Facebook snaps up Whatsapp in $19bn takeover February 19, 2014 SOCIAL networking giant Facebook swooped on instant messaging service Whatsapp for an astonishing $19bn (£11.38bn) last night, in the firm’s biggest ever acquisition. Facebook will pay $4bn in cash and $12bn in Facebook shares, as well as a further $3bn in restricted securities, which will vest over four years, to hold on to Whatsapp’s employees. [...]
Osborne snubs City as he calls for balanced growth February 19, 2014 CHANCELLOR George Osborne will today issue a stark message about the future of the UK economy, warning that it can no longer rely on the City to generate financial stability. “We cannot put all our chips on the success of the City of London, as my predecessors did,” he is expected to say in the [...]
Morrisons shares leap as banks step up to finance buyout February 19, 2014 SHARES in Morrisons surged almost five per cent yesterday amid rumours that banks are working on a £5bn financing deal to support a private equity buyout of the struggling grocery chain. The Morrison family, which owns a 9.5 per cent stake, has approached several private equity firms including Carlyle Group and CVC Capital with the [...]
Wage growth gains pace yet jobless rate ticks up February 19, 2014 THE UNEMPLOYMENT rate edged up slightly in the final three months of last year, yet official figures released yesterday painted a positive picture for the labour market including signs of a pick-up in wage growth. Total pay in the October-December period was up 1.1 per cent compared to a year earlier. Yet the figure for the [...]
Productivity is growing again – real pay rises could be next February 19, 2014 THERE is one reason, above all others, why we should welcome the latest figures on the state of the jobs market. Yes, jobs are being created in vast numbers, and good ones for that matter. But the real positive news is that productivity seems to be going up again, a development of central importance to [...]
Fed backs plan to taper $10bn every month February 19, 2014 THE FEDERAL Reserve has confirmed its intention to trim the US quantitative easing (QE) programme by $10bn (£5.98bn) each month, according to official minutes released yesterday. The details of Janet Yellen’s first meeting as chair of the Fed makes official the “clear presumption” that QE will be tapered at the same pace, unless there is [...]
Ukraine agrees ‘truce’ after protest deaths February 19, 2014 THE PRESIDENT of Ukraine said last night that he had reached a “truce” with the political opposition in the country, after protests against the government turned to violence in Kiev this week. President Viktor Yanukovych said that he had brokered a deal for “negotiations aimed at cessation of bloodshed and stabilization of the situation in [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 20 February 2014 February 19, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES ‘Boomer bulge’ hits US jobs data The drop in the percentage of Americans at work in recent years is often cast as a story about the long-term unemployed who give up trying to find jobs. But declining workforce participation rates, which have sharply reduced headline unemployment calculations in the world’s largest economy, could [...]
EU leaders step up rhetoric on transaction tax February 19, 2014 THE FRENCH and German governments pledged to continue pushing for a new European financial transaction tax yesterday, following repeated setbacks. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told journalists yesterday that progress on the issue ahead of May’s EU parliament elections “would be an important signal”. The European Commission had initially suggested that the tax should come into [...]
Signet buys American jewellery chain Zale in deal worth $1.4bn February 19, 2014 SIGNET, the jewellery company behind H.Samuel and Ernest Jones, has strengthened its foothold in the US after snapping up smaller rival Zale for $690m (£414m). Signet said yesterday it has agreed to pay $21.00 per share in cash, a 41 per cent premium to Zale’s closing price on Tuesday. The deal, including Zale’s debt of [...]
