Notonthehighstreet.com bought by Boston private equity firm February 9, 2021 Online marketplace notonthehighstreet has been bought by Great Hill Partners, a Boston-based private equity business. Great Hill Partners will become a majority shareholder in the business, with existing investors Burda Principal Investment and Industry Ventures also remaining as shareholders. Notonthehighstreet did well throughout the coronavirus pandemic, boosting revenue by 50 per cent in the last [...]
Huawei founder hopes Biden administration will have ‘open policy’ February 9, 2021 Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said he hopes the new U.S. Biden administration will have an “open policy” to the Chinese company, after Donald Trump placed it on a trade blacklist. Zhengfei said he hoped U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration would bear in mind U.S. business interests when forming its policy. He said it was “conducive” [...]
Journalist sues Facebook over loss of control of personal data February 9, 2021 A claim has been filed against Facebook in the High Court of Justice regarding a loss of control over his and the personal data of around one million other affected Facebook users in England and Wales. The claim, brought about by journalist and writer Peter Jukes, is a consumer representative action brought on behalf of [...]
Test and trace app prevented 600,000 Covid-19 cases February 9, 2021 The Covid-19 app has prevented about 600,000 cases of coronavirus, the government has said. The app has also told 1.7 million people in England and Wales to self-isolate at home, according to reports. According to the latest coronavirus figures, 3,959,784 people in the United Kingdom have tested positive for coronavirus. A further 14,104 tested positive [...]
Astia launches $100m venture fund for growth companies with women at the helm February 8, 2021 Astia has launched a $100m early-stage venture fund that will invest globally in high-growth companies that have at least one woman in an executive, equity-holding position. The fund was created to help to address the disparity in funding for companies that include women in founding or executive roles. Mastercard is the fund’s main investor. Astia [...]
HIG joins private equity pack circling KPMG’s restructuring arm February 8, 2021 HIG Europe has joined a pack of private equity bidders vying to buy the UK restructuring arm of KPMG. HIG is one of four parties shortlisted to acquire the business, which was put up for sale last year, Sky News first reported. It is understood Intermediate Capital Group is another private equity business interested in [...]
Begbies Traynor buys chartered surveyors as acquisition spree continues February 8, 2021 Professional services firm Begbies Traynor has bought London-based chartered surveyors Hargreaves Newberry Gyngell (HNG), in a deal worth £1m. HNG employs 13 staff, who will all integrate with Eddisons, Begbies Traynor’s property advisory and transactional services division. The acquisition is for an initial cash consideration of £0.4m on a cash free, debt free basis. Contingent [...]
Senior politicians urge HSBC to unfreeze accounts of Hong Kong activist Ted Hui February 8, 2021 HSBC has drawn criticism from a group of senior politicians over its decision to freeze the bank account of Ted Hui, prominent pro-democracy activist based in Hong Kong. A group consisting of more than 50 politicians, including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, have written to HSBC chairman Mark Tucker demanding he unfreeze the accounts [...]
E-commerce group Samarkand announces float plans February 8, 2021 Cross-border e-commerce technology and retail group Samarkand has announced its intention to float on the Aquis Exchange Growth Market. Samarkand is proposing to raise around £10m from the float, which is targeted for March 2021. Headquartered in London, Samarkand focuses on connecting Western brands with China. Samarkand CEO and co-founder David Hampstead said in the [...]
Have confidence in the Covid-19 vaccine, urges Nadhim Zahawi February 8, 2021 The public can have confidence in the UK’s Covid vaccines, despite worries that the Oxford/AstraZeneca’s jab is minimally effective against the South African variant. Early trials have suggested the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, only has limited protection against mild disease caused by the South African variant of Covid-19. Among coronavirus variants [...]
