Merkel to meet Greek leader as tensions simmer March 16, 2015 GERMAN chancellor Angela Merkel will welcome the Greek Prime Minister to Berlin on Monday in a bid to further talks amid growing antagonism between the two countries. Greece successfully repaid €580m (£413m) it owed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday, but needs to pay another €350m to the IMF on Friday. Figures released yesterday [...]
Sotheby’s bids high to land first new chief executive for 15 years March 16, 2015 SOTHEBY’S has ended its four-month search for a new chief executive officer by appointing Tad Smith as president and leader of the group. Smith, who will begin his new role at the international auction house on 31 March, succeeds William Ruprecht who has served as chief executive since 2000. “The board is unanimous in its [...]
Rose offloads almost all his AO World stake March 16, 2015 WHITE goods retailer AO World yesterday announced that non-executive chairman Richard Rose had sold nearly all of his stake in the company for £10m. AO World, which floated on the London Stock Exchange a year ago, said Rose sold 1.3 per cent of its outstanding shares at a price of 180p. Its shares closed down 4.96 [...]
Standard Chartered hires global team of financial crime fighters March 16, 2015 TROUBLED bank Standard Chartered yesterday picked three new advisers to work with its board’s financial crime risk committee. The British-headquartered bank has run into trouble with the US and other authorities, most notably after it broke sanctions against Iran. It has hired Frances Townsend, who used to advise the US president on homeland security and counterterrorism. Ex-Interpol [...]
Investors sharpen their knives ahead of the meeting season March 16, 2015 As Britain’s biggest companies prepare to meet their shareholders, should directors be nervous? Adam Hignett reports. IN 2012, WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell found himself classed as the most high-profile victim of the so-called shareholder spring, despite his remuneration being a “modest” £6.8m. Since then though, it has ballooned to £36m. In terms of performance, Sorrell [...]
Co-op Travel changes name to Clarity as new owners cut ties March 16, 2015 Co-operative Travel Management moved to cut the final ties with its former owner yesterday after relaunching as Clarity Travel Management. The corporate travel agent was run as a joint venture between the troubled mutual and Thomas Cook before the pair sold it to the Saudi-based Al Tayyar Group last year. The sale formed part of [...]
Global house prices suffer first quarterly decline in two years March 16, 2015 Global house prices have suffered their first quarterly decline in more than two years, figures out yesterday show, as tensions between Greece and the Eurozone and weaker growth prospects in China weighed on consumer sentiment. Knight Frank’s Global House Price Index, which is weighted according to each country’s GDP, fell by 0.6 per cent in [...]
US battery firm sucks up $15m Dyson funding March 16, 2015 VACUUM cleaner maker Dyson has invested $15m (£10.1m) in solid-state battery maker Sakti3, which it claims will help it to improve smartphone battery life. The investment means that Dyson will commercialise Sakti3’s next-generation battery technology, which can store twice as much energy as traditional lithium batteries. With its investment in the Michigan-based firm, Dyson said [...]
Blackstone pays out $1.3bn for Chicago’s iconic Willis Tower March 16, 2015 PRIVATE equity group Blackstone has announced that it will buy Chicago’s iconic Willis Tower for $1.3bn (£877m), the most ever paid for a US office building outside New York. The tower, at 1,450ft it is the 12th-tallest in the world, is a lucrative tourist attraction thanks to its Skydeck observation floor. Blackstone, normally known for [...]
Online retailers post sluggish February sales March 16, 2015 ONLINE retailers posted sluggish growth in February as the Christmas shopping spree continued to weigh on consumers, according to the latest monthly figures from industry analysts IMRG and Capgemini. Sales slumped by 12 per cent in February compared with the previous month, which in turn was down seven per cent on December, the IMRG Capgemini [...]
