Mouchel boss resigns after profit error October 6, 2011 SHARES in the support services group Mouchel plunged more than 33 per cent yesterday after chief executive Richard Cuthbert resigned as the firm revealed that a costly “actuarial error” would hit annual profits. The maintenance and infrastructure firm said that a one-off gain announced in June – which it said would help offset contract cancellations [...]
Profits up at Hays despite City freeze October 6, 2011 PROFITS at British recruitment company Hays grew by 15 per cent in the first quarter, despite a poor performance by its UK operations. The rise in net fee income was driven by strong growth overseas – particularly in Asia Pacific and continental Europe – which was enough to offset a four per cent drop in [...]
BBC TO QUIT ICONIC WHITE CITY CAMPUS AND CUT 2,000 JOBS October 6, 2011 THE BBC will quit its west-end White City campus and become “significantly smaller” in response to deep spending cuts imposed on the publicly funded broadcaster. It set out the changes in response to a 20 per cent cut to its annual £3.5bn budget imposed by the government a year ago. Around 2,000 jobs will be [...]
Blackstone arm buys loans firm October 6, 2011 GSO Capital Partners, the global credit platform of US private equity giant Blackstone, has bought European leveraged loan manager Harbourmaster Capital for an undisclosed sum. Harbourmaster manages and advises on €8bn (£6.96bn) of assets, lifting GSO’s loan platform to €11.5bn of assets under management. The deal will help GSO to achieve its sought-after European growth and [...]
Del Monte and BarCap settle October 6, 2011 DEL Monte and its financial adviser Barclays Capital yesterday agreed to pay $89.4m (£57.9m) to settle a lawsuit that claimed they had not acted in investors’ best interests in the food company’s $4bn buy-out last year. Investors claimed that Barclays, which advised Del Monte on its sale to a private equity group led by KKR, [...]
BANKING’S TOP TEAMS SEEK NEW PASTURES October 6, 2011 THE EXODUS of senior banking talent continues – and with it, some interesting tales emerge. Take Merrill Lynch’s broking star Simon Fraser, who has informed his clients Man, Meggitt and Capital One Shopping Centres he is leaving them at the end of the year for pastures new. Quite literally, in this case, as Fraser owns [...]
Axis-Shield bows to new bid from US peer Alere October 6, 2011 MEDICAL diagnostics firm Axis-Shield said it had agreed to be bought by larger peer Alere after the US company modestly sweetened its offer to £235m, ending a three-month battle for the maker of Afinion devices. Axis-Shield’s shares, which have gained about 34 per cent in value since Alere first pitched the offer to the board [...]
NO SLY PRACTICES AT MIRROR, SAYS BAILEY October 6, 2011 A probe of the Trinity Mirror newsrooms ordered by chief executive Sly Bailey has concluded there is no evidence of widespread phone hacking at the company, recommending only small tweaks to the firm’s practices. The results of the probe come amid fresh allegations that the firm’s People title routinely hacked into voicemails, made by a [...]
Brewin sees assets grow amid turmoil October 6, 2011 STOCKBROKER Brewin Dolphin grew its assets in the year to the end of September as investor patterns changed amid market fears. Funds under management grew 3.4 per cent as investors poured money into Brewin’s discretionary range of products, ahead of tougher market conditions in the fourth quarter. Brewin now runs £24bn on behalf of private [...]
MEET THE ADVISERS October 6, 2011 LAWRENCE GUTHRIE HAWKPOINT PARTNERS HAWKPOINT Partners is advising Arbuthnot on the Secure Trust Bank flotation process, fielding a team led by Lawrence Guthrie, managing director in its financial services team. Guthrie has previously advised extended warranties specialist Domestic and General Group on its sale to Advent International for £542m, and helped the Manchester-based Davenham Group [...]
