London fin-tech firm funded February 10, 2014 A London-based financial tech start-up has secured a further €6.5m of funding to help grow the business. Kantox, led by chief executive Philippe Gelis, is a foreign exchange peer-to-peer trading platform aimed at small businesses. Partech Ventures and Idinvest Partners led the funding round alongside existing investor Cabiedes & Partners. The money will be used [...]
M&C buy £167m Times Square hotel February 10, 2014 Millennium & Copthorne Hotels has snapped up the Novotel in New York’s Times Square for $273.6m (£167m). The company, which is owned by Singaporean tycoon Kwek Leng Beng, said yesterday that it has agreed to buy the 34-storey building in an all-cash deal expected to completed in the second quarter. The hotel will continue to [...]
Swoop for debt firm heralds pay day for founder February 10, 2014 A DEBT collection agency founded in a living room in Wimbledon was sold yesterday to a JC Flowers-backed business for £295m, netting its founder about £25m. Marlin Financial, which was founded 12 years ago by entrepreneur Martin Dunphy, was sold to JC-backed Cabot Credit Management after a deal was struck over the weekend. The acquisition [...]
Blue Rubicon extends into public affairs with Open Road takeover February 10, 2014 BLUE Rubicon has bought communications and public affairs firm Open Road to bolster its consultancy work in those areas. Open Road will initially remain separate from Blue Rubicon and continue to operate from its existing London office. However, the two firms will immediately start work on new business opportunities together. “We set up the agency [...]
Tarsus snaps up two exhibitions firms in US and Turkish markets February 10, 2014 EXHIBITIONS firm Tarsus has bought the whole of HealthScienceMedia (HSM), a US medical exhibitions firm, and 60 per cent of SADA Uzmanlik Fuarlari, the firm behind Turkey’s largest construction exhibition Komatek. Tarsus also said it successfully placed 5m new shares, raising gross proceeds of £10m to maintain the strength and flexibility of its balance sheet [...]
Hyder slides on profit warning February 10, 2014 Hyder Consulting’s share price plummeted over 28 per cent yesterday, after the engineering consultancy warned that full-year results would fall short of market expectations due to delays in new contract awards in Australia, as well as project delays in the Middle East. But the London-listed firm, which worked on the London Bridge station refurbishment, said [...]
Serco has RAF contract renewed February 10, 2014 Serco, the FTSE 100 outsourcing firm that recently had its ban on winning new government work lifted, yesterday said that it has been re-awarded an RAF contract by the Ministry of Defence. The six-year agreement, which starts on 1 April, is valued at over £15m and has an option for another six years. “We are [...]
Genus buys rest of Brazil venture February 10, 2014 FTSE 250-quoted bull and pig semen specialist Genus yesterday said it has completed its acquisition of the remaining stake in Genetiporc in Brazil, for £4.9m. Genus bought Canada-headquartered Genetiporc, the pork genetics business, last September for £24.8m, which included a joint venture in Brazil. Genetiporc do Brasil reported revenues of 26.2m real (£6.7m) and pre-tax [...]
City Moves for 11 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 10, 2014 IFDS The outsourcing and technology firm has appointed Simon Moorhead as global chief information officer. He joins from the Bank of England, where he was chief information officer. Moorhead has also held roles at Reuters, Ernst & Young, Cap Gemini and HSBC. Coutts Arne Hassel has been appointed head of investments at the private bank. [...]
Best of the Brokers for 11 February 2014 February 10, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com G4S Panmure Gordon has cut the outsourcer from “hold” to “sell” with a target price of 200p, down from 275p. The broker thinks there are many headwinds for G4S, with slowing growth in developing markets alongside currency movements and margin pressure in the [...]
