Independent rights issue June 21, 2009 Independent News & Media is expected this week to announce a plan to launch a rights issue to repay bondholders. The indebted publisher of The Independent would be likely to raise ?50-?100m (£42-84m) with the issue, which would be steeply discounted from the Dublin-based company’s share price. INM’s biggest shareholders, Sir Anthony O’Reilly, former chief [...]
Troubled firms half the chance June 21, 2009 Ailing firms have only a 50 per cent chance of being rescued in the current economic environment, according to new research by accountants and business advisers PricewaterhouseCoopers. According to a survey of 150 turnaround specialists, scarcity of funding and poor management continue to be the driving forces pushing companies towards collapse. Banks are also believed [...]
Airmiles tycoon to sue Coutts June 21, 2009 Airmiles founder Sir Keith Mills has formally launched a legal action seeking compensation from the Queen’s bankers Coutts over investments made in products offered by troubled insurer AIG. The case raises the prospect of the Royal Bank of Scotland owned bank paying out millions of pounds in compensation to Mills and other wealthy clients following the [...]
Branson exits Brawn tie-up June 21, 2009 SIR Richard Branson’s Virgin Group will drop sponsorship of the Formula One (F1) team Brawn GP next year, the business magnate said yesterday, as it has become too expensive. “We got in when it was very cheap and it’s been great for us with global coverage, but I suspect next year the price will be [...]
Darling to set out plan for a stronger tripartite system June 21, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling will ignore calls by governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King to give the central bank more powers, in favour of strengthening the current tripartite system, Treasury sources said yesterday. Darling is expected to lay out his vision for the future of UK financial regulation in a green paper that could [...]
BSkyB and ESPN set to carve up Premier League Setanta rights June 21, 2009 BROADCASTERS were last night putting the final touches to bids to acquire the live media rights to the English Premier League which have been revoked from troubled firm Setanta. BskyB and Disney-owned ESPN are expected to carve up the 46 football matches between them after Setanta’s board failed to find a last-ditch solution, putting it [...]
Bramdean to decide Nicola Horlick’s fate June 21, 2009 CITY superwoman Nicola Horlick is to meet with the new board directors at Bramdean Alternatives this week to decide her fate, after property magnate Vincent Tchenguiz won a shareholder vote to oust the former management team last week. Tchenguiz was backed by 56 per cent of the shareholders in the vote on Thursday and the [...]
Sir Allen Stanford indicted and moved to Texas for $7bn Ponzi fraud hearing June 21, 2009 TEXAS billionaire Sir Allen Stanford, three associates and a top Caribbean regulator were indicted on fraud, conspiracy and obstruction charges in an elaborate $7bn (£4.2bn) pyramid scheme to con investors, according to US Justice Department officials. A federal judge in Virginia ordered Stanford, a flamboyant 59-year-old financier, to be transferred to Houston for a hearing [...]
LAPPING IT UP June 21, 2009 SPEARMINT Rhino, the chain of lapdancing clubs, has bucked the economic downturn despite remaining in loss for the year. The firm is undersood to have made a £23,209 loss for 2007/08 against a £24,000 loss the previous year. The flagship Tottenham Court Road venue made a £2.44m profit, up from £2.05m the previous year.
Goldman staff await bumper bonus payout June 21, 2009 INVESTMENT bankers at Goldman Sachs are expecting a bumper year for bonuses on the back of soaring profits at the Wall Street firm, in a sign that there will be no end to bumper payouts for bankers. The firm expects to book record profits for 2009, with revenues soaring due to dwindling competition and strong [...]
