Vale faces bar on Amazon mine October 2, 2011 Vale, the world’s second-largest mining company, may be unable to develop a massive new iron-ore mine in the Amazon after archeologically and environmentally sensitive caves were found at the site, the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported yesterday. The caves permeate much of the iron formations in the 3.4- billion-tonne Serra Sul deposit, Estado said. [...]
Fitness First pulls £1.2bn Singapore IPO October 2, 2011 GYM chain Fitness First has pulled its Singapore flotation as global market turmoil shows little sign of easing. Private equity owner BC Partners was expected to raise around £500m in a listing which would have valued Fitness First at between £1bn and £1.2bn. It has postponed the initial public offering (IPO), however, because of the [...]
E.ON hires Goldman to oversee sale of gas unit October 2, 2011 E.ON is understood to have hired Goldman Sachs to oversee the sale of its €2.5bn-rated (£2.15bn) Open Grid Europe gas distribution network. Open Grid Europe is a subsidiary of Ruhrgas, the business E.ON acquired for €10bn in 2003. The company is under pressure due to Germany’s decision to abandon nuclear power, which tipped it into [...]
UK advertising spend falls by 1.2 per cent October 2, 2011 ADVERTISING spend in the UK fell by 1.2 per cent in the second quarter, adding to an increasingly gloomy outlook for the sector. The fall was in stark contrast to the global advertising spend, which increased 5.7 per cent, according to new figures from Nielsen. In an increasingly polarised field, emerging markets saw spending rocket, [...]
BP clinging to $7bn Pan American sale October 2, 2011 OIL MAJOR BP is clinging on to the prospect of selling its majority stake in Pan American Energy, an Argentine oil producer, despite reports that the deal is on the brink of collapse. BP’s plan to sell its 60 per cent stake to Bridas Corp, a company owned by Chinese oil producer Cnooc and Argentina’s [...]
Sir Stelios’ Fastjet may compete on Transatlantic route October 2, 2011 EASYJET’s founder Sir Stelios Haji-Iaonnou is considering launching a transatlantic airline which would see him go head to head with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. The new airline branded Fastjet is unlikely to directly compete with easyJet, which operates flights mainly in Europe, according to reports this weekend. A source close to the company told [...]
Luxury goods maker Hermes sees no sign of affluent cutting spending October 2, 2011 FRENCH luxury goods maker Hermes sees no sign yet of affluent buyers tightening their purse strings in spite of a sombre global economic outlook. Speaking at the brand’s show at Paris Fashion Week yesterday, chief executive Patrick Thomas said: “For the moment, there is no impact on our sales.” He added that he believed the [...]
Cairn finds gas in Sri Lanka October 2, 2011 Cairn India, a subsidiary of Cairn Energy, said yesterday it has discovered natural gas in Sri Lanka’s offshore Mannar Basin, confirming an earlier announcement by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. “Further drilling will be required to establish the commerciality of the discovery,” Cairn said in a statement, referring to the find at the CLPL-Dorado-91H/1z well [...]
Japan in bid to stop cyber crime October 2, 2011 Japan plans to work more closely with private companies by sharing information on cyber attacks after defence contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was hacked, Nikkei business daily reported yesterday. The government also aims to ratify an international treaty on online crimes. The US called on Japan to take more action after Mitsubishi Heavy, which works closely [...]
China fights back over yuan October 2, 2011 China’s official news agency yesterday derided US lawmakers’ efforts to pressure Beijing over its currency policy as “expedient and shallow”, saying they were resorting to an old habit of deflecting blame on China. Xinhua said US criticism tended to come when the US economy is slow or an election looming.
