Winkworth floats on AIM June 14, 2009 London-based estate agency Winkworth is set to float on the junior Aim market to fund growth. Independent franchisees pay 8 per cent of their turnover for brand and marketing services.
Citi supports IFC trade plan June 14, 2009 CITIGROUP will today unveil a $1.25bn (£760m) funding partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as it pledges to support attempts to unfreeze world trade flows. The tie up is part of the $50bn initiative announced by the IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank, in April. It is understood that $750m of [...]
London retailers get a capital boost while rest of UK drops June 14, 2009 DESPITE recovery in the UK retail sector slowing in May, London continued to outperform the rest of the country, according to fresh data out today from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Like-for-like sales for May were 1.6 per cent higher in London than a year earlier, compared with a 0.8 per cent fall across the [...]
RICH TASTES June 14, 2009 GU, the upmarket chocolate dessert maker, is set to become even richer after receiving several approaches for the business. Founder James Averdieck founded the group in 2003 with just £100,000. The business is now valued at £50m. Private equity groups including Darwin are said to be interested, as well as trade giant Unilever.
Umbers raises Evolution stake June 14, 2009 Andrew Umbers, chief executive of investment bank Evolution Securities, has raised his stake in the London institution’s parent company Evolution Group almost fourfold. The former Credit Suisse heavyweight is thought to have exercised call rights on shares in the first part of an incentive package worth more than £2m, having met all performance conditions for [...]
Wood Mackenzie deal draws near June 14, 2009 Private equity firm Charterhouse is expected to announce today or tomorrow that it has bought energy consultancy Wood MacKenzie from rival Candover Investments for around £550m, in the biggest UK leverage buy-out this year. A sale of Wood Mackenzie would provide a welcome cash infusion for Candover, and could spur other private equity firms to [...]
Serco to control Dubai’s air space June 14, 2009 Support services firm Serco has secured a 10-year contract worth £245m to provide air traffic control at Dubai’s airports. The deal includes Maktoum Airport, which is projected to become the world’s busiest hub in the world when it is completed in 2017.
UK’s economy ready to grow June 14, 2009 BRITAIN’S economy is stabilising, with the worst of the recent quarterly falls in GDP having passed into history, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) will today predict. But the employers’ group warns that it will take until the beginning of next year before there is a return to economic growth. The report is published a [...]
Russian billionaire to rescue Setanta June 14, 2009 SPORTS broadcaster Setanta has been rescued by Russian-American industrialist Len Blavatnik, who has offered to put up £20m in return for a 51 per cent stake in the struggling business. Blavatnik’s company, Access Industries confirmed that it had submitted an offer, which is subject to a “number of pre-conditions”. “Access believes that this proposal would [...]
BBC braced to oppose Digital Britain proposals June 14, 2009 COMMUNICATIONS minister Lord Carter is expected to unveil his Digital Britain report tomorrow, ending months of speculation over his proposals for the BBC’s licence fee. The report will outline the government’s thinking on a range of subjects from high-speed broadband access to dealing with illegal file sharing and advertising downturns. But the most highly-anticipated proposal [...]
