New Zealand’s re-elected government plans asset sales and welfare reform November 27, 2011 NEW Zealand’s re-elected centre-right government claimed a mandate yesterday to push on with up to $5bn (£2.4bn) worth of asset sales and welfare reforms and said it would quickly get down to forming a new administration. The National Party, led by former foreign exchange dealer John Key, scored 48 per cent of the vote, increased [...]
ILP cash injection is the last it will get: Noonan November 27, 2011 IRELAND is confident that the €1.3bn (£1.12bn) it will have to inject into Irish Life & Permanent after the collapse of the sale of its life arm will be the last capital injection required, Finance Minster Michael Noonan said yesterday. Noonan told broadcaster RTE that the government had already set aside €1.3bn for the recapitalisation. [...]
PAKISTAN FURY OVER NATO ATTACKS November 27, 2011 Fury spread in Pakistan yesterday over a NATO cross-border air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and could undermine the US effort to wind up the war in Afghanistan. NATO described the killings as a “tragic unintended incident” and said an investigation was underway. A Western official and an Afghan security official who requested anonymity [...]
Oil field to be reopened November 27, 2011 Britain’s first North Sea oil field, the Alma field, is to be reopened by FTSE 250 producer Enquest, according to reports. The field, originally called Argyll, was shut down nearly 20 years ago because production had dried up. But Enquest plans to extract more with modern drill techniques.
Solum in Islamic venture November 27, 2011 British-based, sharia-compliant investment firm Solum Asset Management will launch the first “investment sukuk” in the first quarter of next year, treating Islamic bonds as investment vehicles rather than debt instruments, its chief executive said. Unlike traditional sukuk, which are akin to conventional debt products, the £200m Student Accommodation Investment Sukuk will use equity to provide [...]
Akamai to buy Cotendo November 27, 2011 Akamai Technologies, which helps companies improve website performance, is in talks to buy its smaller Israeli rival Cotendo for more than $300m, the Calcalist financial daily reported yesterday. Cotendo has raised $39m from Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital and Tenaya Capital, Calcalist said.
Doughty Hanson in deal for global oil and gas firm Asco November 27, 2011 THE private equity house best known for its investments in LK Bennett and Jimmy Choo has sold Asco, its oil and gas business. Phoenix Equity Partners sold the fast-growing oil and gas logistics firm, based in Aberdeen, to Doughty Hanson & Co, five years after paying £134m for it. The value of the latest sale [...]
Shell in $17bn gas contract November 27, 2011 IRAQ signed a final $17bn (£11bn) deal with Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi yesterday to capture flared gas at southern oilfields, a project that should boost production of badly needed electricity. The 25-year project, one of the largest Iraq has signed with foreign energy firms, is meant to help harness more than 700m cubic feet [...]
Energy company feeling Inspired as it joins AIM November 27, 2011 A BRITISH energy consultancy will list on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) today with a £10.6m value. Inspired Energy, an energy procurement and management firm, raised £3.4m before expenses with a placing of 111,651,668 ordinary shares at 3p each. The firm, set up by Janet Thornton in 2000, works with energy intensive corporates and advises [...]
Groupon mulls move from temporary Tech City base to Square Mile office November 27, 2011 BARGAIN website Groupon is poised to move out of the Tech City development in East London, according to reports, becoming the latest in a number of big-hitting companies to turn its back on the area. Groupon has been operating out of temporary offices in the zone, which stretches from Shoreditch to Stratford. But the firm [...]
