Insurer LV= eyes takeover of Royal Liver October 18, 2009 MUTUAL insurer Liverpool Victoria is in merger talks with smaller rival Royal Liver. The 166-year-old Liverpool Victoria, which recently rebranded as LV=, is already the UK’s largest friendly society, but the takeover would create a £10m mutual giant with more than 5m customers. Royal Liver turned down a merger offer from mutual insurer Royal London [...]
EX-CITY TRADER TO TURN LOTTERY OF LIFE INTO HIT TELEVISION SHOW October 18, 2009 AVID readers of this column might remember the name of Andrew Paul, the ex-Nomura trader who quit his lucrative job to concentrate on a new venture selling tickets for the chance to win his £1.1m mansion, £160,000 Aston Martin DBS and £200,000 luxury motor boat. Paul is provisionally set to net himself millions from his [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK October 18, 2009 To dinner at the Sanderson on Saturday night, where these four diners were ensconced in the hotel’s Malaysian restaurant, Suka. They downed martini cocktails and a bottle of Ruinart Blanc des Blancs champagne before commencing a feast of tuna tartare, soft shell crab, sliced steak, crispy pork and sea bass, accompanies by a selection of [...]
Moulton set to do it Better October 18, 2009 JON Moulton, who sensationally quit former private-equity firm Alchemy just two months ago, has bounced back by launching a new firm, Better Capital. Moulton yesterday told City A.M. that he had most of his new team in place, but would nail down the rest “over the next few weeks”. He added: “We’re talking about human [...]
Microsoft shop set to challenge Apple outlets October 18, 2009 MICROSOFT is set to open its first-ever store in the next few days, as the software maker takes its first step to match rival Apple’s successful venture into retail. Expectations are running high that the store, in an upscale Arizona city, will open this week, to coincide with the launch of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating [...]
Aviva to offer shares in Dutch arm at a discount October 18, 2009 INSURER Aviva is to offer shares in its Dutch subsidiary Delta Lloyd at a discount, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday, giving the unit a market value of about £2.7bn. The group, which aims to list 30 to 40 percent of Delta Lloyd, is likely to receive 1bn euros (£913m) to 1.3bn euros from [...]
Iceland agrees deal with UK over Icesave October 18, 2009 ICELAND has reached a deal with the British and Dutch governments to reimburse them for compensating savers who lost money in the collapse of Icesave bank, the Icelandic government said yesterday. “An understanding has been reached with the UK and the Netherlands,” a statement from Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir’s office said. Iceland’s parliament approved in [...]
Aer Lingus must cut costs or fail October 18, 2009 Ireland’s Aer Lingus must push through severe cost savings announced earlier this month if it is to survive, the country’s transport minister and 25 per cent stake-holder Noel Dempsey said yesterday. Aer Lingus, which has rapidly been burning through its cash reserves, is to cut almost a fifth of its 4,000 staff to reduce annual [...]
Citi could lose Mexican bank October 18, 2009 Mexico’s Supreme Court will this week investigate whether it should force Citigroup to sell its lucrative Mexican subsidiary, which is 34 per cent owned by the US government following its bailout during the global credit crisis. Foreign governments are generally not allowed to own banks in Mexico, and the nation’s senators have requested the probe [...]
Alizyme investors eye payout October 18, 2009 Investors in collapsed biotech firm Alizyme may receive a small payout after administrator Grant Thornton sold its weight-loss and diabetes drug Cetilistat. Privately owned drugs developer Norgine paid £4.6m for the drug, though the deal has still got to be cleared by the regulators. It is not known how much money would be passed to [...]
