Eat’s owner Lyceum Capital chops investment team after its latest fundraise flops January 14, 2018 Lyceum Capital, the private equity backer of cafe chain Eat, is slashing its team after failing to raise a new fund. The 19-year-old firm, one of the UK’s oldest buyout houses, was targeting between £375m and £400m for its fourth fund. But after failing to receive enough commitments from investors, Lyceum called time and announced [...]
Emma, the “banking app for millennials”, gets FCA approval and announces it will integrate Monzo and Revolut January 12, 2018 London-based Emma Technologies, which calls itself the "banking app for millennials", has today won approval from the City watchdog to provide payment services. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) gave the nod to the mobile-only app just over a month after it launched its beta service, helping consumers avoid overdrafts, find and cancel subscriptions and track [...]
UK mergers and acquisitions hit a new record last year as companies defend themselves from foreign takeovers January 9, 2018 The number of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the UK hit a record high last year, despite growing dissatisfaction from the business community with the pace and vagueness of the Brexit negotiations. The number of deals where a UK company was the target escalated to 1,543 in 2017 from 1,493 the year before, according [...]
Revealed: The seven best-value stocks to watch in 2018, according to Canaccord Genuity January 9, 2018 Despite a rocky 2017 which saw a number of lawsuits come to a head, Lloyds Banking Group has been named one of the most promising stocks to watch this year by Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management. Based on the value of the stocks at the moment and their potential to generate strong returns over the next [...]
Aston Martin owner Investindustrial grabs Chelsea-based luxury furniture retailer Oka January 7, 2018 Investindustrial, the Italian private equity owner of Aston Martin, has bought a UK luxury furniture retailer co-founded by Samantha Cameron’s mum. Oka, based in Chelsea, is said to have attracted a cheque for more than £40m from Investindustrial, the Sunday Times first reported. It sells furniture ranging from £32 cushion covers to £3,785 sofas, and [...]
Jeremy Grantham, who predicted the last two bubbles, warns the stock market is ready for a “melt-up” January 4, 2018 Jeremy Grantham, the founder of asset management firm GMO who is credited with predicting the housing bubble of 2007 and the dot-com bubble of 2000, has warned the stock market is likely heading for an imminent "melt-up". This sudden dramatic improvement in the performance of equities, driven by investors who don't want to miss out [...]
Morgan Stanley swoops to steal the crown from Goldman Sachs advising on announced M&A deals worth $136bn last year January 3, 2018 Morgan Stanley won the UK title for advising on the biggest share of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) announced last year, grabbing the crown fromGoldman Sachs. Morgan Stanley worked on deals involving a UK party worth a massive $136bn (£101bn), climbing from seventh place in 2016 and stealing an impressive 36 per cent market share, according [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown’s five stocks to watch in 2018: From life insurance to Irn Bru to that well-known heritage check December 19, 2017 Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown has set out its stocks to watch in 2018. And where its eyes are straying, others' are likely to follow. While some asset managers are predicting the return of volatility in what has been a relatively uneventful year for the UK stock market, Hargreaves Lansdown's equity analysts spread their bets across [...]
The UK is still the world’s top financial services exporter generating more than its next two competitors combined December 15, 2017 The UK has managed to retain the title of the world's biggest financial services exporter by a country mile, new data from TheCityUK has revealed. Last year the tiny island netted a total trade surplus from financial and related professional services of $93.6bn (£69bn) – more than the US and Switzerland, its next biggest competitors, [...]
Philip Hammond joins European finance ministers to call for a rethink of Trump’s proposed US tax reform December 11, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond has joined with his counterparts across Europe to urge US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin to rethink a proposed tax reform. In a letter addressed to Mnuchin, seen by City A.M., the finance ministers of the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain warned that the tax reform promised by President Donald [...]