China’s Fortune Oil buys into LNG rival Everthriving Energy September 1, 2010 FORTUNE OIL has struck up an agreement with Everthriving Investment to acquire 65 per cent of the share capital in three of the Chinese company’s subsidiaries. Under the agreement, Fortune Oil will make an initial payment of £9.71m and a deferred payment of £4.64m for a large stake in Everthriving’s Energy Technology, Logistics and Plastics [...]
SEC settles insider trading case for more than $17m September 1, 2010 THE US Securities and Exchange Commission has accepted more than $17m (£11m) from two men to settle federal insider trading charges related to the takeover of biotechnology company MedImmune. Stephen Goldfield, 46, who ran the hedge fund firm Imperium Capital Management, was charged with making $13.98m (£9.05m) in illegal profit by trading in MedImmune securities [...]
Standard Life cuts costs with 500 job losses September 1, 2010 INSURANCE giant Standard Life said yesterday it would cut around 500 jobs between now and the end of 2011. The Edinburgh-based insurance and pensions group has entered a 90-day consultation period with staff about the cuts, though the company said it hopes that 100 jobs can be shed through natural attrition. “We will be trying [...]
THE ART OF PEACEFUL PROTEST (IN SWINDON) September 1, 2010 IN an age where Facebook protests can reach hundreds of thousands of members within a few hours, often for the most spurious reasons – the lynching of women who put cats in bins being a recent example – it’s nice to see a good old fashioned show of dissent. One-man-army Paul Slennett, owner of three [...]
Pace secures loans to snap up 2Wire September 1, 2010 PACE, the world’s largest set-top box maker, has agreed loans of $450m (£291.1m) to fund its acquisition of US broadband technology firm 2Wire. A $300m term loan and $150m of revolving credit were underwritten by HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland. An existing £35m credit line with RBS was cancelled. The acquisition, which Pace hopes [...]
Vivendi rises after improving profit forecasts and reassuring over buys September 1, 2010 Vivendi, Europe’s largest telecom and entertainment group, yesterday raised its profit targets on the back of forecast-beating first-half results. The firm also reassured investors on its acquisition strategy, lifting its flagging stock. Vivendi shares have slid to seven-year lows relative to the European market, largely underperforming peers on concerns about acquisitions, the cost of a [...]
Age of austerity set to boost contract work for Mouchel as local authorities seek to outsource September 1, 2010 OUTSOURCING firm Mouchel said yesterday the outlook for its businesses was improving as the UK government starts to farm out work to cut costs. “The medium and longer term outlook is becoming increasingly positive as the new government’s policies are implemented,” the company said in a statement. Many support services firms could suffer as the [...]
Google and Skype face India woes September 1, 2010 India yesterday launched a clampdown on major internet communications firms, including Google and Skype, and began accessing some BlackBerry traffic in a campaign driven by security fears. Home secretary GK Pillai said notices were being sent to Google and Skype asking them to set up servers in India and allow access to web data that [...]
CITYJET TAKES ON NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE September 1, 2010 DUBLIN-BASED airline CityJet has hired Christine Ourmieres as its chief executive, following Geoffrey O’Byrne White’s departure last month after 10 years at the company. Ourmieres joins from Air France KLM – which controls 100 per cent of City Jet. CityJet is the largest operator at London City airport, and accounts for half of all traffic.
Vertu drives foward aftersales surge September 1, 2010 CAR dealership Vertu Motors yesterday said it expected to hit forecasts after a surge in sales of new and used cars. The group has seen a 6.7 per cent jump in like-for-like sales volumes of new cars in the five months to July. Vertu’s rise came despite the end of the scrappage scheme which had [...]
