Alliance Trust bosses unnerved after activist hedge fund Elliott Advisors calls for a board shake-up March 16, 2015 A bitter row is erupting between FTSE 100 investment group Alliance Trust and its biggest shareholder, the activist hedge fund Elliott Advisors. Elliott is today pushing to add three new non-executives to the board of Alliance, in a move that will pile the pressure on the firm’s chief executive Katherine Garrett-Cox. “They’re not calling for [...]
Retailers call on rates review to save the high street March 16, 2015 Retailers today called for a radical shake-up of the UK’s 400 year-old business rates system and for greater support of the ailing high street as the government launches its biggest review into the controversial tax “in a generation”. Business rates, which are charged on commercial properties including shops and warehouses, deliver around £25bn to the [...]
Budget 2015: New pensions changes to allow savers to cash in annuities March 16, 2015 George Osborne’s crunch pre-election Budget will give savers who already own an annuity the power to cash it out. This new loosening of pensions rules builds on changes in last year’s Budget, and was confirmed by the Treasury yesterday. The Treasury says that it will give greater flexibility to five million pensioners who already own [...]
Sir Martin Sorrell in line for record £36m pay packet after 2014 success March 16, 2015 WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell is facing the prospect of a further shareholder revolt this summer with his remuneration for 2014 set to be £36m. Sorrell has fought several bruising battles with shareholders over the size of his pay packages in recent years, culminating with a heavy defeat in 2012. None of the recent [...]
Cinderella belle of the ball at box office March 16, 2015 Walt Disney’s latest film Cinderella enchanted audiences this weekend, racking up a royal $70.1m (£47.53m) to lead the US box office and a massive $132m globally. The adaptation of the classic fairy tale, which was directed by Kenneth Branagh, filmed in the UK and includes British star Helena Bonham Carter, will open in UK cinemas [...]
City funds near £1bn deal for British Car Auctions March 16, 2015 A City-backed investment vehicle is on the verge of driving away with Europe’s biggest second-hand car dealership BCA Marketplace in a £1bn takeover deal. Listed investment fund Haversham, which is backed by City fund houses like Aviva, Schroders, Invesco and Artemis, is in advanced talks with the private equity owners of BCA to take a [...]
Blackstone set for Ukraine talks March 16, 2015 UKRAINE’S biggest creditor has hired Blackstone’s advisory wing to advise it and other lenders during crunch talks over the troubled nation’s debts. Representing a group led by Franklin Templeton, Blackstone will be going up against Lazard, which is working for the Ukrainian government during efforts to restructure its debts. Finance minister Natalia Yaresko argued at [...]
ITV in countdown to legal scrap over pension plans for Charles Allen execs March 16, 2015 ITV is preparing for a legal battle to take back almost £40m from a pension scheme for former chief executive Lord Charles Allen and three of his former colleagues. The broadcaster is seeking to free up assets that were placed in a ring-fenced retirement plan 15 years ago, when Lord Allen was head of Granada, [...]
Hull City chair Assem Allam wants to stop unions roaring with £1m donation to Labour March 16, 2015 Hull City chairman Assem Allam will donate up to £1m to the Labour party, after having dinner with former Prime Minister Tony Blair. However, it is believed that the businessman will only put up the cash if Ed Miliband is prepared to take on the trade unions. Allam has already donated £200,000 to Labour, [...]
Farage sets out price of deal with Cameron after election March 16, 2015 NIGEL Farage is prepared to do a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland to support David Cameron, but only in return for a referendum on Britain’s EU membership in 2015. Writing in his new book “The Purple Revolution”, published tomorrow, the Ukip leader rules out a formal coalition with the Tories. [...]
