CAPCO TO DEVELOP EARLS COURT WITH KWOKS December 19, 2011 PROPERTY developer Capital & Counties (Capco) said yesterday it had entered an agreement with Hong Kong property titans the Kwok family to redevelop parts of its Earls Court site. Capco has been in talks for months over plans to turn one of the exhibition centre’s car parks into a residential area with 808 new homes [...]
Henderson offloads Hermes stake December 19, 2011 Investment management company Henderson has sold its stake in the Hermes private equity fund. Henderson said that there would be “no gain or loss for the group on disposal of its interest for cash”. The company will, however, see its assets under management drop by £1.4bn as a result of the deal. Henderson inherited the [...]
LME starts its own clearing arm December 19, 2011 The London Metal Exchange has decided to create its own clearing service called LMEClear, it announced yesterday, a move traders say is designed to make the exchange more attractive ahead of a potential sale next year.
Joe Lewis raises his stake in M&B December 19, 2011 Billionaire currency trader Joe Lewis’s Piedmont investment vehicle has upped its stake in pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers, a former acquisition target, to over 25 per cent. Piedmont, which in October abandoned plans to make an offer for the group, is now M&B’s largest shareholder with a 25.65 per cent stake. “He’s blocking [...]
Jacques Vert agrees takeover December 19, 2011 Sun European Partners has made a cash offer to snap up Aim-listed Jacques Vert in a deal which values the womenswear brand at £41.2m. Its shares soared 66 per cent on the news, which came nearly a month after the British fashion retailer issued a full-year profit warning.
Mouchel hopes to return to growth December 19, 2011 Support services group Mouchel said it aims to return to growth in 2012, despite the looming loss of a £130m contract with Rochdale Council. The firm said the deal, over which it remains in mutual exit talks, would not make a big impact to operating profits or cash. Its pipeline has dropped from £2.2bn to [...]
Odyssey aims for Atlantic airline December 19, 2011 A British venture called Odyssey Airlines hopes to start non-stop all-business class flights from London City to New York and other locations using ten newly-ordered Bombardier CSeries passenger jets, aviation industry sources said yesterday.
US GDP set to grow as Eurozone shrinks December 19, 2011 STEADY growth in the US economy means interest rate cuts are no longer needed, said Richmond Fed president Jeffrey Lacker (pictured right) in a speech yesterday. GDP will grow by between two and 2.5 per cent despite the Eurozone slowdown, he said, on the same day as PwC published grim forecasts for the major euro [...]
UK’s households facing hard times ahead of Christmas December 19, 2011 INCOMES took a further battering in November and consumers expect house prices to fall further into next year, according to today’s Nationwide consumer confidence survey which recorded a tiny rise in confidence. The headline consumer confidence index rose four points in the month to 40, still 37 points below its long run average of 77 [...]
Business services may drive economic growth December 19, 2011 RAPID growth in the business services sector offers hope for the UK’s economic recovery, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) argued yesterday – but the think-tank also warned a Eurozone recession could cost the UK 70,000 jobs in the industry. Business outsourcing is forecast to help IT services to grow by 13.6 per [...]