Authorities start sport retail probe September 10, 2009 SPORT retailers JJB Sports and Sports Direct are at the centre of a double-pronged probe into allegations of anti-competitive behaviour that could see the companies and their directors landed with heavy fines and even jail time. Separate investigations are being conducted by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which [...]
Britain needs very large spending cuts September 10, 2009 GENERAL Motors’ sensible sale of its Opel/Vauxhall division to Magna, the Canadian firm, has already prompted fresh demands for more handouts to ensure car production remains in the UK. The Germans, after all, have pledged cash to save Opel jobs; so we should do the same with Vauxhall before it is too late – or [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 10, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES DELANCEY EYES CINEMASDelancey, the property fund backed by George Soros, is in exclusive talks to buy the UK property assets of National Amusements, the cinema chain owned by Sumner Redstone, the US media magnate. This is expected to be the first big acquisition for the fund. MYER’S A$3BN IPO SET TO BE AUSTRALIA’S [...]
Jarvis gets bid approach September 10, 2009 JARVIS, the rail maintenance group, saw its shares jump to their highest level in over a year yesterday, after saying it had received a tentative approach from a potential buyer. Shares in the group rose as high as 27.23p, having mostly limped along at below 20p since a profits warning was issued by the board [...]
Hedgies launch Ucits funds September 10, 2009 Planned new European Union regulation has spurred some of London’s biggest hedge funds on to launch funds onshore. Fund manager Cheyne Capital, which looks after $6bn (£3.6bn) is the latest big name to roll out an “Ucits III fund”, while Man Group, Europe’s biggest hedge fund, is poised to launch a similar operation on Monday. [...]
Google offers rivals book access September 10, 2009 Search engine giant Google has offered rivals access to its huge digital book database, in its latest bid to counter opposition, after a landmark legal settlement with the publishing world. But critics immediately slammed the offer, saying it wouldn’t dent Google’s growing grip on the digital books business. The offer comes ahead of a preliminary [...]
Geithner set to scale back bank support September 10, 2009 US TREASURY secretary Timothy Geithner said yesterday that Obama’s administration could end some of the extraordinary support it has put in place for the markets, and start to prepare for a slow recovery as the economy begins to strengthen. Speaking to the Congressional Oversight Panel for the $700bn (£420bn) Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp), Geithner [...]
Mack to quit as Morgan Stanley CEO September 10, 2009 MORGAN Stanley’s chief executive John Mack plans to step down in January, marking the end of a rollercoaster era of both record profits and losses. Mack, who is 64 years old, will stay on as chairman while the firm’s co-president James Gorman steps up to the role of chief executive. The company’s other co-president Walid [...]
Nat Express thrashes out deal’s details September 10, 2009 TRANSPORT group National Express was last night close to agreeing to a $1.3bn (£1bn) takeover bid, although the level of due diligence has yet to be settled. The bus and rail operator last week received an improved offer of 500p a share from a consortium that includes Spanish shareholder the Cosmen family and CVC Capital [...]
City warns that EC directive on hedge funds will hurt EU September 10, 2009 THECITY of London will warn today that the European Commission’s proposed directive on alternative investment fund managers (AIFM’s) is protectionist and risks hampering economic revival throughout the EU. Speaking at a conference organised jointly by Policy Exchange and Open Europe, the City’s policy chairman Stuart Fraser will warn that an attack on the AIFM industry [...]
