20, 2012 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE, one of the City of London’s best-known buildings, is to be sold as part of the winding-down of the wealth management division of the former Anglo Irish Bank. The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), formed last year by the merger of troubled Anglo and Irish Nationwide, has agreed to sell the real [...]
RBS considers Jurys Inn debt-for-equity swap February 20, 2012 THE ROYAL Bank of Scotland is considering taking a stake in Jurys Inn as part of a debt-for-equity swap in which lenders to the hotelier will write down as much as £250m of borrowings. The taxpayer-owned bank, together with other lenders Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and Irish Banking Resolution Corporation (IBRC), are considering three plans [...]
Hedge funds set to seize Travelodge February 20, 2012 BUDGET hotel chain Travelodge is set to fall into the hands of two US hedge funds as it struggles under the burden of interest payments on its £530m debt pile. Avenue Capital and Golden Tree Asset Management, who are among the major creditors that have bought up its loans, have joined forces with an unnamed [...]
China cuts reserve ratio in bid to counter slowdown February 20, 2012 CHINA’S central bank has cut the amount of cash banks must hold in reserves, boosting lending capacity by an estimated 350-400bn yuan (£35-£45bn) in a bid to crank up credit creation as the world’s second-biggest economy faces a fifth successive quarter of slowing growth. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is on the course of [...]
Hong Kong tycoon eyes Four Seasons February 20, 2012 HONG-KONG business tycoon Li Ka- Shing has been named as a potential investor in Four Seasons Healthcare, UK’s biggest care home operator, which is exploring refinancing options ahead of a debt repayment deadline later this year. The debt-laden company is said to have attracted the interest of CK Life Sciences, a healthcare business owned by [...]
Li Ka-Shing: the Superman who soared from the factory floor February 20, 2012 LI Ka-Shing, Hong Kong’s richest man and chairman of Cheung King Infrastructure, is one of the largest foreign investors in the UK following two major acquisitions over the past two years. Last year, the octogenarian billionaire snapped up Northumbrian Water for £2.4bn, in the largest takeover of a UK publicly listed company since Kraft bought [...]
BA set to pay up over price fixing claims February 20, 2012 BRITISH Airways is set to end a five-year saga over the regulator’s allegations of price fixing by paying a reduced fine. BA has held talks with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over the £121.5m fine issued in August 2007. The British flag carrier is now expected to pay part of the charge, but this [...]
Airline industry is demanding more capacity February 20, 2012 THREE airline industry trade bodies will join forces today to call for an increase in Britain’s flight capacity in order to boost global competitiveness. ADS Group, the Airport Operators Association and the British Air Transport Association spoke out as the government prepares for a consultation on aviation, including plans for a new multi-runway hub airport. [...]
Remember Greece is not the only problem February 20, 2012 IF I’m getting sick of talking about Greece, I’m pretty sure you are just as sick of hearing about it. The thing that worries me more about the news fatigue around the Eurozone crisis is that we are about to become horribly complacent. Once Greece comes to a head, there’s bound to be another issue [...]
Minor partner in BP’s Macondo Well settles for $90m over spill February 20, 2012 A MINORITY partner in BP’s blown-out Macondo Well in the Gulf of Mexico has agreed to pay $90m (£57m) in a settlement with the US government and Gulf states over the 2010 oil spill. Mitsui MOEX Offshore, which had a 10 per cent stake, is the first to settle ahead of the liabilities trial expected [...]