Sweden’s Espresso House sold by UK owners to Norway fund September 5, 2012 COFFEE chain Espresso House, known as the “Starbucks of Sweden”, has been sold by its UK private equity owners Palamon Capital Partners to a Norwegian private equity fund, it was announced yesterday. The popular coffee haunt, which has 120 coffee bars dotted around Sweden, was snapped up by Norwegian fund Herkules Private Equity III after [...]
3i cuts further stake in Norma after placing September 5, 2012 UK private equity firm 3i sold €77m (£61m) of shares in German engineering firm Norma Group to institutional investors yesterday – taking its stake from 73 per cent to 16.7 per cent in just 18 months. 3i announced it had placed four million shares for a price of €19.25 per share with investors. The news [...]
City A.M. | Our shadow MPC votes 8-1 for no new action September 5, 2012 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. “Hold policy on interest rates and QE. Instead of coming up with fancy schemes to bring interest rates down even further, the Bank needs to realise that tight money isn’t the problem. We need supply-side reforms – such as today’s housing shake-up – not ever easier money.” GRAEME LEACH | INSTITUTE [...]
Analysts don’t forsee new QE September 5, 2012 CITY analysts expect the Bank of England to continue its wait and see approach to monetary policy in its September meeting today, keeping rates constant, and continuing to carry out previously announced asset purchases. Martin Beck at Capital Economics said that the positive news in the service sector would provide extra reason for the Bank [...]
Saga says QE harmed over 50s September 5, 2012 The older generation saw massive cuts in their real income due to the Bank of England’s quantitative easing (QE) programme, research released today claims. The report, commissioned by Saga and prepared by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), says that the boost QE gave to assets was not enough to outweigh the hit [...]
Woman dies in Coq d’Argent fall September 5, 2012 A woman fell to her death from the roof terrace of French restaurant Coq d’Argent in the City on Tuesday night when she is reported to have taken a sip of wine before stepping over the edge of the terrace, plunging approximately 80 feet to the ground. The woman, believed to have been Asian and [...]
Ashley’s payout plan is rejected by shareholders September 5, 2012 SHAREHOLDERS in Sports Direct yesterday rejected a proposed “super-stretch” scheme that could have netted its founder Mike Ashley a multi-million pound bonus. Under the proposals tabled at yesterday’s annual general meeting Ashley would have received 8m shares worth around £25m at yesterday’s share price if the retailer hit a series of targets over the next [...]
Analyst Views | Were Sports Direct’s results in line with expectations? September 5, 2012 PHILIP DORGAN PANMURE GORDON Knock-out numbers from Sports Direct. It has clearly fully-capitalised on the opportunities that the summer of sport has presented. We remain ‘Buyers’, with a target price of 350p. We think that there is also a danger that it could become an internet stock, as online penetration races to 20 per cent [...]
Prezzo toasts strong first-half September 5, 2012 Italian restaurant chain Prezzo posted a jump in first-half revenues and profits as it continues to roll out its expansion programme. Sales rose 14 per cent to £68.1m in the 26 weeks to 1 July while adjusted pre-tax profits increased by four per cent to £7.6m. The company opened 12 restaurants in the period bringing [...]
Patron eyes Europe with new fund September 5, 2012 Patron Capital, the real estate-focused private equity group, has raised €880m (£633.5m) for a new fund, as investors continue to tap into distressed debt opportunities in Europe. Patron said Fund IV will target distressed property companies, hotels and leisure and healthcare. It aims to generate a rate of return of 17 per cent to 22 [...]
