Canary Wharf investor backs Songbird bid December 18, 2014 A MAJOR shareholder in Canary Wharf Group has written to the board of its controlling company, Songbird Estates, urging it to accept the takeover offer from its Qatari suitors. US asset manager Franklin Mutual Advisers holds a seven per cent stake in the east London estate alongside Songbird which controls a 70 per cent interest. [...]
Tesco gets ready for busy Christmas period December 18, 2014 ACTIVITY at Tesco’s huge distribution plant in Reading yesterday boosted the retailer’s hopes for a better end to its torrid 2014. In the lead up to Christmas, 13,000 staff are working around the clock at 28 distribution centres across the UK.
Banks: Myners reform may be short-termist December 18, 2014 LORD Myners yesterday called for more automation in the stock market flotation process, as well as more transparency, more research and a more flexible price range. He was analysing the Royal Mail flotation following claims the government did not get the best price for the shares. Investment bankers agreed that the proposals could boost the price [...]
Competition watchdog probes Pork Farms for having too big a slice of the pie December 18, 2014 The competition watchdog has threatened to launch an investigation into Pork Farms’ acquisition of rival Kerry Foods over fears that the new company will have its fingers in too many pies. Pork Farms, which makes scotch eggs, pies and sausage rolls for the major supermarkets including Marks & Spencer bought Kerry Foods’ chilled savoury [...]
Lord Myners report rescues Vince Cable over Royal Mail IPO December 18, 2014 The government received unexpected praise over Royal Mail’s float. But the City is being told to make some changes. One quick glance at the share price told the City’s critics’ everything they wanted to hear. The Royal Mail privatisation was another classic case of over-paid charlatans ripping the taxpayer off to the tune of [...]
Rudd returns to the FTSE 100 as Meggitt’s chair December 18, 2014 City grandee Sir Nigel Rudd is to become non-executive chairman of military and aerospace engineer Meggitt, leading the charge on a bumper day of chairmanship announcements. This signals his return to the FTSE 100, having led the board of BAE Systems and Invensys previously, as well as having held deputy chairmanship at Barclays until 2009. [...]
Former Shell chief Peter Voser to beef up board as ABB chairman December 18, 2014 Former Shell chief executive Peter Voser will be joining Zurich-based power grid maker ABB as chairman, the firm announced yesterday. Voser stepped down as chief of Shell at the end of 2013 and takes over from outgoing 72-year-old chairman Hubertus von Grunberg. Another septuagenarian board member Michael Treschow, 71, has also announced he will leave [...]
New exec role for O’Connor December 18, 2014 The former chairman of Irish Allied Bank, Dan O’Connor, is to join the board of International Personal Finance as a non-executive director at the start of next year. He’ll be taking over 25 years experience with him, having helped to steer Allied Irish Bank through the financial crash. The news comes as Christopher Rodrigues announces [...]
Phil Cox to give Drax a boost December 18, 2014 EMBATTLED energy group Drax has reached for a boost from former International Power chief Phil Cox, taking him on as chairman as its share price continues to dwindle. The power station firm took a hit during the summer, being excluded from applying for a subsidy scheme aimed at low-carbon energy projects and its share price [...]
Jay-Z’s GOLD and Beyonce’s perfume Rise are most popular scents December 18, 2014 It's the most modern and bizarre of phenomenons: there are many among us who want to smell like celebrities. Luckily for the pop stars, actors and sporting heroes of the world – us mere mortals don’t achieve this by sneaking into their homes and rolling in their bedsheets. Instead we buy celeb perfumes. Lots of [...]
