Short-term rentals firm Hostmaker heads for administration March 2, 2020 Hostmaker, a London-based lettings company, has entered administration. The company’s staff are now facing potential redundancy, while Houst — formerly known as Airsorted — is believed to have bought Hostmaker’s client base, according to industry website Shorttermrentalz. The news followed a week after the Sunday Times reported Hostmaker was facing a potential insolvency battle. Sign [...]
Alphabet’s Waymo nabs $2.25bn in first external funding round March 2, 2020 Waymo, the self-driving unit of Alphabet, said tonight it has raised $2.25bn (£1.76bn) in its first external investment round. In addition to Alphabet, investors included car parts supplier Magna International, US dealership chain Autonation, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and three large investment firms: Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz and sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. Alphabet [...]
Micro Focus shelves $1.4bn loan deal due to coronavirus March 2, 2020 One of the UK’s largest listed technology companies has delayed a $1.4bn debt sale due to market uncertainty caused by the coronavirus. Micro Focus had been working on plans for the $1.4bn loan — which had initially supported the acquisition of Hewlett-Packard’s enterprise software division — for two weeks. The decision follows in the wake [...]
Coronavirus: British Airways and Ryanair cancel hundreds of flights as demand sinks March 2, 2020 Two of the UK’s leading airlines are cutting flights from their London hubs as coronavirus fears have led to a demand slump. British Airways will cancel more than 400 flights, while budget carrier Ryanair is cutting capacity to and from Italy. BA’s affected flights are between 16 and 28 March from Heathrow airport to cities [...]
Coronavirus jeopardises Airbnb stock market listing March 2, 2020 Airbnb’s much-anticipated float could be in danger following the outbreak of the rapidly spreading coronavirus. Airbnb has been working towards floating on the stock market this year and was looking to start the process in March or April, according to Bloomberg sources. It could now be pushed back as consumers and businesses cancel travel plans [...]
UK government to allow new onshore wind farm subsidies March 2, 2020 Onshore wind farms will be eligible for subsidies for the first time since 2016 from next year. This was announced with details on the next stage of the Contracts for Differences scheme which launches next year. However, the government has stressed new projects in England will only go ahead with the consent of local communities. [...]
Downing Street to seek parallel financial services talks with US March 2, 2020 Downing Street is looking at whether a financial services deal can be done in tandem with a broader free trade agreement with the US. The UK will begin talks with counterparts in Washington in the middle of this month, and today published an 184-page document setting out its mandate, which will prioritise industries such as [...]
UK tycoons buy Twickenham Studios as they launch £500m film venture March 2, 2020 Two British tycoons have snapped up Twickenham Studios as part of a £500m project to develop studio space to meet surging demand for new films and TV shows. Piers Read, producer of The Inbetweeners and Peep Show, and Jeremy Rainbird, who launched Bafta-winning production company Merman, have bought the west London studio hub for £50m. [...]
Goldman Sachs builds up 8.5 per cent voting rights in Metro Bank March 2, 2020 Goldman Sachs has built up 8.48 per cent voting rights in troubled British lender Metro Bank, according to regulatory filings. Metro Bank’s share price has collapsed almost 90 per cent since early 2019, when it disclosed an almost £1bn accounting error. The challenger bank plunged to a £131m loss last year following the scandal, which [...]
Goldman Sachs and Citigroup halt foreign business trips over coronavirus March 2, 2020 US banking giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have expanded their restrictions on business trips by staff in response to the coronavirus epidemic. Citigroup’s restrictions will now cover all international business trips “until further notice”, the bank said. Previously, it had only restricted travel to a select number of countries that had reported outbreaks of the [...]