Shell to buy Cove energy for $1.8bn April 24, 2012 Royal Dutch Sheld said it agreed to buy oil explorer Cove Energy in a $1.8bn (£1.12bn) cash deal, after the major raised its previous offer to match a rival bid from Thailand’s PTT. Shell said it would pay 220 pence for each Cove share and that the deal was conditional upon approval from the government [...]
Facebook reveals income slip ahead of IPO April 24, 2012 Facebook Inc reported its first quarter-to-quarter revenue slide in at least two years, a sign that the social network’s sizzling growth may be cooling as it prepares to go public in the biggest ever Internet IPO. The company blamed the first-quarter decline, which surprised some on Wall Street, on seasonal advertising trends. Spending roughly doubled [...]
FTSE hit by Eurozone jitters April 23, 2012 The FTSE 100 slipped this morning as investors reacted badly to uncertainty in France as Nicolas Sarkozy lost the first round of the country’s presidential election. Sarkozy was narrowly beaten by socialist Francois Hollande who has said that he favours spending to boost growth rather than austerity. Meanwhile Spain’s economy probably contracted 0.4 per cent [...]
Astra agrees to buy Adrea for $1.2bn April 23, 2012 AstraZeneca has agreed to buy US company Ardea Biosciences for $1.26bn (£782.31m), giving it a new gout drug to bolster its weak pipeline in a deal that fuels a wave of M&A in the biotechnology sector. The $32-a-share acquisition – a 54 per cent premium to Ardea’s closing price – is worth $1bn after deducting [...]
Vodafone agrees to pay £1bn for C&W Worldwide April 23, 2012 Vodafone has agreed to buy corporate telecoms company Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) for £1.04bn, in a deal that adds a British fixed line network to its wireless network. Vittorio Colao, chief executive of Vodafone, said: “The acquisition of Cable & Wireless Worldwide creates a leading integrated player in the enterprise segment of the UK [...]
Nestle to buy Pfizer baby food unit for £7.3bn April 23, 2012 Swiss food group Nestle is to buy US drugmaker Pfizer’s infant nutrition business for $11.85bn (£7.35bn), beating out French rival Danone in the battle to gain preeminence in the lucrative baby food market. Nestle, the world’s biggest food company, was already seen as a favoured bidder due largely to its deep pockets, and is paying [...]
FTSE shored up by banks April 20, 2012 The FTSE 100 was broadly flat this morning as investors turned their attention to an IMF meeting later today and French Presidential elections at the weekend. IMF leaders gathering in Washington want a big boost in funding to handle the Eurozone dent but Brazil has called for more power in the organisation for emerging nations. [...]
Retail sales in surprise jump April 20, 2012 Warm weather and fears of a fuel shortage helped drive the biggest increase in British retail sales in more than a year in March, raising chances that recovering consumer spending may have helped the economy to avoid recession. The unexpectedly strong figures will come as a relief for policymakers as they try to boost fragile [...]
One Savings Bank plans to double revenues April 20, 2012 One Savings Bank, a new British lender backed by US private equity firm JC Flowers, aims to double its assets to £4.5bn and could make acquisitions to boost lending to small businesses. The company was created in February 2011 after JC Flowers injected fresh capital into the mutually owned Kent Reliance Building Society, a casualty [...]
William Hill in boost from mobile apps April 20, 2012 Britain’s biggest bookmaker William Hill said first-quarter profit rose 19 per cent as marketing drives and a new mobile application helped attract customers. William Hill said online revenues grew 33 per cent in the quarter with sports betting exceeding 50 million pounds of turnover in a single week for the first time. The firm, which [...]
