Daylight to be bought by Sinopec October 9, 2011 Canadian oil and gas explorer Daylight Energy said yesterday it has agreed to be acquired by China’s Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp for about C$2.2bn (£1.36bn). The deal is worth more than double Daylight’s pre-bid closing price. The Chinese firm is a subsidiary of China Petrochemical Corp and undertakes overseas investments and operations [...]
Bidders play hardball over Lloyds sale October 9, 2011 LLOYDS Banking Group is likely to have to offer a cut price deal on the 632 branches it is selling in order to lure all potential bidders back to the table. City A.M. understands that one potential bidder, Hugh Osmond’s Sun Capital, is disputing the Lloyds’ estimate of how much it will cost to set [...]
News Corp faces revolt over Murdoch re-election October 9, 2011 AN influential shareholder advisory firm has urged investors to vote against the re-election of Rupert Murdoch’s sons onto the News Corp board. Glass Lewis told investors they should “carefully consider the nature of the relationship” of board members to the Murdoch family to ensure they are fully independent. James and Lachlan Murdoch will face a [...]
Krawcheck in line for $6m payout as BofA pays off ousted execs October 9, 2011 BANK of America will pay $11m (£7m) to ousted executives Joe Price and Sallie Krawcheck – a large payout at a time when banks face protests over pay, but smaller than the eight-figure packages some executives received before the financial crisis. Krawcheck – a former Citigroup executive who came to Bank of America in 2009 [...]
Rothschild in Bakrie shares sale drama October 9, 2011 FINANCIER Nat Rothschild faces further uncertainty over the Bakrie family’s stake in Bumi, the London-listed mining company he created, as the troubled Indonesian shareholder looks to repay or restructure its debt. The Bakrie family, which owns a 47 per cent stake, could be forced to sell a significant stake in Bumi, after shares fell below [...]
Bumi weighed down by family’s financial past October 9, 2011 WHEN Nat Rothschild decided to team up with the Indonesian billionaire Bakries last year to form coal mining company Bumi, there were concerns that the family’s past financial dramas could weigh heavily on sentiment towards the group. The Bakrie family’s announcement last week that its lenders Credit Suisse had called in a $1.3bn (£840m) loan [...]
Weale grants backing to QE October 9, 2011 SENIOR official Martin Weale launched a valiant defence of the Bank of England’s latest dose of quantitative easing yesterday, arguing that the move would not push up inflation without helping growth. Yet the Bank’s former leading hawk, Andrew Sentance, attacked the move dubbed QE2, and said the institution’s credibility was at risk. “One of the [...]
Building societies hit back over ratings downgrade October 9, 2011 BUILDING societies have hit back after some of the sector’s smaller players came off worst in a mass downgrade of British lenders. The Building Societies Association said the verdict by Moody’s, as part of a downgrade of 12 British institutions, reflected the removal of an implicit guarantee of Treasury support for mutuals in the event [...]
Q&A: HOW DOES THE EFSF WORK? October 9, 2011 Q. WHAT IS THE EFSF? A. The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is the region’s bailout fund, underwritten by members of the Eurozone. It currently has €440bn at its disposal, but that is due to be boosted to €780bn once all 17 member states have ratified changes to the fund agreed on 21 July. Q. [...]
SLOVAK SULIK STUMBLING BLOCK TO EFSF October 9, 2011 Richard Sulik, leader of Slovakia’s libertarian Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, confirmed yesterday his party will reject the extension of the European financial stability facility (EFSF) at a crunch vote tomorrow.
