Steel crisis: Excalibur Steel expected to endorse Liberty House in Tata bidding process May 23, 2016 The management buy-out group Excalibur Steel, which is expected to bid for Tata Steel’s UK assets today, has effectively endorsed another bidder, Liberty House, for the sale. Mostly comprised of former Tata executives, Excalibur will voice its support for the group in its bid, City A.M. understands. This puts commodities investor Liberty House in a favourable [...]
Stock Spirits goes head-to-head with rebel shareholders, led by Western Gate Private Investments’ Luis Amaral, at AGM May 22, 2016 The board of European drinks firm Stock Spirits will face rebel investors seeking boardroom and strategy changes at its annual general meeting (AGM) tomorrow. Western Gate Private Investments, led by Portuguese cash-and-carry tycoon Luis Amaral, has nominated two non-executive directors – Alberto da Ponte and Randy Pankevicz – to be admitted to the board and has also tabled [...]
Megabrew: AB InBev brews sale of SABMiller European beer brands Pilsner and Lech May 22, 2016 Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) is expected to put most of SABMiller's remaining European drinks offering up for sale this week in a £5bn auction. AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, is set to sell SABMiller's Central and Eastern European brands in order to pave the way for its megabrew merger with the British drinks giant, reported [...]
Big tobacco firms aim to stub out new plain packaging laws via appeal May 22, 2016 Two of the big four tobacco companies are set to launch an appeal in the coming weeks against last Thursday's High Court ruling that paved the way for new plain packaging laws on cigarette boxes. Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and British American Tobacco (BAT) have both said they will appeal against the High Court's decision [...]
Aldi taps into UK craft beer market in £600m deal with 18 new offerings May 22, 2016 Cut-price supermarket Aldi has launched a £600m initiative to tap into the UK's burgeoning craft beer industry. From 29 May, the bargain grocer will stock 18 UK brewed craft beers in its English and Welsh stories. The beers will be sold as a "Specialbuy" purchase, meaning a limited number of beers have been brought in as [...]
Pinkster gin the tipple of choice for crowdfunders at Growthdeck May 20, 2016 Premium gin brand Pinkster has ridden high on the "gin-aissance" sweeping the UK and smashed through an equity fundraising target of £600,000 in six weeks. Pinkster, a fast-growing, Cambridge-based gin produced with fresh raspberries, raised £758,000 in 47 days since it placed its listing on the relatively new crowdfundraising platform Growthdeck on 31 March. Unlike most crowdfunding platforms, Growthdeck does [...]
Megabrew deal: AB InBev’s takeover of SABMiller to be cleared by European Union regulators May 20, 2016 Antitrust regulators in the European Union are set to conditionally approve Anheuser-Busch InBev's takeover of British drinks giant SABMiller. The £71bn megabrew takeover, will be cleared by European Commission, Reuters reported today. SABMiller's share price has traded around 40 per cent higher since before the takeover was agreed in mid-October. [charts-share-price id="272"] Regulatory obstacles At the end of April, [...]
One in three young people are moving back home after being priced out of London rent May 20, 2016 Over a third of young adults in London are opting to live at home with their parents because they can't afford rent, a new study has shown. The new study from online retailer Direct Blinds showed 36 per cent of young adults in London could not afford to move out and pay rent, while more than 40 [...]
Conviviality share price rises 4.5 per cent as company raises glass to “transformational” year May 20, 2016 Alcohol group Conviviality's share price rose by more than 4.5 per cent during trading today after it toasted a "transformational" year in a trading update. The figures The bargain booze retailer posted a full-increase increase of 137 per cent in group sales to approximately £864m, up from £364m in 2015. The company has said its earnings [...]
Plain packaging: The starting gun has been fired on the tobacco industry May 20, 2016 Today the government fired the starting gun on a controversial new policy and a significant market intervention – the introduction of standardised pack designs for tobacco products. After the High Court yesterday ruled against a legal challenge brought forward by big tobacco companies, from today most tobacco products destined for the UK must be in standardised packs. [...]
