Vienna top for quality of life May 25, 2010 VIENNA still has the highest quality of living, according to new research which ranks it as the number one city in the world to live. It is the second year running that the Austrian Capital has bagged the top spot. Mercer’s Quality of Living index showed that people in Vienna have a high quality of [...]
Findus frozen out by bidders May 25, 2010 PRIVATE equity houses Permira and Lion Capital are emerging as front runners for Unilever’s Italian frozen food unit Findus as other bidders question its profitability, sources close to the situation said yesterday. Permira and Lion, which already run frozen food businesses, both put in offers for the Unilever unit on yesterday’s deadline for first round [...]
Hedge fund Magnetar lines up M&A portfolio May 25, 2010 US-BASED hedge fund firm Magnetar Capital plans to launch an event-driven fund in coming months, said a source close to the firm, capitalising on investor expectations of a pick-up in mergers and acquisitions. The fund will be managed by Alec Litowitz, who founded Magnetar in 2005 and specialises in this area, and will bet on [...]
Investors in WaMu probe JP Morgan May 25, 2010 SHAREHOLDERS of bankrupt Washington Mutual asked a federal judge for permission to investigate JPMorgan Chase for its role in the failure of Washington Mutual Bank, according to court documents filed yesterday. The equity committee wants information that could lead to potential claims against JPMorgan if they can show that the investment bank had a role [...]
Cameron: Labour to blame for tough cuts May 25, 2010 DAVID Cameron launched a scathing attack on his Labour predecessors yesterday, accusing them of leaving the country in an “appalling mess” after thirteen years in power. In a sign that the Liberal-Conservative coalition intends to pin the blame for swingeing cuts on the former government, the Prime Minister used his inaugural Commons speech to round [...]
Businesses give a cautious welcome to Lib-Con plans May 25, 2010 BUSINESS leaders gave a cautious thumbs up to the Liberal-Conservative government’s first Queen’s Speech yesterday, but warned that tax rises and a crackdown on airport expansion would hurt the private sector. George Osborne’s decision to reverse most of the rise in employers’ National Insurance contributions won him plaudits across the business community. John Cridland, deputy [...]
How long can the coalition survive? May 25, 2010 THE COALITION government unveiled its first Queen’s speech yesterday, but will it survive in the face of deep spending cuts and a Eurozone crisis? Sign up to our panel at www.cityam.com/panel by 12pm to have your say. • How impressed or unimpressed have you been by the coalition government so far? • Do you think [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU AGREE THAT THE GOVERNMENT’S PRORITY SHOULD BE REDUCING THE DEFICIT? May 25, 2010 GABRIELLE MCADAMS | WILLIS “I agree with the majority of the cuts so far and I agree that dealing with the deficit should be one of the top priorities, but the government shouldn’t jeopardise things like health and transport.” ZADE ALRIFAI | AXA “The government’s priority should be the economy but cutting the deficit at [...]
Boost for UK as growth is revised higher May 25, 2010 BRITISH policymakers breathed a deep sigh of relief yesterday when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed that first quarter UK GDP growth had been revised upwards to 0.3 per cent thanks to strong industrial production and business activity. The boost to the growth figure had been expected since the ONS released extremely strong industrial [...]
US confidence is riding high May 25, 2010 US consumer confidence rose in May to its highest level in more than two years as an improving jobs outlook defied for now the growing fears about European debt market turmoil and threats to global growth. By contrast, the US housing market, another pillar of the economy, is looking shaky after the expiration at the [...]
