Rolex giant Watches of Switzerland begins London IPO debut with £650m valuation May 30, 2019 The UK’s largest seller of Rolex watches has begun life as a listed firm in the Square Mile today, having priced its shares towards the top end of the range it had targeted. Investors start trading in Watches of Switzerland on the London Stock Exchange today after the firm priced its shares at 270p, valuing [...]
T-Mobile and Sprint could sell Boost Mobile for up to $3bn May 29, 2019 Potential buyers are reportedly lining up bids to snap up pre-paid phone company Boost Mobile from T-Mobile and Sprint for as much as $3bn (£2.4bn). The planned sell-off comes a week after T-Mobile and Sprint won approval from the US federal communications commission for their $26bn merger. Read more: Firms forced to reveal cheapest phone, TV [...]
Top UK restaurants fall to £82m loss as casual dining sector feels the heat May 27, 2019 The UK’s top restaurant chains fell to a loss of £82m in the last year as they struggle to stay afloat in the increasingly competitive casual dining sector. The top 100 restaurant groups fell to the hefty loss in the year to the end of March, compared to a pre-tax profit of £102m the previous [...]
DEBATE: Does the Jamie’s Italian chain have only itself to blame for its demise? May 23, 2019 Does the Jamie’s Italian chain have only itself to blame for its demise? Patrick Clover, founder and chief executive of BLACKBX, says YES. It’s a sad story for all involved, not least the 1,000 workers made redundant, but to call Jamie’s Italian a victim of external forces is too simplistic. The climate for mid-market restaurants [...]
Small businesses will be collateral damage in Corbyn’s war against the rich May 23, 2019 A new word was coined earlier this month. Joining the terms “Brexit” and “omnishambles” in the English lexicon, we now have “Corbygeddon” to describe the abject fear of a hard-left Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn, that’s set to drive the uber-wealthy (or at least a proportion of their assets) out of the country in [...]
Pret A Manger eats Eat but vows to go veggie in new stores May 22, 2019 Sandwich chain Pret A Manger said today it has agreed to buy rival British chain Eat. Pret plans to convert as many of Eat’s shops as possible to Pret stores serving vegetarian food in response to what it said was a growing consumer demand for more vegan and vegetarian options on the high street. Pret’s chief [...]
Pret in talks to gobble up rival Eat as part of health-conscious expansion plan May 16, 2019 Sandwich chain Pret A Manger is in discussions to snap up rival food group Eat in a bid to create a swathe of vegan and vegetarian-friendly food outlets. Read more: Pret A Manger reveals latest plans to help London's homeless Pret is nearing a deal to buy most of Eat’s 94 outlets or the entire [...]
Magazine publisher TI Media taps media veteran Tim Weller as new chairman May 16, 2019 The magazine publisher behind Horse & Hound and Country Life has appointed media veteran Tim Weller as its new chairman. Read more: Trump pardons fraudster media mogul Conrad Black City A.M. understands Weller, a prolific media entrepreneur, has joined TI Media, which is the UK’s biggest consumer magazine publisher The media boss has been recruited by Epiris, [...]
Private equity owner of NSO Group pledges privacy crack down after Whatsapp hack May 15, 2019 Novalpina Capital, which owns a large stake in Israeli spyware firm NSO Group – whose technology was used to hack Whatsapp – has promised to crack down on the company’s approach to privacy. The UK private equity fund said it would bring the company in line with UN privacy principles and reform its governance to [...]
Trainline owner mulls £1bn sale as IPO plans build up head of steam May 15, 2019 The owner of ticketing firm Trainline is reportedly exploring a sale of the company alongside plans for a £1bn stock market listing. Read more: UK's biggest travel booking app Trainline considers £1bn flotation US investment giant KKR, which has owned Trainline since 2015, has approached a number of private equity groups to gauge interest in [...]