Google Chrome becomes world’s top web browser May 21, 2012 GOOGLE CHROME has surpassed Internet Explorer as the most used web browser, according to data firm StatCounter. For the week of 14-20 May, Chrome was the world’s number one web browser, leaving usual top spot hogger Internet Explorer lagging behind. The Google site first pipped Window’s browser two months ago, when Chrome topped the league for one [...]
Carlyle bets on US’s Avail-TVN May 21, 2012 AVAIL-TVN, a US-based media services provider, announced yesterday it has raised $100m (£63m) in a round led by private equity giant Carlyle Group, to help fund its acquisition of rival company On Demand Group in the UK. Avail-TVN, which works with companies like NBC and Univision, said its $27m acquisition of On Demand Group – [...]
Ryanair says fuel prices will drive down profits May 21, 2012 BUDGET airline Ryanair yesterday announced record profits of €503m (£406m) for the year to March 2012, an increase of a quarter on a like-for-like basis. But the Dublin-based firm said that this would be the last year of expectation-beating profit rises and warned that returns could drop by as much as 20 per cent during the next [...]
Eaton snaps up rival Cooper in £7.5bn deal May 21, 2012 Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton yesterday agreed to buy electrical equipment maker Cooper Industries $11.8bn (£7.5bn) in cash and stock, its biggest-ever acquisition, a move that will lower Eaton’s taxes by shifting its incorporation to Ireland. American Eaton will pay $72 per share for Cooper: $39.15 in cash and the rest in stock. Eaton shareholders will [...]
German Opel jobs are at risk May 21, 2012 THE head of German carmaker Opel, under pressure from parent General Motors to end losses, yesterday refused to promise workers at its plant in Bochum that their jobs would be safeguarded after 2014. The plant, located in the rust-belt Ruhr region devastated by coal mine closures, is expected to shut after the company chose to [...]
CITY VIEWS | DO YOU THINK LONDON’S AIRPORTS ARE READY FOR THE OLYMPICS? May 21, 2012 ATSUSHI MATSUMOTO SMBC NIKKO I don’t think so. The airports could be end up being a let down and embarrassment this summer. But I have hope in the aviation authorities that they could still do something about it in the 50 or so days to go before the Olympics. What is really bothering me is [...]
WPP invests in Burma after sanctions end May 21, 2012 WPP yesterday announced it has bought a stake in a Burmese advertising agency just days after US sanctions on the Asian country were lifted. New York-based Ogilvy & Mather, a fully-owned subsidiary of global ad giant WPP, yesterday unveiled the purchase of a stake in Today Advertising, an agency in Myanmar. The firms did not specify [...]
Pursuit shares in freefall after P&G fails to award it contract May 21, 2012 PURSUIT Dynamics saw its shares nosedive yesterday after it announced that it had missed out on a key contract with consumer giant Procter & Gamble. The loss-making technology company had pinned its hopes on P&G buying its technology – aimed at reducing costs for businesses. Pursuit won extra funds from its shareholders in March. It [...]
Bridgepoint spells out a £49m deal for dictation firm BigHand May 21, 2012 BRIDGEPOINT, the private equity house behind a series of high street names, has bought a dictation technology firm from Lloyds Development Capital in a £49m deal. Its Bridgepoint Development Capital arm has taken a majority stake in BigHand, which works with more than 150,000 professionals such as lawyers, doctors and accountants. As part of the [...]
ITE sales leap 30pc in first half May 21, 2012 Exhibition and conference organiser ITE Group reported a higher first-half profit as volume sales jumped 30 per cent. The UK firm, which organises around 200 trade exhibitions and conferences each year in 14 countries, said its booked revenue for the year, including sales from newly acquired businesses, rose six per cent on a like-for-like basis [...]
