OUT OF OFFICE September 22, 2009 BOTTOMS UP AT BOB BOB RICARDIf you consider yourself a wine lover, then swanky Soho restaurant and members bar Bob Bob Ricard is the place for you right now, with a pricing policy on its reserve wine list that’s enabling people to get hold of exclusive bottles for a fraction of the normal dining cost. [...]
Space shuttle on wheels September 22, 2009 IF NASA and superyacht designer Wally Power were to design a car together, this would be the result. Staring at the rear end of the GT-R is like looking at the space shuttle. There are four exhaust pipes, each with a similar girth as a prize-winning marrow, and above them are four tail-lights which, when [...]
Baltic blues disperse as strength returns September 22, 2009 SINCE the start of the financial crisis, the Baltic states have cast a long shadow over their Scandinavian and Eastern European neighbours. Swedish banks, which lent heavily to the Baltic states in euros, now find themselves running a high risk of loan default. Sweden’s Swedbank, which is the Nordic bank most heavily exposed to the [...]
WHY DOLLAR COULD RALLY AHEAD OF G20 September 22, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT NOW that the dollar has replaced the yen as the primary carry trade funding currency, the greenback has become even more sensitive to risk assumption and risk aversion flows. Since the carry trade depends on stable or widening interest rate spreads, any hint of economic turbulence will spark fears [...]
Everything is pointing to a bumper year for the Aussie September 22, 2009 ALTHOUGH recent concerns of a Chinese asset bubble and fears of a double dip recession have had some effect on Australia, the country has been outshining the other advanced economies throughout the financial crisis. Similarly, the Australian dollar has been among the best performing currencies this year. The Australian dollar is up 22.3 per cent [...]
Construction firms accused of bid rigging September 22, 2009 CONSUMER watchdog the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) yesterday dealt out fines adding up to £129.5m to some of the UK’s biggest building companies, punishing them for colluding while bidding for work on projects such as hospitals, schools and housing refurbishments. Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Connaught, Interserve, Kier and Galliford Try were among the 112 named [...]
Chime eyes sports marketing growth with 18.23m takeover of Essentially September 22, 2009 BRITISH marketing services group Chime Communications said yesterday that it has agreed to buy Essentially Group for £18.23m to boost its sports-marketing business. Based on FTSE Small Cap firm Chime’s Monday closing price of 177.75p, the offer values each Essentially share at 8.08p, a premium of about 7.7 per cent to Essentially’s closing price of [...]
NICK WESTLAKE September 22, 2009 Numis Securities acted as corporate broker and sponsor to Chime in the execution of its acquisition of Essentially. EPL Advisory were Chime’s financial adviser, while Cenkos Securities was financial advisor to Essentially. Numis has advised Chime for five years, and previously advised on its acquisition of advertising agency VCCP – of Comparethemeerkat.com fame – and [...]
Suntory bids for Schweppes September 22, 2009 JAPANESE brewer Suntory has made a binding bid for soft drinks maker Orangina Schweppes, its private equity owners said, in a sign buy-out houses may find it easier to exit investments. Suntory will pay €2.6bn (£2.4bn) for Orangina, two sources familiar with the situation said, allowing Blackstone Group and Lion Capital to double their money [...]
Goldshield management fail to trump AIT’s offer September 22, 2009 THE TAKEOVER battle for drug firm Goldshield was believed to be in its final stages yesterday. It now seems unlikely that someone will table a better bid than the £162m being offered by AIT, the investment vehicle of former chief executive Ajit Patel. Goldshield management, who own 9.62 per cent of the firm, on Monday [...]
