Peugeot says it will post a big 2009 loss June 23, 2009 PEUGEOT Citroen said it expected to lose as much as €2bn (£1.7bn) in 2009 as it launched a convertible bond to raise €575m yesterday – but its European sales will fall less sharply than feared. Peugeot Citroen said that while the European car market was still down compared with 2008, the company’s “best current estimate” [...]
GM sells Saab to a Swedish supercar firm June 16, 2009 TROUBLED carmaker General Motors (GM) said yesterday it had reached a tentative agreement to sell its loss-making Saab division to Swedish supercar manufacturer Koenigsegg. The deal will be part-funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is supplying a $600m (£367m) loan, guaranteed by the Swedish government. “Closing this deal represents the best chance for Saab [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 16, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES NATIONAL EXPRESS IN DEBT TALKSNational Express is in talks with bankers to renegotiate terms on part of its £1.2bn debt amid fears that the bus and rail operator will breach loan conditions in December. The group is expected to pass a key test of whether it is meeting the terms of its debt [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 4, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES AQUASCUTUM IN BUY-OUT TALKSAquascutum, the classic British clothing brand, could be sold to the Hong Kong clothier that distributes the label in China and south-east Asia after an offer from the brand’s management to buy the business was rejected at the eleventh hour last week. Japan’s Renown, which bought the British label in [...]
Amlin snaps up Fortis arm in expansion June 3, 2009 AMLIN, the insurer that trades on the Lloyd’s of London market, said yesterday it wants to raise £76m from markets to fund a buyout of a non-life insurance arm of part-nationalised Dutch bank Fortis. The group said it has struck a €350m (£303m) deal to buy Fortis Corporate Insurance (FCI) from the Dutch government, which [...]
New dawn at Chrysler and GM in the US June 1, 2009 CAR giant General Motors (GM) finally filed for Chapter 11 yesterday, as President Barack Obama said his government’s plan for the carmaker was viable and would see the business rise out of bankruptcy quickly. When GM emerges from the largest-ever bankruptcy filing in US manufacturing history, the debt-heavy company will be majority owned by the [...]
Why the public rejects car firm bailouts May 31, 2009 WE are almost there. Barring a last minute hiccup, General Motors (GM) will enter into bankruptcy today. Like Chrysler, it will be using section 363 of the US code, which ought to allow it to reemerge in a few months having shed assets, liabilities and shareholders, and with the government owning the bulk of the [...]
Market forces should be let loose on GM May 28, 2009 IT is a sign of our troubled and confused times that the US government will end up owning a majority stake in General Motors (GM), the ailing car giant that is heading into bankruptcy. It remains unclear what exactly will happen to Vauxhall, the UK division of Germany’s GM-owned Opel, but it seems likely it [...]
The truth about the toughest MBA out there May 27, 2009 WHAT THEY TEACH YOU AT HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOLBy Philip Delves BroughtonVIKING, £12.99 GRADUATES of the Harvard MBA programme run the World Bank, the American Treasury, General Electric, Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble. According to Philip Delves Broughton, they control “the hours we work, the vacations we get, the culture we consume, the health care we [...]
Fiat confirms bid for Opel as GM splits up May 20, 2009 FIAT, one of the three bidders eyeing German carmaker Opel, confirmed it had submitted an offer for the General Motors’ (GM) owned firm ahead of yesterday’s deadline. Two other firms; Canadian-Austrian car parts group Magna and investment firm RHJ International have also entered formal bids for Opel, which ailing GM has put up for sale [...]