M&T Bank to buy Hudson August 27, 2012 M&T BANK yesterday announced its plan to buy Hudson City Bancorp in a $3.7bn (£2.34bn) deal that could lead to further consolidation among regional banks in the US. The acquisition – which has yet to be approved by shareholders or regulators – pushed shares in New Jersey-based Hudson up 15.7 per cent and New York [...]
AOL to buy back $600m in stock August 27, 2012 AOL said yesterday it will buy back $600m (£390m) of stock and pay a dividend of $5.15 per share as part of its plan to return shareholders $1bn that it received by selling patents to Microsoft. The company has been aggressively giving back to investors in recent months. It won a bitter proxy battle against [...]
HK regulator acts against E&Y August 27, 2012 Hong Kong’s securities regulator said yesterday it had launched legal proceedings against Ernst & Young (E&Y) for failing to produce accounting records related to a Chinese company as specified, the latest auditor to run into trouble over a Chinese client. Ernst & Young claimed it did not have the relevant records on Standard Water, which [...]
No delays on the West Coast train handover August 27, 2012 THE DEPARTMENT for transport plans to formally approve the handover of the West Coast Main Line as early as tomorrow, brushing off pleas from MPs and Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson to delay the move. Sir Richard took to the airwaves yesterday, calling on the government to allow time for politicians to re-examine FirstGroup’s winning [...]
NY Times sells off About.com August 27, 2012 THE NEW York Times Company has sold its information website About.com to online media company IAC, in a $300m (£190m) cash deal. IAC, which also runs the Ask Jeeves website, beat rival bids from Answers.com and Demand Media. NYT has made a loss on the website after buying it for $410m in 2005, with About.com [...]
Yeo: We need a new runway August 27, 2012 TORY MP Tim Yeo has added to a growing chorus of disapproval over the government’s blanket ban on a third runway at Heathrow. The former environment minister told the BBC yesterday that while a decision is delayed, “Britain is falling behind” in the race to increase air travel capacity. Former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling also [...]
Blur chief to show tech firms can list in UK as he prepares Aim IPO August 27, 2012 LONDON-BASED business-to-business service firm Blur Group is preparing a listing on Aim in the next few months, with founder and chief executive Philip Letts set to make a small fortune. Letts, who founded Blur in 2009, has appointed Singer Capital Markets to advise on the listing, which could launch as early as this year. He [...]
Dollar Thrifty accepts $2.3bn Hertz merger August 27, 2012 HERTZ Global Holdings yesterday announced it has struck a deal to buy Dollar Thrifty for $2.3bn (£1.45bn), ending a protracted battle to take control of the rival car rental firm. The merger will see Hertz pay $87.50 per share in cash for Dollar Thrifty, representing an eight per cent premium to its closing price of [...]
United Biscuits impresses with 2011 upswing August 27, 2012 UNITED BISCUITS enjoyed robust profit and revenue growth in 2011, its annual accounts disclosed, a performance that is sure to buoy its private equity owners’ hopes of selling off parts of the firm. Pre-tax profit for the maker of McVitie’s digestives and Penguin biscuits rose 4.7 per cent to £156.6m in 2011, based on revenue [...]
Billabong unveils rescue plan as TPG takeover talks continue August 27, 2012 BILLABONG, the struggling Australian surfwear chain, yesterday unveiled a turnaround plan in an attempt to fend off a A$694m (£456m) private equity bid, even as it reported it had swung to a full-year loss. Chief executive Lorna Inman laid out a four-year strategy to simplify the business, focus on core brands and expand its online [...]
