Primark sales slip as owner dresses up retailer for demerger Retail Primark has seen its sales slip due to heatwaves and “weak” consumer spending, despite efforts by its owner to revamp the discount clothes seller as it prepares to be spun off. Associated British Foods (ABF), the FTSE 100 consumer goods giant which owns Primark, said it is working “at pace” to improve the retailer ahead [...]
Associated British Foods rises to bread battle with Warburtons Retail Associated British Foods is taking on bread giant Warburtons with its Hovis merger. Could this be the biggest thing since sliced bread for the FTSE 100 giant? One of the London Stock Exchange’s biggest stalwarts is ditching the wardrobe and betting on the bread bin. Associated British Foods (ABF), which has been listed on the [...]
Associated British Foods toasts approval for £75m Hovis takeover Retail FTSE 100 giant Associated British Foods has been given the green light for a £75m takeover of Hovis, creating the UK’s biggest bread brand. Associated British Foods (ABF) has been cleared to snap up Hovis after the competition watchdog accepted that the foods giant would likely exit the bakery sector in Great Britain and Northern [...]
Australian pharma giant Sigma quits Boots takeover talks June 15, 2026 Australian pharmacy giant Sigma has walked away from talks over a £7.5bn private takeover of Boots, renewing hopes that the high street pharmacy could float in London. The Australian firm said on Monday that a deal with Boots would not meet its investment objectives, leaving just the billionaire Weston family in sales talks with the [...]
Boots eyes £7.5bn sale in blow to hopes of London IPO June 10, 2026 The owners of Boots are weighing up a £7.5bn sale which would dash hopes of a London listing and deal another blow to the UK’s stock exchange. Sycamore Partners, the private equity firm which bought Boots’ parent company for $23.7bn last year, has been in talks with a number of suitors since before Easter. The [...]
Can Primark go it alone after ABF split? April 22, 2026 FTSE 100 giant Associated British Foods ended months of rumour when it announced its demerger from Primark. Felix Armstrong explores how the budget clothes retailer will fare on its own. Walk into Oxford Street’s Primark, battle through the tightly packed rows of cut-price clothing, and your eyes will seize on the bright blue lights of [...]
Revealed: Who paid the most tax in 2024? January 24, 2025 One of the UK’s richest hedge fund managers paid the most tax in the UK this year, contributing over £339m in just 12 months, according to the Sunday Times Tax list. Sir Chris Hohn, who founded British hedge fund the Children’s Investment Fund Management in 2003, topped the list of Britain’s top taxpayers, trumping gambling [...]