Xchanging buys out Aon September 28, 2011 Troubled outsourcing group Xchanging yesterday said it would pay £10.5m to take full control of its broking support services arm by buying out Aon’s 50 per cent stake. Xchanging, which refinanced in August following a profit warning in February, said its relationship with Aon would continue through a service contract, but that the deal would [...]
Cineworld drops Spain deal September 28, 2011 Cineworld yesterday dropped its takeover of Spanish picture house group Cinesur, after six months of talks failed to produce a satisfactory deal. Cineworld said in a statement that the seller “had not been able to satisfy certain pre-conditions to completion within the agreed timescale” and that a deal was no longer in the interests of [...]
Goodmans maker gets offer September 28, 2011 AIM-listed electronic goods firm Harvard International confirmed yesterday that it has received a takeover approach from Chinese technology group Chengdu Geeya Technology Co, sending its shares up 44 per cent to 32.5p. The Hertfordshire-based firm, which supplies electronic goods and accessories under the Goodmans brand, urged its shareholders to “take no action at this time” [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 28, 2011 Kleinwort Benson Mouhammed Choukeir has been appointed as chief investment officer at the private bank, effective from October. Choukeir moves from Morgan Stanley, where he was head of multi-asset class investing in the wealth management division. Prior to that, he was a fixed income and foreign exchange portfolio manager with Morgan Stanley, having originally joined [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 28, 2011 BG GROUP Goldman Sachs rates the natural gas company as a “buy” with a target price of 1,760p and adds it to its conviction list. The broker says that BG’s share price performance this year has been lacklustre but that the outlook across its business has improved. Liquid natural gas pricing is up 77 per cent [...]
FTSE weakens on anxiety ahead of new Greek audit September 28, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares ended lower after a choppy session yesterday, with investors nervous ahead of an audit of Greece’s finances to determine whether it has done enough to secure a new batch of aid. Integrated oils helped limit the FTSE 100’s losses, with BG Group up 3.4 per cent, grabbing the top spot on the [...]
Wall St slides on weak commodities September 28, 2011 COMMODITY related stocks drove Wall Street lower yesterday as stiff declines in energy and metals prices underscored investor concerns about global economic weakness and Europe’s festering debt crisis. The down draft, which comes after three days of gains, put the S&P 500 on course for its worst quarter since the depths of the financial crisis [...]
The European Commission’s plans for a Tobin Tax would threaten the UK’s recovery September 28, 2011 THE call from President Jose Manuel Barroso and the European Commission to set up a European Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) is misguided, not only because it is unlikely to work, but because if it does, it would have a chilling effect on growth and would damage the UK’s competitiveness. It is clear that Europe needs [...]
Businesses can help transform our communities September 28, 2011 AS LONDON and the world gears up for London 2012, there has never been a greater opportunity for the business world to create a lasting social and economic legacy. As politicians search for answers to stimulate growth, enterprise comes up time and time again as a solution. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy [...]
Saving the euro could prove costly to the UK September 28, 2011 WITH a stop and a start, a rolling crisis and neverending summits, the Eurozone is edging towards fiscal union to shore up its struggling monetary union. In the sweep of history, this is no surprise – eurosceptics and europhiles alike had forecast that merging currencies would lead to the merging of tax and spending. The [...]
