PAI Partners sells off its £460m ingredients firm January 11, 2012 THE MORIBUND European private equity market showed some signs of life yesterday when PAI Partners agreed to sell its share in a Danish food ingredients firm for about €560m (£462m). PAI will sell its a 25.7 per cent stake in Chr. Hansen to Novo, which is the main owner of drugmaker Novo Nordisk and industrial enzymes producer [...]
HUNTER ATTRACTS MORE PRIVATE EQUITY January 11, 2012 HUNTER’S celebrity profile has helped the upmarket wellington boot maker attract more private equity funding. Hutton Collins said yesterday it was providing £32m to support Searchlight’s acquisition of the company. In the year to 31 December 2010 Hunter reported a turnover of £56m and profits of £16m. The company’s profile has been dramatically raised in [...]
Moneysupermarket trading well January 11, 2012 Comparison site Moneysupermarket.com said yesterday it expects earnings to rise by 20 per cent, after trading well in the fourth quarter. The group, which offers price comparisons on insurance, savings and loans and home utilities on its site, said it expects its earnings to rise in line with expectations to around £178m. This was helped [...]
Fenner sees profits up on 2010 January 11, 2012 Fenner, the British industrial polymers company, said yesterday its first quarter profits were ahead of the previous year after profits grew in its Advanced Engineering Products unit. The group said it has continued to see strong demand from the end of its last financial year and expects trading to be in line with expectations, but [...]
Demand rises for Big Yellow January 11, 2012 Self storage firm Big Yellow said yesterday its third quarter sales rose eight per cent on higher demand for its storage facilities from both domestic and corporate customers. The British firm’s occupancy levels at its 52 wholly-owned stores fell by 1.7 per cent in December compared to a 2.3 per cent decline last year. The [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 11, 2012 Heidrick & Struggles Heidrick & Struggles International, the leadership advisory firm providing executive search and leadership consulting services, has appointed Chris Seabourne as a partner in the global life sciences practice. Seabourne has 15 years’ experience in executive search, specialising in leadership roles in the pharmaceutical, medical devices and healthcare sectors. He previously worked with [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 11, 2012 INCHCAPE JP Morgan rates the car distributor and retailer as “overweight” with a target price of 440p, and says the company’s shares have fallen too far from their high of 425p in July 2011. The broker sees the discount of 18 per cent to the wider retail sector in 2012 as unjustified, given Inchcape’s wide [...]
Fitch: ECB must do more to avert euro collapse January 11, 2012 The European Central Bank should ramp up its buying of troubled euro zone debt to support Italy and prevent a “cataclysmic” collapse of the euro, David Riley, the head of sovereign ratings for Fitch, said. Speaking to investors as part of a European roadshow, Riley said the collapse of the euro would be disastrous for [...]
Michael Page to expand in emerging markets January 11, 2012 Michael Page is to go ahead with plans to enter more emerging markets where the British recruitment company sees long-term growth opportunities, it said when reporting growth slowed further in the fourth quarter. Michael Page said Wednesday that, while being mindful of a tough global economy that has rapidly stunted growth levels over the course [...]
FTSE rally ends as investors eye Eurozone bond auctions January 11, 2012 The rally on the FTSE 100 yesterday stalled in early trading today as concerns over upcoming Eurozone bond auctions and slightly weaker commodity stocks took their toll. Heavyweight miners failed to keep up the gains made yesterday which were fuelled by positive data from China showing the country’s demand for metals had risen. Wall Street [...]