Hopes dim for Weavering investors’ cash May 31, 2009 LIQUIDATORS of Weavering Capital’s main hedge fund, at the centre of the UK’s first ever hedge fund fraud probe, have said there is likely to be no money available to return to investors. Experts at accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) believe it now looks certain a massive fraud has taken place and the only way investors [...]
Mandelson is reassured on GM’s sell-off May 31, 2009 BUSINESS SECRETARY Lord Mandelson said yesterday he had been given further assurance from just-sold GM Europe that Vauxhall production would not leave the UK, as fears grow over job security at British car plants. As Canadian-Austrian Magna International buys up Opel and Vauxhall, the European arm of ailing carmaker GM, there are fears that sites [...]
Russian support has allowed Magna to rise above the rest May 31, 2009 OUTBIDDING rivals Fiat, Brussels-based IHJ International and Beijing Automotive Industry Corp (BAIC) to secure the acquisition of Opel and Vauxhall was a coup for Magna’s owner, Frank Stronach. It takes him back to his European roots, and gives the company the opportunity to milk the ever-expanding Russian car market. Stronach is an Austrian émigré who [...]
Lords committee to call for Bank to play a stronger role May 31, 2009 THE tripartite system of financial supervision is fundamentally flawed and should be revised, a report by the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee will say this week. The committee, which has been probing the role played by the Bank of England, the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the banking crisis, is expected [...]
Expenses scandal masks big issues May 31, 2009 You may have seen the email doing the rounds a few weeks ago that gave a visual representation of what a trillion pounds would look like if it was stacked in £100 notes. The image is breathtaking – and largely surreal. I mention this because I’m increasing frustrated with the energy devoted to the scandal [...]
IBERIAN INFLUENCE May 31, 2009 THE UK chief executive of Santander, António Horta-Osório, is one of three heavyweight names to win an appointment to the Court of the Bank of England. He will be joined by outgoing chief executive of Prudential Mark Tucker and Harrison Young, who sits on the board of Australia’s Commonwealth Bank.
CVC trumps TNT as Royal Mail bidder May 31, 2009 CVC PARTNERS, the private equity group, has offered to pay around £2bn for a 30 per cent stake in Royal Mail, it emerged yesterday, as the controversial bid to part privatise the franchise nudges ahead. The group’s offer beats a bid from rival logistics group TNT, but is less than the government has hoped to [...]
Q & A : CVC’S ROYAL MAIL BID May 31, 2009 Q.WHAT IS CVC CAPITAL PARTNERS?A.CVC is one of the world’s biggest private equity houses with 19 offices across Europe, Asia and the US. Since its founding in 1981 it has snapped up stakes in department store chain Debenhams and Formula One Group among over 250 others. It is in line to buy Barclays’ iShares asset [...]
Ball demands ITV rights issue May 31, 2009 Former BSkyB boss Tony Ball has told ITV shareholders that he would insist on a rights issue and financial restructuring of the struggling broadcaster if he took the role of chief executive. Investors in the company have given the proposal a mixed reaction, though many are believed to want Ball at the helm of ITV.
PPF Partners launched May 31, 2009 Italian insurer Generali and Czech financial group PPF have launched a new private equity venture called PPF Partners. The new venture – which has already raised ¤615m (£537m) from Generali, PPF and PPF’s founder, Petr Kellner – will target central and eastern European investments. It has spent half the money on six assets transferred from [...]
