WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 2, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES CIC IN €800M OFFER TO APAXChina Investment Corp, China’s sovereign wealth fund, is offering to invest as much as €800m (£723m) into Apax Partners’ €11.2bn private equity fund in a groundbreaking deal.The move, which would see CIC acquire a small stake in the management company of one of Europe’s biggest equity funds, shows [...]
Reckitt’s Becht nets 17.6m December 2, 2009 Bart Becht, the chief executive of household goods firm Reckitt Benckiser, made a £17.6m profit on the sale of some of his shares over the last week. He made £5.4m yesterday, which comes on top recent share sales that have made him £4.7m and £7.5m. Becht, the highest-paid director in the FTSE 100 is understood [...]
Goldman bullish on 2010 December 2, 2009 The world economy will expand 4.4 per cent next year and 4.5 per cent in 2011 as the world recovers from the financial crisis, according to a note from Goldman Sachs yesterday. “Our projections suggest that both 2010 and 2011 will be rather strong years,” said Jim O’Neill, Goldman Sachs’ chief economist in London. He [...]
New bodies to boost power of EUover City December 2, 2009 FOUR new EU watchdogs are being set up in a huge shake-up of financial regulation which will see national regulators lose influence. Subject to a vote in the European Parliament, the new regulators will oversee securities, banking and insurance. The banking division will be based in London; securities will operate from Paris. Frankfurt will be [...]
CITY VIEWS: DOES THE APPOINTMENT OF THE EU’S NEW FINANCE CHIEF MEAN A FRENCH TAKEOVER OF LONDON? December 2, 2009 ANTHONY SMITH AJS CONSULTANCY“I think that if the EU’s finance chief can help stop ‘casino banking’ and have a positive effect against greedy banking practices, then the appointment of Barnier as finance chief could mean good things for London as the city works its way out of the financial crisis.” JIMI BOLUSIRE QBE INSURANCE“I think [...]
Banks hired by NewLook December 2, 2009 FASHION chain New Look yesterday edged closer to a possible £1.7bn stock market flotation by handpicking banks to work on the deal. The budget fashion chain, owned by private equity firms Apax and Permira, has chosen to work with JP Morgan Cazenove, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse. Lazard has acted as an adviser to the [...]
European firms are facing a $1.5 trillion funding shortfall December 2, 2009 COMPANIES in Western Europe face a funding shortfall of $1.5 trillion (£900bn) next year – but European economies have put the worst of the recession behind them, according Standard & Poor’s. High unemployment and massive cuts in capital spending will squeeze growth with the car industry facing the toughest challenge, the credit rating agency warned [...]
Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker opens talks with GM to buy Saab December 2, 2009 A second small luxury car maker, Spyker of the Netherlands, is talking to General Motors it emerged yesterday about buying Saab Automobile, weeks after Sweden’s Koenigsegg dropped its bid. A spokesman for Spyker, which made 43 cars last year that sell for €200,000 (£181,000) and upwards, said the Dutch carmaker was interested in Sweden’s Saab [...]
L&G BOSS NAMED December 2, 2009 LEGAL & ENERAL yesterday appointed the ex-Woolwich and National Australia Bank chief executive John Stewart to succeed Rob Margetts as chairman at the insurer. His appointment, after a search that lasted almost a year, will take effect next March. Stewart is also a non-executive director of communications firm Telstra and was recently appointed a director [...]
Yorkshire and Chelsea warn of job cuts December 2, 2009 THE merger of the Yorkshire and Chelsea building societies will lead to job losses and a £200m writedown on Chelsea’s bad debts, the two firms said yesterday. More than 3,200 staff work for the two societies which will undergo efficiency savings of £35m. The merger was instigated by Yorkshire after Chelsea was hit hard in [...]
