Mobile charges to be slashed March 28, 2010 AFTER a review of the cost of connecting mobile phone calls from one network to another, Ofcom has ruled that UK mobile phone companies will have to cut their charges by at least a billion pounds a year. The regulator is expected to set rates from 2011 to 2015 that will see charges fall from [...]
Ford agrees sale of Volvo March 28, 2010 THE Chinese carmaker Geely has agreed to buy Volvo from US giant Ford for $1.8bn (£1.2bn) in the country’s biggest overseas car purchase to date. The takeover highlights China’s arrival as a major force in the global automobile industry and ends nearly two years of talks over Volvo. Geely said it had secured all the [...]
Nomura names ex-Lehman bankers as heads of EMEA March 28, 2010 JAPANESE investment bank Nomura has appointed two former Lehman Brothers dealmakers as joint heads of its equities business for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Abdelkerim Karim and Sam Ruiz take the helm of the unit on 1 April, having joined the Tokyo-based group after it bought Lehman’s European operations in 2008. Ruiz, currently in [...]
Vodafone defiant over its stake in Verizon Wireless March 28, 2010 VODAFONE will not be pressured into selling its stake in US-based Verizon Wireless. Senior players at Vodafone are said to be incensed that its majority partner Verizon Communications has continued to block attempts to reinstate a dividend, despite the firm being close to paying down its £12.1bn debt pile. They believe Verizon is attempting to [...]
US iPad distribution may be late March 28, 2010 Customers who preordered Apple’s new iPad may have to wait a bit longer to get the device, as the company appears to be having a hard time keeping up with demand. Apple began taking preorders for the iPad on 12 March, promising to ship the touchscreen device to buyers on the official sales launch date [...]
Synova acquires dentistry Group March 28, 2010 Synova Capital, the UK private equity firm has delved into the dentistry industry and bought The Dental Buying Group (DBG). The Group provides services and products to over a third of dental practices in the UK. Members pay an annual fee to gain access to DBG’s portfolio of products and services, including dental engineering and [...]
Banking firms see improved profitability March 28, 2010 ACTIVITY in the financial services sector stagnated in the first three months of the year but companies experienced improved profitability for the third successive quarter, according to a new survey published today by the Confederation for British Industry (CBI) and accountants Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC). The quarterly report of Britain’s financial services industry also reveals that [...]
Four more US banks are shut March 28, 2010 A FURTHER four banks have been closed by US regulators as small lenders struggle to cope with bad loans. The move brings the total number of banks closed already this year to 41, the fastest rate of collapse in 17 years. The number of problem banks being monitored by regulators has reached the highest level [...]
NXP will try to raise $1bn March 28, 2010 Dutch chipmaker NXP BV plans to raise at least $1bn (£670m) to cut debt. It has hired Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Credit Suisse Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs to help run the sale. A consortium including KKR, Bain Capital and Apax Partners snapped up an 80 per cent stake in NXP BV in 2006 in a [...]
Waitrose in talks for EAT March 28, 2010 EAT, the sandwich chain favoured by City workers, could be sold within the next month to the upmarket supermarket giant Waitrose, City sources suggested yesterday. EAT was founded in 1996 by Niall and Faith MacArthur and now has over 30 branches in the City selling sandwiches, soups, pies and drinks. The husband and wife team [...]
