Barclays chief set for grilling February 7, 2010 BARCLAYS chief executive John Varley is expected to echo president Bob Diamond’s defence of big banks when he appears before the Treasury Select Committee tomorrow. Varley, who will be quizzed as part of the committee’s “too important to fail” inquiry into the banking sector, will insist that large institutions with the ability to buy and [...]
Payzone cuts debt by sale of stake to Duke Street February 7, 2010 PRIVATE Equity firm, Duke Street, has acquired a majority stake in Payzone after investing €45m (£39m) into the mobile phone top-up and cash machine group. The debt-for-equity deal reduces Payzone’s debt from €320m to €82m and sees the formation of a newly established company, funded by Duke Street and its lenders. Duke Street will hold [...]
ELECTION2010 February 7, 2010 Expenses MPs must be tried Home secretary Alan Johnson yesterday said that MPs facing trial over their expenses claims should not use “parliamentary privilege” as a “get out of jail free card”. He said it was vital that Labour MPs Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine were treated in a similar fashion to the [...]
Baugur ends in liquidation February 7, 2010 THE UK arm of Icelandic retail investor Baugur has finally gone into voluntary liquidation, offering a glimmer of hope to its creditors and former employees. PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has looked after the group’s affairs since it collapsed a year ago, said it had recovered funds which would be distributed to unsecured lenders. PwC freed up £1.3m [...]
Hands: New York hearing will mean retention of tax status February 7, 2010 TERRA FIRMA’S legal battle with Citigroup took a fresh twist over the weekend when boss Guy Hands claimed the case would have to be heard in New York as he cannot enter the UK for tax reasons. The colourful entrepreneur is embroiled in a bitter dispute with Citi. He claims the bank misled him in [...]
MEP says hedgie directive will block funding for start-up firms February 7, 2010 EU plans to tighten regulation of hedge funds and private equity firms will starve Google and Amazon-style start-ups of funding, a Conservative MEP has warned. Syed Kamall said proposals to restrict European investors from putting money into Asian or American funds under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers directive could result in retaliatory measures, where overseas [...]
UP, UP AND AWAY February 7, 2010 SIR RICHARD BRANSON’S hopes to launch Virgin Galactic, his venture to send paying passengers into space from Britain, has won the backing of a joint industry and government report. Andy Green, the chief executive of IT firm Logica who led the Innovation and Growth Team report, believes allowing Virgin to launch from Britain would stimulate [...]
Ocado bullish about spring public listing February 7, 2010 ONLINE grocer Ocado will launch an audacious IPO in May which could value the company at £1.2bn. The firm, which delivers Waitrose food to doorsteps, hopes to raise an initial £160m from the flotation. This will wipe out its £55m debts and provide it with £100m to build a new distribution centre. A source close [...]
Rose: We had to pay Bolland his £15m golden handshake February 7, 2010 THE outgoing head of Marks & Spencer has defended the £15m “golden hello” offered to his successor Marc Bolland. Sir Stuart Rose, who will be replaced by Bolland in May, said M&S needed to pay the sum in order to remain competitive. He told a Sunday newspaper: “At the end of the day, if you’re [...]
Future is sweet for Nectar as it ranks top of the loyalty schemes February 7, 2010 NECTAR has become the country’s most popular loyalty scheme, with 16.8m subscribers. A staggering 50 per cent of households now swipe their Nectar card when shopping in stores and online and it has become more popular than both the Tesco Clubcard and the Boots Advantage card. Gwyn Burr, Sainsbury’s customer director, said: “Customers are increasingly [...]
