Bridgepoint sets London IPO of up to £2.9bn July 14, 2021 Private equity firm Bridgepoint’s London IPO could value the company at as much as £2.9bn, in the first major UK listing for the industry in decades. The buyout group, which has around €27.4bn of assets under management across equity and debt funds, is looking to raise up to £789m when it lists on the London [...]
Global investors snap up more than $800bn Chinese assets July 14, 2021 Investors around the world have bought more than $800bn Chinese stocks and bonds at a record pace, despite Beijing’s geopolitical rivalry with international states. Global investors have poured into Chinese markets, in spite of huge political tensions stemming from Beijing’s repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, erosion of Hong Kong freedoms, and battles with the US [...]
Dan Loeb’s Third Point rejects investor call for meeting July 13, 2021 The £1bn UK investment company denied investors a meeting to tackle its share price discount and claimed doing so would be legally “ineffective.” Dan Loeb’s Third Point Investors Limited (TPIL) has hit back at a group of activist investors in the latest clash over how the firm is run, by rejecting their calls for a [...]
Retail, hospitality and transport sectors fear staff abuse when mandatory face masks end July 13, 2021 Business leaders in industries that operate in public indoor settings fear staff could come under attack from customers after the government lifts the legal requirement to wear face masks on 19 July. As of next week, businesses can enforce their own policy on masks as they see fit to protect their staff and customers. But [...]
City of London Corporation chief says 19 July will ‘restore vibrancy’ in capital July 13, 2021 The City of London’s local authority welcomed the government’s announcement that “Freedom Day” will go ahead next week, helping the capital to bounce back from the pandemic. Catherine McGuinness, the City of London Corporation’s policy chair, said: “This is a light at the end of the tunnel for the many City businesses desperate to return [...]
David Cameron earned more than $1m a year as Greensill lobbyist July 13, 2021 Collapsed finance group Greensill Capital paid the former Prime Minister a salary of more than $1m (£722,000) a year to lobby government ministers and officials on behalf of the firm. Cameron was contracted to work 25 days a year as an adviser to the board, meaning his daily take home earnings amounted to more than [...]
UK tech on track for second record-breaking year of Asian investment July 13, 2021 The booming UK tech sector received almost twice the amount of Asian capital in the first six months of 2021 as it did during the whole of 2020, paving the way for a second record year of regional investment. By the end of June, Asian and Middle Eastern investors funnelled over £1.7bn into UK tech [...]
Masks, mass events and more in the office: What Freedom Day means for you July 12, 2021 Millions of Londoners will enjoy a range of new liberties from 19 July, after Boris Johnson this evening announced the coronavirus restrictions that will be lifted as planned. Back in February when the PM outlined the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, he told MPs that step four would entail “all legal limits on social contact” [...]
Sainsbury’s investors revolt over executive pay amid £261m loss July 9, 2021 Almost a fifth of Sainsbury’s shareholders rejected the supermarket’s renumeration report on Friday in the latest investor revolt against executive pay. It comes a month after it was revealed that CEO Simon Roberts took home a £583,000 bonus in his first nine months at the helm of the British supermarket, despite the company posting a [...]
Leading scientists warn 19 July easing is a ‘dangerous and unethical experiment’ July 9, 2021 More than 100 scientists and doctors have signed an open letter accusing the UK government of conducting a “dangerous and unethical experiment” with its plan to ditch restrictions on 19 July. Boris Johnson’s plan to scrap social distancing and most other Covid-19 restrictions on 19 July is “unethical and illogical”, according to the authors, who [...]