Ashurst set for merger September 26, 2011 CITY law firm Ashurst is set to merge operations with Australian group Blake Dawson to create a legal firm with turnover approaching £500m. The pair hopes to rebrand as Ashurst in early 2012, having tied up their Asian businesses, with a full merger expected in 2014. The tie-up was sealed by a vote by both [...]
ROGUE TRADING TALENT PULL IN THE CROWDS AS CITY ENTERTAINMENT September 26, 2011 SOMETHING to look forward to for UBS alleged fraudster Kweku Adoboli, once he has emerged from the trauma of the courts: following in the footsteps of the original rogue trader Nick Leeson by entertaining drunken clients at corporate events. Leeson has been quietly raking it in on the after-dinner speaking circuit for years, says celebrity [...]
UBS has little scope to outflank Joe Lewis September 26, 2011 THE spotlight, when it comes to UBS, is currently on where the investment bank goes from here, but elsewhere there are teams of bankers getting on with their day jobs. In London, Nick Reid and his team are trying to do the impossible; advise the pubs group Mitchells & Butler on how it might get [...]
Bunzl completes two deals September 26, 2011 FTSE 100 distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl has completed two new acquisitions, the firm stated yesterday. Bunzl has bought Ideal Global Sistemas de Higiene Ltda, a cleaning and hygiene products supplier in Brazil and D-Care BV, a medical products distributor in the Netherlands. Bunzl also recently bought Majestic Products.
All Saints’ Stephen Craig quits September 26, 2011 All Saints chief executive Stephen Craig has quit after falling out with chairman and co-founder Kevin Stanford over who was in charge. Craig stated yesterday the “current leadership structure is untenable given the lack of clarity of roles between the chairman, Kevin Stanford, and me.” He said he would seek “other more entrepreneurial opportunities.”
Aberdeen chief defiant despite a slump in funds September 26, 2011 SHARES in Aberdeen Asset Management climbed yesterday despite plunging markets and departing clients pulling the value of its funds down by nearly £9bn. The stock closed 0.89 per cent up at 170p after it said full year profits would be near the top of analysts’ predictions of £262m to £297m. Aberdeen said clients pulled a [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW IS ABERDEEN DOING IN A TROUBLED MARKET? September 26, 2011 DAVID MCCANN | NUMIS SECURITIES Recent flows have been strong and importantly in high margin areas (global and emerging market equities) and we expect this trend to continue as investors continue to seek more international assets… the business is stronger now than in 2008-09. KEITH BAIRD | ORIEL SECURITIES Aberdeen is arguably better positioned than other [...]
Twitter snub to Tech City September 26, 2011 TWITTER will establish an international office in Dublin, in a move that has been seen as a snub to London’s flagship Tech City project. The microblogging site follows the lead of web giants including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Intel in taking advantage of Ireland’s generous tax system. Its headline rate of corporation tax is just [...]
Tax rules mean UK lacks headline acts September 26, 2011 WHEN David Cameron launched the Tech City initiative last November, he said he wanted the UK to rival Silicon Valley as a global hub of innovation. A year later and that goal seems as far away as ever. Far from competing with Silicon Valley, Tech City is struggling to keep pace with Ireland and other UK [...]
Byrne aims to revive morale inside Omega September 26, 2011 MARK Byrne, the insurance entrepreneur bidding to take control of Omega Insurance, said yesterday he hoped there would be a quick resolution to the three-way takeover contest that has left the company in a state of flux. “It’s difficult to hire people when there’s a for sale sign on the door,” Byrne told City A.M. [...]
