Rexam pursues cash call to protect rating July 26, 2009 DRINKS can maker Rexam is considering launching a £350m cash call this week to reassure investors over its massive £2.7bn debt pile. The group said that tough trading conditions would hit its ability to pay down its debt next year. Rexam, whose clients include Coca Cola and Pepsi, is desperately trying to preserve its investment [...]
E&Y earns 3.2m while many Zavvi creditors miss out July 26, 2009 ERNST & Young (E&Y) has made £3.2m in fees after being appointed as joint administrators to Zavvi after the business collapsed last December, whilst unsecured creditors are set to receive only between 5-10p in the pound. Unsecured creditors, which include employees , trade creditors and voucher holders, are set to receive 5-10p for every pound [...]
Jaguar hits 673.4m in losses as it inches towards loan deal July 26, 2009 CARMAKER Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) saw its UK operations tumble to a dramatic loss of £673.4m last year, down from a net profit of £641.5m in 2007. Accounts filed at Companies House show that total recognised losses – which includes money lost on pension schemes – hit almost £1.2bn for 2008. The news of how [...]
LIBERTY GOES SHOPPING July 26, 2009 Liberty, the iconic department store famed for its mock Tudor front, is on the hunt for a new investor to help fund its growth plans. The company, which is 68 per cent owned by MWB Group is expected to appoint advisers Cavendish Corporate Finance and Global Leisure Partners to seek out new backers to take [...]
Lloyds considering JV asset sale July 26, 2009 Lloyds Banking Group is mulling a sale of some or all of its Bank of Scotland joint ventures arm, which invests in the property and hotel sectors, it emerged over the weekend. It was not clear yesterday which of the division’s assets would be put up for sale. The division has previously invested alongside property [...]
Chinese exec beaten to death July 26, 2009 A Chinese executive of a state steel company has been beaten to death by angry workers, prompting the firm to abandon privatisation plans. Chen Guojun had been surrounded by a mob of around 30,000 workers outside the offices of Tonghua Iron & Steel. The workers were protesting about lay-offs from state firms in industries targeted [...]
Business libel suits treble July 26, 2009 The number of reported libel cases mounted by businesses more than trebled last year. Figures from data provider Sweet & Maxwell show defamation claims by companies accounted for 16 of the 78 cases reported up to May 31, compared to five out of 59 the year before.
CITY HELL’S ANGELS TO DON THEIR LEATHERS July 26, 2009 EAT your heart out, Ewan McGregor: there’s a new globe-trotting motorbike posse in town. Lord Gillford, founding partner of communications firm Gardant, and his partner-in-crime Levan Vasadze, the chairman of Prometheus Capital Partners, are about to embark upon their annual jaunt to Eastern Europe atop their BMW Adventure “monster” motorbikes. The pair have been doing [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK July 26, 2009 A MID-week dinner treat for eight tired City workers last week at the Kensington Hotel’s Aubrey Restaurant. After an aperitif bottle of Dom Perignon Brut 2000 champagne and bellini, Sunset on Thames, French martini and Berried Alive cocktails, our diners munched on crab cakes, scallops and duck salad to start. These were followed by a [...]
EasyJet puts an end to its Stelios battle July 26, 2009 EASY JET’S management hopes to put an end to its board-level dispute over expansion plans on Wednesday after bowing to shareholders’ calls to scale back expansion. A truce will mean the end of an eight month long public tussle between founder and majority shareholder Stelios Haji-Ioannou and management over the no-frills airline’s plans to expand [...]
