North Sea workers look abroad for jobs as oil market worsens January 12, 2015 FALLING oil prices have pushed professionals working in the North Sea to look elsewhere for jobs. More than four in 10 (42 per cent of) oil and gas professionals working in Scotland and the North Sea region are already looking at international assignments, a survey from specialist information and recruitment firm Rigzone reveals. Meanwhile 68 [...]
Onex looks to resuscitate UK’s Survitec with $680m takeover January 12, 2015 CANADIAN private equity firm Onex yesterday agreed to buy British marine, defence and aerospace survival equipment manufacturer Survitec from US buyout counterpart Warburg Pincus for $680m (£450m). The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2015. Onex Partners IV will make an investment of approximately $320m for most of the equity [...]
GrandVision IPO: Vision Express owner to list on Euronext January 12, 2015 GrandVision, the Dutch owner of UK glasses specialist Vision Express, announced yesterday it will list on the Euronext in Amsterdam. The initial public offering for the world’s largest optical retailer comprises a secondary offering of 20 to 25 per cent of shares belonging to GrandVision’s founding shareholder, HAL Optical Investments – a subsidiary of Dutch [...]
Southbank gets the thumbs up from Ignis Property Fund with £30m purchase January 12, 2015 The Ignis Property Fund has bought a slice of the Southbank’s regeneration, having acquired the freehold of both a residential and commercial space in Southwark for £30m. The investment firm has bought 1 America Street and 29 Great Guildford Street, an office and residential building on an island site, from the Trustees of the SE10NE Co-ownership. [...]
Threadneedle and US partner merge names to become Columbia Threadneedle Investments January 12, 2015 London-based asset manager Threadneedle Investments and its US-based affiliate, Columbia Management, will merge under the name Columbia Threadneedle Investments in the first half of 2015, Threadneedle announced yesterday. The rebrand is aimed at reinforcing the companies’ strength across Europe, the US and the UK as well as expanding their footprint in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and [...]
Jimmy Wales-backed mobile network The People’s Operator celebrates better than expected six months January 12, 2015 Commercial mobile phone network The People’s Operator (TPO) saw subscriber numbers grow by 140 per cent in the second half of last year, to 14,032 from 5,800. The final two months of 2014 saw the number of subscribers for the cause-based mobile operator, which is led by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, go up by 28 [...]
GVC Holdings grows net gaming revenue by 23pc over the year January 12, 2015 UK GAMING operator GVC Holdings yesterday reported a 23 per cent net gaming revenue (NGR) rise in its pre-trading update for the year ended 31 December. The Isle of Man-based firm saw its NGR for 2014 finish on €224.6m (£175.3m). It also experienced sports margins of 9.8 per cent, a small rise on the 9.6 [...]
City Moves for 13 January 2015 | Who’s switching jobs January 12, 2015 Grosvenor Fund Management The investment firm has appointed Gaston Brandes as director of capital markets, Europe. He joins from UBS Global Asset Management, where he was executive director of global real estate business development. Brandes has also held roles at Franklin Templeton Investment Services. Brown Rudnick The law firm has appointed Moris Mashali as partner [...]
Best of the Brokers for 13 January 2015 January 12, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ITV Berenberg has downgraded UK television network ITV from a “hold” to a “sell” rating. Analysts Sarah Simon, Robert Berg and Jessica Pok argued that its audience share in 2014 was poor and that online video will eat into its broadcast advertising revenues. [...]
Tumbling oil price eats into FTSE 100’s morning increase – London Report January 12, 2015 FALLS on Wall Street dragged back the FTSE 100’s early gains yesterday, as heavily weighted oil and energy companies dropped there as well as in Europe. The premier index was little changed at 6,501.42, up just 0.28 points. By comparison, Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac, which have less exposure to oil producers, were up over [...]
