BG concedes defeat over deal with Australia’s Origin September 10, 2008 BG group said yesterday it would not increase its hostile takeover bid for Australian Origin Energy after the company agreed to a joint venture with American oil giant ConocoPhillips. BG’s offer of A$15.50 (£7.08) a share, which expires on 26 September, will not be extended and is expected to lapse, BG said in a statement. [...]
More women make it to the top in City law profession… September 10, 2008 More women are landing top jobs at the UK’s leading law firms than ever before, according to a study released yesterday. The research, which was commissioned by The Lawyer magazine, showed that although men still outnumber females by four to one throughout the profession, ratios in the top ranks are slowly improving. Nearly 20 per [...]
…as 3i breaks glass ceiling September 10, 2008 Private equity firm 3i yesterday smashed through the City’s glass ceiling, announcing that it was appointing a female finance director. Julia Wilson, 41, will join the board at the end of the month to replace the outgoing finance director, Simon Ball. 3i chairman Baroness Sarah Hogg – who is the most powerful woman at a [...]
Tullet Prebon and GFI end merger talks September 10, 2008 Merger talks between GFI and Tullett Prebon ended last night after the two interdealer brokers failed to agree on the terms of a deal. Tullett, the second largest broker between banks, combined with GFI, the largest interdealer broker of credit derivatives, would have created a firm to rival market leader ICAP. This is the second [...]
Brain-drain? It’s nothing but a blip September 10, 2008 Lots of City workers are heading for Dubai at the moment, but don’t worry: London will lure them back soon, says Max Orbach We all know somebody who has re-located to Dubai, Singapore or even Moscow in the last few months, as the British economy has wobbled, house-prices have fallen and inflation has risen. While [...]
Builders set for mega loss on portfolios September 8, 2008 Homebuilders Barratt and Redrow are expected to report a £300m loss on their portfolios later this week. Barratt chief executive Mark Clare will announce they had to write £160m off the value of their land bank and work in progress. Despite Barratt boosting its shares earlier in the summer when refinancing debts and covenants, shares [...]
Hammers’ ultimatum for Croatia boss Bilic September 8, 2008 West Ham have warned Croatia coach Slaven Bilic that they will not hold the manager’s job open for the former Hammers player. Bilic features on a four-man shortlist to replace Alan Curbishley, along with Italians Roberto Donadoni and Gianfranco Zola and former Getafe boss Michael Laudrup. Hammers officials plan to hold talks with Bilic later [...]
Murray into first Grand Slam final September 8, 2008 British No1 Andy Murray will tonight compete in the first Grand Slam final of his short career after he produced another scintillating performance to dump world No1 Rafael Nadal out of the US Open. Murray continued his extraordinary progress at Flushing Meadow by completing a 6-2, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Nadal, ending the Spaniard’s [...]
Terry: We’re not looking for revenge September 8, 2008 England captain John Terry has insisted that his team will put the past behind them when they face Croatia in Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier in Zagreb. England, who beat Andorra 2-0 on Saturday, suffered two defeats at the hands of Croatia in the Euro 2008 qualifiers and consequently failed to progress to the championships. But [...]
Recession fears force cost-cutting September 8, 2008 Businesses are desperately cutting costs and reducing the size of their workforce due to fears of an impending recession, a survey found yesterday. Eighty-four per cent of businesses taking part in the study, which was carried out for accountants MacIntyre Hudson, said they thought there was a significant deterioration in the overall economic climate for [...]
