Man Group’s US foray continues with latest deal December 17, 2014 HEDGE fund Man Group ploughed on with its US acquisition spree yesterday after paying $23.5m in cash for small fund manager Silvermine Cap Management. The deal, Man’s fourth in the US this year, will earn Silvermine an additional $16.5m next year and $30m after five years if fee targets are hit. Silvermine runs around nine [...]
Cabot Square buys car finance firm from the Portuguese state December 17, 2014 BRITISH private equity group Cabot Square Capital yesterday bought consumer credit firm BPN Credito from the Portuguese government. The lender was a part of Banco Portugues de Negocios, which was nationalised in the financial crash in 2008. Cabot Square paid €36m (£28.5m) in an initial investment, taking on a firm with an asset book over [...]
Babcock takes over MoD unit in £140m deal December 17, 2014 THE MINISTRY of Defence (MoD) has sold its repair and maintenance unit Defence Support Group (DSG) to Babcock for £140m. The deal includes a 10-year contract for Babcock, the firm in charge of decommissioning the UK’s aging nuclear power plants, to provide maintenance, repair, overhaul and storage of current military vehicles and light weapons. The [...]
Xmas bargains await British homebuyers December 17, 2014 A THIRD of all UK properties currently on the market have seen their asking prices lowered at least once since being put up for sale, research from British property website Zoopla revealed yesterday. The figure is up from 27 per cent earlier this year and represents the highest level of discounting since August 2012. A [...]
Car sales leads to strong demand at AK Steel December 17, 2014 AK Steel Holding expects shipments to jump 37 per cent to 2m tons in the current quarter, helped by acquisitions and strong auto-industry demand. The company said substantially lower iron ore, carbon scrap and energy costs in the fourth quarter, also helped growth.
China’s Baidu confirms Uber investment plan December 17, 2014 CHINESE internet giant Baidu confirmed yesterday it is buying a stake in fast-growing international car-hailing service Uber as the pair chase growth in one of the world’s largest transportation markets. The companies did not disclose how big a stake Baidu is taking, nor how much it is paying for the investment, announced jointly in Beijing. [...]
FedEx stock falls 5pc as it misses profit expectations for quarter December 17, 2014 FEDEX yesterday posted lower-than-expected quarterly earnings as results at its FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight units missed estimates, and it reiterated an outlook analysts consider conservative, sending its stock down nearly five per cent. On a conference call with analysts, FedEx executives said labour problems at West Coast ports this year had left cargo shipments [...]
Saga on track to meet market expectations in full year results December 17, 2014 Insurance firm Saga issued a trading update yesterday and confirmed that the company’s new chief financial officer will take up his role in April 2015. The firm, which specialises in products and services for customers over the age of 50, announced that Jonathan Hill, previously at Bovis Homes Group, had been appointed to the position [...]
City Moves for 18 December 2014 | Who’s switching jobs December 17, 2014 Rightster The Aim-listed video distribution and monetisation network has appointed Niall Dore as group finance director. He was previously finance director at Betfair Group, and has also held group financial controller positions at GE Life and Hyder Consulting. Zeus Capital Hugo Chance has been appointed director, head of family offices, at the independent investment bank. [...]
Best of the Brokers for 18 December 2014 December 17, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com TRICORN GROUP Westhouse reiterated its “buy” rating following news that the firm has won a five-year £10m contract with Maxpower. The broker said the deal “helps to provide a solid underpinning to our forecasts as well as acting as a strong reference client”. [...]
