Aviva Australia buyers circle May 25, 2009 NAMES are emerging as potential buyers of Aviva’s Australian life assurance business, which is expected to raise around A$1bn (£492m). National Australia Bank and Westpac have emerged as front-runners for the arm, after the former successfully raised £500m last Friday by issuing five-year unsecured notes. Insurance groups Axa Asia Pacific and Australia’s AMP are also [...]
PetroChina’s move on SPC extends control on prices May 25, 2009 PETROCHINA, the biggest oil and gas producer in Asia, said yesterday it would buy a 45 per cent stake in Singapore Petroleum (SPC) for S$1.47bn (£1.38). It also said it would make a bid to buy the rest of the company. The acquisition is the latest in a series of purchases which could increase China’s [...]
ASHLEY’S TOON REIGN May 25, 2009 June 2007Ashley buys Newcastle United for £134m, greeted with a level of scepticism unusual for a buyout. January 2008Brings back local hero Kevin Keegan to manage the club in a blaze of glory. September 2008Keegan exits the club citing “interference”. Ashley faces a huge backlash, prompting him to announce his intention to sell. Autumn 2008Joe [...]
Iberia said to be nearing a deal with BA May 25, 2009 SPANISH Airline Iberia said yesterday that it could conclude its merger talks with British Airways (BA) within months, but fell short of giving an exact date for completion of the deal. Speaking before a presentation in Madrid, Iberia’s commercial director Manuel Lopez Colmenarejo said that corporate governance and the financial impact of BA’s pension deficit [...]
Philips gets a boost from Saeco espresso buy out May 25, 2009 THE electronics giant behind the Senseo brand of coffee makers, Philips, has agreed to buy Europe’s largest maker of espresso machines, Saeco, for an undisclosed sum. The Italian based firm Saeco had sales of €318m (£280m) over the 12 months ended 31 March, Philips said. Saeco makes machines branded under the Saeco and Gaggia names, [...]
Cheap Nano is a no-go in India May 25, 2009 Just 20 per cent of Tata Motors’ orders for the world’s cheapest car are for the bargain basement $2,600 model, it emerged yesterday. Chairman Ratan Tata spent four years designing the budget car with 500 engineers, saying the Indian customer would rather have a cheap car with no air-conditioning. Half of the customers booked the [...]
Car industry could lose 6m jobs May 25, 2009 Up to 6m workers could lose their jobs as the automotive industry continues to fail, the general secretary of the International Metalworkers’ Federation said yesterday. “Worldwide, maybe we will lose something between 20 per cent to 25 per cent of our membership,” Marcello Malentacchi said. Malentacchi said that the car market’s contraction is likely to [...]
Casualties provide opportunity May 25, 2009 The retailers that survive the recession will be able to snap up a total of £3.9bn worth of fallen firms to boost their revenues and market share, according to research out today from Verdict. It says £6.5bn of sales, 9,500 stores, and 24m square feet of space has become available due to the downturn, which [...]
MTN Bharti tie-up revived May 25, 2009 INDIAN mobile operator Bharti Airtel and South African network MTN have restarted tie-up talks, rekindling hopes of a $23bn (£14.5bn) transaction to create a telecoms giant. The complex deal, which would eclipse HM Treasury’s purchase of a $22.3bn stake in Lloyds Banking Group and be the largest non-pharmaceutical sector merger in 2009, would see both [...]
Key German sentiment indicator reports a welcome May boost May 25, 2009 GERMAN corporate sentiment rose in May amid further cheer about prospects of an economic recovery, according to a key measure. Think tank Ifo’s business climate index, based on a poll of 7,000 firms, rose to 84.2 in May from 83.7 in April. Commerzbank economist Joerg Kraemer said: “This is a further clear signal that the [...]
