Bond to stay with Wiggle after Bridgepoint swoops for £180m December 7, 2011 PRIVATE equity house Bridgepoint has won a bidding war to buy Wiggle, the online cycling and sports retailer, for £180m from Isis. The buyout firm completed the deal after an auction process launched last month by Rothschild. Advent, EQT and 3i had been keen on purchasing the company, which is chaired by former Asda boss [...]
FSA CHIEF SANTS MEETS OCCUPY LONDON December 7, 2011 FSA chief executive Hector Sants discussed banking regulation and pay with Occupy London representatives yesterday in a Bedouin tent in the City. Ken Costa, the former Lazard International chairman who is leading the London Connection initiative, and Bishop of London Dr Richard Chartres, also took part in the private session, at St Ethelburga’s Centre for [...]
Banks hungry for US dollars flood the ECB December 7, 2011 BANKS flooded the European Central Bank (ECB) with demand for dollars yesterday, taking out $50.7bn in three-month loans – five times what many analysts expected. The demand from 34 dollar-hungry banks came after six central banks agreed to slash the price they charge to lend out the greenback in response to a dollar credit crunch. [...]
Eurozone bailout fund to sell short-term debt before 2012 December 7, 2011 THE EUROZONE’S bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), will auction three, six or 12-month bills before the end of the year to increase its funding flexibility, the fund said in a statement. “The launch of a short-term funding programme is in line with the enlarged scope of activity of EFSF to use its [...]
German bunds enjoy a rally after €4bn sale gets plenty of interest December 7, 2011 GERMAN bunds rallied yesterday after solid demand at a German debt auction and a sell-off in periphery Eurozone bonds prompted investors to plough into debt issued by the region’s strongest member ahead of an EU summit later in the week. The yield spread between 10-year German bonds and their Italian and Spanish counterparts expanded on [...]
Apple loses its battle for iPad trademark in China December 7, 2011 APPLE yesterday lost a lawsuit in which it claimed infringement of its iPad trademark by Taiwanese-owned company Proview Technology. Proview registered the name IPAD for use in mainland China in 2001, and in several other areas including the EU between 2000 and 2004. In 2006 it agreed to sell the “global trademark” to Apple, but claims [...]
Lawsuit sinks Henderson shares December 7, 2011 Shares in asset manager Henderson Group dropped 3.4 per cent to 114p yesterday, after sinking to 112p during the day, after it was revealed a group of pension funds is suing the firm over the handling of its investment in construction firm John Laing in 2006. The group is thought to include the BBC, Tesco [...]
BP hit by new Gulf spill censure December 7, 2011 The US offshore drilling safety agency yesterday slapped five more citations on BP for its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year. The new citations, which BP plans to appeal, mean the oil giant faces fines of up to $35,000 a day per incident. They focus on the failure to conduct an accurate [...]
Lone Star top of bid list for Lloyds £1bn property debt December 7, 2011 PRIVATE equity firm Lone Star is the preferred bidder for Lloyds Banking Group’s £1bn Project Royal portfolio of UK commercial property debt, one source familiar with the matter said. A deal between Lloyds and Lone Star has yet to be signed, the source said. Lone Star’s bid is understood to have been backed by about [...]
Banks buy own debt to raise new capital December 7, 2011 EUROPEAN banks are turning to buying back their own debt in order to raise some of the billions in extra capital required by regulators. At least six major banks have launched debt buybacks in the last two weeks and investment bankers say more are likely. Barclays announced the repurchase of £2.5bn of its own debt [...]