Dan Marks quits BT Vision June 9, 2009 Dan Marks, the chief executive of BT Vision, has walked out on the company after becoming too “frustrated” with rival BSkyB’s dominance of Premiership football, after five years at the helm.
Opposition for Rio deal picks up June 9, 2009 Japanese, Chinese and European steelmakers joined forces yesterday to fight a plan by Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton to link up iron ore operations, while China called for “a fully open international market”. Steelmakers believe a tie-up between the two companies would further concentrate the industry.
Founders of Setanta plan last ditch bid June 9, 2009 SETANTA founders Leonard Ryan and Michael O’Rourke are understood to be locked in talks to table a last-ditch bid that could see them buy out the ailing firm’s other investors, which include Doughty Hanson, Balderton Capital and Goldman Sachs. It is also thought that Setanta has recently offered stakes of up to 30 per cent [...]
Charterhouse’s 550m bid for Wood MacKenzie is boost for private equity June 9, 2009 CHARTERHOUSE Capital is in exclusive talks to acquire energy research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie in what would be the UK’s biggest leveraged buyout this year. The £550m offer from Charterhouse would provide a welcome cash boost for Wood Mackenzie’s parent company Candover, which is itself looking for potential buyers or stakeholders. It is also [...]
MAN SLASHES BONUSES June 9, 2009 PETER Clarke, chief executive of UK hedge fund giant Man Group, saw his pay fall by 52 per cent last year as profits tumbled. Clarke’s bonus was cut to $6m (£3.7m) from $10m, taking his total pay down to $6.9m (£4.2m). Across the firm bonuses fell by almost half to £436m. Its profits in the [...]
ABI: there is still faith in City bosses June 8, 2009 PUBLIC fury over the financial crisis and “fat cat” bonuses has failed to derail confidence in bosses at the City’s major companies, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) will claim today at its biennial conference. The ABI will unveil the results of a major national survey on economic sentiment suggesting that the majority of people [...]
JD Sports trading well but warns on margins June 8, 2009 Sportswear retailer JD Sports yesterday said it was bucking the high street gloom after sales growth improved in its latest trading period. The group said its underlying sales increased 1.7 per cent over the 17 weeks to 30 May, with growth in its sports fascias of 1.2 per cent and growth in its fashion fascias [...]
Michael O’Leary sells off 16.5m of Ryanair stock June 8, 2009 MICHAEL O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, has sold off €18.75m (£16.5m) of stock in the budget airline, it emerged yesterday. O’Leary divested 5m shares, taking his holding in the firm down to just over four per cent, equal to 60m shares. The news comes after Ryanair last week fell to its first full-year loss [...]
LDV in administration as all staff made redundant June 8, 2009 AILING van maker LDV yesterday laid off all its workers after it was put into administration. LDV, which is owned by Oleg Deripaska’s GAZ, employed 850 people directly and thousands more in dealerships and supply chains. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) will now take over the running of the firm. “There is still the opportunity of a bright [...]
MOBIUS MOBILISING ON IRAQ June 8, 2009 MARK Mobius, the enigmatic world authority on emerging markets investment from US fund giant Franklin Templeton, is to start investing in war-torn Iraq. The so-called “Yul Brynner of Wall Street” said he would start investing in six months to a year. He hopes to tap into strong growth in the Middle Eastern nation. Mobius made [...]
