SABMiller in $7bn funding January 11, 2012 GLOBAL brewer SABMiller yesterday said it had issued and successfully priced a $7bn (£4.5bn) bond, with the proceeds used to repay part of the bank borrowing taken on for the purchase of Australian brewer Foster’s late last year. The FTSE 100-listed brewer of Miller Lite, Peroni and Grolsch beer finalised the cash takeover of Foster’s [...]
BAA passenger numbers up as Heathrow booms January 11, 2012 TRAFFIC at airports operated by BAA rose last month, with Heathrow enjoying its busiest December ever in terms of both passenger numbers and cargo. BAA, which is Britain’s main airport operator and majority owned by Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial said yesterday that its airports carried just under 8.1m passengers in December. That is an annual [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU THINK THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD PRIORITISE HIGH SPEED RAIL OR MORE AIRPORT CAPACITY? January 11, 2012 JOE BATTLE | ANTARES “Personally I think the high-speed rail, because there has never been a real problem with airport capacity, only a bit of hustle and bustle. A decent rail network around the UK would be fantastic.” DAN SILVEY | AXA “I think the government should favour high speed rail because it is a [...]
Amec and Babcock win new £650m National Grid work January 11, 2012 AMEC and Babcock’s five-year contract with National Grid to upgrade power lines has been extended by a further five years, the pair announced yesterday. The contract was awarded to the joint venture between the two engineering firms and Mott MacDonald Group. The firms will upgrade of overhead power lines and underground cables in west England [...]
PAI Partners sells off its £460m ingredients firm January 11, 2012 THE MORIBUND European private equity market showed some signs of life yesterday when PAI Partners agreed to sell its share in a Danish food ingredients firm for about €560m (£462m). PAI will sell its a 25.7 per cent stake in Chr. Hansen to Novo, which is the main owner of drugmaker Novo Nordisk and industrial enzymes producer [...]
HUNTER ATTRACTS MORE PRIVATE EQUITY January 11, 2012 HUNTER’S celebrity profile has helped the upmarket wellington boot maker attract more private equity funding. Hutton Collins said yesterday it was providing £32m to support Searchlight’s acquisition of the company. In the year to 31 December 2010 Hunter reported a turnover of £56m and profits of £16m. The company’s profile has been dramatically raised in [...]
Moneysupermarket trading well January 11, 2012 Comparison site Moneysupermarket.com said yesterday it expects earnings to rise by 20 per cent, after trading well in the fourth quarter. The group, which offers price comparisons on insurance, savings and loans and home utilities on its site, said it expects its earnings to rise in line with expectations to around £178m. This was helped [...]
Fenner sees profits up on 2010 January 11, 2012 Fenner, the British industrial polymers company, said yesterday its first quarter profits were ahead of the previous year after profits grew in its Advanced Engineering Products unit. The group said it has continued to see strong demand from the end of its last financial year and expects trading to be in line with expectations, but [...]
Demand rises for Big Yellow January 11, 2012 Self storage firm Big Yellow said yesterday its third quarter sales rose eight per cent on higher demand for its storage facilities from both domestic and corporate customers. The British firm’s occupancy levels at its 52 wholly-owned stores fell by 1.7 per cent in December compared to a 2.3 per cent decline last year. The [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 11, 2012 Heidrick & Struggles Heidrick & Struggles International, the leadership advisory firm providing executive search and leadership consulting services, has appointed Chris Seabourne as a partner in the global life sciences practice. Seabourne has 15 years’ experience in executive search, specialising in leadership roles in the pharmaceutical, medical devices and healthcare sectors. He previously worked with [...]
