TAKING THE BISCUIT November 9, 2009 CADBURY last night dismissed a hostile £9.8bn takeover offer from the world’s second largest food company Kraft, accusing it of “irritating” its shareholders by making a low-ball tactical bid. Kraft’s hostile offer, which landed just hours before a deadline set by the City’s Takeover Panel, was made on the same terms as first mooted back [...]
DOW SURGES TO THIRTEEN MONTH HIGH November 9, 2009 GLOBALmarkets rallied yesterday after investors were buoyed by an improving global economy, as gold surged and the dollar weakened. A broad rally in the US sent the Dow to its highest close in thirteen months, after the Group of 20 ministers in Scotland pledged to keep interest rates low throughout the major world economies at [...]
US hedgie trial goes to a jury November 9, 2009 THE trial of two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers went to a jury yesterday, in the case of the first high-profile Wall Street executives criminally charged with fraud over subprime mortgage-backed securities that fuelled the market meltdown. US prosecutors called a score of witnesses and cited hundreds of documentary exhibits for their case in [...]
Kraft’s bid hugely undervalues Cadbury November 9, 2009 IRENE Rosenfeld, Kraft’s boss, is pursuing a canny strategy. She knows that she cannot dramatically sweeten the value of her bid for Cadbury and therefore stands no chance of winning at the moment – after all, her biggest shareholder, the thrifty Warren Buffett, has told her to remain disciplined – so she is planning to [...]
Madoff’s goods go on sale November 9, 2009 FRAUDSTER Bernie Madoff’s extravagant lifestyle was further exposed yesterday, as details of his seized personal items were unveiled, including 16 Rolex watches. Over 30 handbags, a personalised Mets jacket and Post-it notes will all be up for grabs in an auction on Saturday, in a state-run sale which has been put together to raise at [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 9, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES Banks face hike in funding costsBanks around the world face increases in funding costs that could cut profits and hit their customers as they look to refinance $7,000bn-plus in short-term debt expiring in the next three years with longer-dated bonds, according to research released today. Institutions seeking to reduce their reliance on short-term [...]
Douglas quits Laing O’Rourke November 9, 2009 Tony Douglas, the chief operating officer at the UK’s biggest privately owned construction company Laing O’Rourke, quit yesterday, and chief executive Ray O’Rourke halted his plans to step down from his post. Douglas, who had been managing director at Heathrow airport, was being groomed to take on the top job, and had been tasked with [...]
Englefield Capital sees buyout November 9, 2009 C&A retail chain owners, the Brenninkmeijer family, have offered to buy out investors in the private equity group Englefield Capital, who include Lord Myners and Rolls-Royce chief executive Sir John Rose. The move comes as the family decided to acquire Englefield capital, the group which owns the fund, from Dominic Shorthouse, who founded it and [...]
Report says UK rules took Citi to brink November 9, 2009 A REPORT into the US bank bailouts has raised questions about whether the Financial Services Authority (FSA) pushed Citigroup towards the brink in November 2008 in a bid to protect UK interests from another Lehman Brothers-type collapse. A footnote to a report by the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) claims that the FSA ratcheted up liquidity [...]
FSAboss Hector Sants threatens jail sentences for rule-breaking City firms November 9, 2009 HECTOR SANTS, chief executive of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), yesterday threatened financial firms that flout the regulator’s rules with a jail sentence, as he seeks to prove the watchdog’s toughness. He said that if “firms do not adjust their behaviours…people will go to jail”. And Sants blamed the City’s culture for the downturn, saying [...]