TNT accepts Sweetened £4.3bn UPS bid March 19, 2012 United Parcel Service will pay 5.2 billion euros (£4.31bn) for Dutch peer TNT in a deal that will make the U.S. company the biggest package-shipper in Europe with 45bn euros in global sales. TNT said on Monday its executive and supervisory boards unanimously supported UPS’s offer of 9.50 euros per share, up from an initial [...]
Premier Foods profit tumbles by 29pc March 19, 2012 Britain’s Premier Foods PLC (PFD.L) reported a 29 percent decline in profit from its ongoing businesses in 2011 and said it expected trading to remain challenging, impacted by high levels of promotional activity and cost inflation. The group, which owns brands such as Hovis, Mr Kipling and Batchelors, said that it made a trading profit [...]
Misys agrees £1.3bn deal with Vista March 19, 2012 British banking software firm Misys has agreed to be bought by private equity firm Vista Partners for £1.27bn after dismissing an all-share merger with a rival and a competing private equity suitor. Misys said it was recommending a 350 pence a share cash offer from Vista, a private equity group which has been targeting deals [...]
Cameron: We need privatised roads March 18, 2012 ROAD PRICING and greater use of toll roads could become a reality as the government seeks to find ways to entice the private sector to invest more in infrastructure. David Cameron will today launch a new study into the financing and ownership of Britain’s roads, arguing the country “urgently” needs “to repair the decades-long degradation [...]
Search on for betting client cash March 18, 2012 SPREAD-BETTING firm WorldSpreads was forced into administration yesterday after the discovery of “accounting irregularities” proved too serious to avoid collapse. Thousands of clients stand to lose out after the Financial Services Authority (FSA) warned last night that there could be a “shortfall in the client money accounts” but said it will “will return as much [...]
UPS finally closes in on €5bn deal to buy rival TNT Express March 18, 2012 US DELIVERY company UPS has finally clinched a €5bn (£4.2bn) deal to buy TNT Express, a Dutch rival. The valuation of its European counterpart is an increase of at least 50 cents on UPS’s offer of €9 per share in February, which was rejected. That was already a hike from an offer of €8.25 a [...]
Budget could be surprisingly radical March 18, 2012 MAYBE, just maybe, this Budget could end up being a big deal, a defining shift in direction for the coalition and the day George Osborne finally rediscovers his radical inner self. I certainly hope so, and there are growing signs that this may be the case – but instigating a revolution would require breaking away [...]
Profits at Rusal plunged by 92pc in 2011 March 18, 2012 RUSSIA’S United Company RUSAL, the world’s top aluminium maker, reported a 92 per cent drop in yearly net profit today due to a supply glut and slower demand weighing on the price of the metal, as well as a reduction in the value of its stake Russian miner Norilsk Nickel. RUSAL, also listed in Paris, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 18, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES BANKING QUINTET UNITE FOR HEDGING TOOL Five banks have joined forces to create a hedging tool designed to improve the health of their balance sheets and protect them against market sell-offs as international regulations force institutions to increase the quality of their assets. Barclays Capital, HSBC, Lloyds, Nomura and UBS are to launch [...]
Co-op fails to lure Hoffman from NBNK March 18, 2012 THE Co-operative Group is set to continue its search for a chief executive to run the 630 branches put up for sale by Lloyds after an audacious approach to the head of a rival bidder came to nothing. The mutual held talks with Gary Hoffman, chief executive of new British bank venture NBNK, earlier this [...]
