BlueCrest in £150m fund raising January 30, 2012 BlueCrest Capital Management, one of Europe’s biggest hedge fund firms, is looking to raise more than £150m for a new listed feeder fund into its computer-driven BlueTrend fund, a source familiar with the matter said. The closed-end fund, BlueCrest BlueTrend, will feed into the firm’s main BlueTrend fund, the company said in a statement. BlueTrend [...]
This sorry RBS saga isn’t over yet January 30, 2012 THERE can be no doubt that the worst decision Stephen Hester ever made was to join a bankrupt and freshly nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland in November 2008. On the face of it, the mission he was given by the Labour government was exciting and vitally important: to turn around, drastically downsize and prepare for [...]
Centrica raises stake in North Sea Oil field January 30, 2012 Centrica said it will increase its stake in the Statfjord field in the North Sea, providing the owner of household energy supplier British Gas with a further source of gas supply. The company said it had agreed to pay ConocoPhilips $223m (£142.3m) for its interests in the field, which straddles the UK and Norwegian North [...]
ABB to acquire Thomas and Betts for $3.9bn January 30, 2012 US manufacturer Thomas and Betts said it has agreed to be acquired by Switzerland’s in a $3.9bn (£2.4bn) cash transaction. ABB will pay $72 per share in cash for Thomas and Betts, a 24 per cent premium over the stock’s Friday’s close price. Through the deal, ABB will gain access to Thomas & Betts network [...]
Ryanair lifts profit forecast January 30, 2012 Ryanair has raised its profit forecast, saying higher ticket prices were more than making up for expensive fuel and reduced capacity, underlining the resilience of its low-cost sector as legacy carriers struggle. The Irish low cost carrier, Europe’s largest, increased its full year profit forecast by nine per cent to £480m euros (£403m) after posting [...]
Fujifilm offers scandal hit Olympus partnership deal January 30, 2012 A Fujifilm Holdings executive said that the company has proposed an alliance with scandal-tainted Olympus Corp, adding that there were areas in which the two rivals could cooperate without infringing on anti-trust regulations. Fujifilm, which sees synergies between Olympus’s endoscopes and Fujifilm’s IT systems, ultra-sound and X-ray technologies, has made a proposal through Olympus’s financial [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 30, 2012 The Co-Operative Group The Co-operative Group has appointed Steve Murrells as chief executive of its food business replacing Tim Hurrell, who retired last year. Murrells, who will report to group CEO Peter Marks when he starts in July, will join Britain’s fifth largest food retailer from Danish meat company Tulip, where he is UK chief [...]
RBS chief waives £1m bonus payout January 29, 2012 ROYAL Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester has bowed to growing political pressure and agreed to waive his bonus. Hester decided to forego the award of 3.6m shares, worth around £960,000, after the Labour party said it would force a House of Commons vote on the issue in a bid to make the government [...]
Sarkozy agrees Tobin tax and labour reform January 29, 2012 FRANCE will forge ahead with its own Tobin tax in August, French president Nicolas Sarkozy declared yesterday in an attempt to boost his flagging poll ratings. The tax will be levied at 0.1 per cent on all financial transactions, he said, although he did not specify exactly what asset types it will capture. In an [...]
Germany pushes for debt caps January 29, 2012 GERMANY is pushing for Eurozone countries to have legal debt caps in the region’s “fiscal compact”, a final draft of which is expected to emerge from an EU summit tonight. A source at the World Economic Forum in Davos told City A.M. that Berlin wants Europe to harden up the 60 per cent debt-to-GDP limit [...]
