VW clinches majority stake in MAN July 4, 2011 Volkswagen clinched a 55.9 per cent stake in Munich-based truckmaker MAN, clearing the way for the carmaker to start building its European truck empire. Volkswagen’s majority stake allows it to determine seats on the supervisory board, a way to accelerate cooperation between MAN and VW’s Swedish brand Scania. “Volkswagen is more than pleased with the [...]
S&P default warning piles pressure on Greece July 4, 2011 Greece would likely be in default if it follows a debt rollover plan pushed by French bank S&P warned, heaping more pressure on beleaguered Greece. European politicians and bankers had expressed confidence last week that the French proposal would not trigger a default, but ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said it would involve losses to [...]
Psion hit by by supply chain woes July 4, 2011 Mobile computing services provider Psion forecast a loss for the first half and saw 2011 to be below its estimates mainly due to supply chain issues and a weak pound. The company, which provides a range of rugged handheld computers, said its revenue for the first half ended June is expected to be about four [...]
StanChart buys slice of Redington for £60m July 4, 2011 The private equity arm of Standard Chartered has bought 12 per cent of Redington India from a promoter and a strategic investor for about $98m (£60m), the supply chain management company’s managing director said. A promoter and Taiwan-based Synnex Technology International Corp, a strategic investor in the firm, have cut their stake in Redington, R. [...]
PetroChina completes $1bn Ineos deal July 4, 2011 PetroChina has completed its purchase of UK chemical group Ineos assets for $1 billion (£622m), the firm said in a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange. PetroChina will acquire a 50 per cent stake in Ineos’ INEOS.UL European refining business, including the plants at Grangemouth in Scotland and Lavera in France. The transaction was completed [...]
SABMiller seals deal with Belgian brewer July 1, 2011 SABMiller has signed a distribution agreement with Belgian Van Steenberge Brewery to distribute the Sint Stefanus brand outside Belgium. Under the terms of the agreement, the beer will be distributed outside Belgium under the St Stefanus brand. The name comes from the monastery of Sint Stefanus, to which the brewery is linked and which still [...]
John Lewis sales jump 20pc July 1, 2011 John Lewis posted a 20 per cent jump in sales bucking the retail gloom on the high street. The retailer said that in the week to 25 June every one of its stores took more cash in its tills than a year before. Although analysts warned part of the impact was because of the success [...]
UK manufacturing growth hits 21-month low July 1, 2011 The manufacturing sector expanded at its slowest pace in almost two years last month, as factories reduced hiring and new orders fell, a survey showed. The Markit/CIPS manufacturing PMI index sank to a 21-month low of 51.3 in June from May’s downwardly revised 52.0, worse than the average forecast from economists that the index would [...]
UBS to name Weber as new chairman July 1, 2011 Swiss bank UBS said it had nominated former Deutsche Bundesbank President Axel Weber to its board and expected him to succeed Kaspar Villiger as chairman of the board in 2013. Europe’s largest wealth manager in terms of assets said its board of directors would nominate Weber to the board at the annual general meeting in [...]
Li Ka-shing confirms bid for Northumbrian July 1, 2011 Northumbrian Water has received a takeover proposal from a company owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing. The indicative proposal related to a possible cash offer from Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings, the water company said in a short statement. CKI had said earlier this week it is in the preliminary stages of assessing a potential [...]
