GM close to Hummer sale June 2, 2009 GENERAL Motors, the mammoth US automaker undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, was last night on the verge of selling its Hummer brand to a Chinese machinery firm for between $150m (£90m) and $250m. Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery will buy the company and continue to make the outsized sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in the US for what [...]
LUXURY FIRMS OUT TO IMPRESS AT WALPOLE GLAM LAUNCH PARTY June 2, 2009 WHEN it comes to impressing the great and the good of the City, Mayfair and Westminster, the firms which made the cut for this year’s Walpole Brands of Tomorrow pretty much have it licked. The luxury companies on the 2009 list gathered last night at Brown’s Hotel in the West End to drink champagne and [...]
THE FSA HAS TO FIGHT TO KEEP GAINS June 2, 2009 DORIAN DREWPARTNER, NORTON ROSE LLP THE FSA has sometimes been called a watchdog with no teeth. That has begun to change, and in recent months there has been a notable increase in success. This, perhaps, is a result of increased activity following criticism of the watchdog. But all of this progress could be undermined. It [...]
Barclays bet makes Abu Dhabi 1.5bn June 2, 2009 AN Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund sold more than 11 per cent of Barclays yesterday, pocketing a £1.5bn profit less than seven months after making its £3.5bn investment. In an incredibly fast turn-around, Credit Suisse placed around £3.5bn of instruments – which were due to convert to Barclays shares by the end of the month [...]
Making sense of the legal consultation game June 2, 2009 ARE you feeling bemused? You are not alone. The City’s legal framework is undergoing profound change in the form of consultations that could define the direction in which the legal profession is heading. The point of consultations is to generate considered input from a wider number of people, leading to improved proposals. The problem for [...]
Shell pushes down costs June 2, 2009 Royal Dutch Shell said it had seen costs come down in the last few months as it renegotiated with project contractors. “As far as projects are concerned and normal operating costs, we see a lot of our renegotiations… enter with lower costs at this moment,” chief executive Jeroen van der Veer said.
BAE plans $1.5bn bond issue June 2, 2009 Defence contractor BAE Systems is planning to issue a $1.5bn (£1bn) bond with maturities at five years and 10 years, an official at one of the banks managing the sale said yesterday. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Barclays have been named to manage the two-part issue, the official said.
Barker joins Fink at ISAM June 2, 2009 Rod Barker, a leading figure in the global hedge fund industry, has joined hedge fund “godfather” Stanley Fink at his International Standard Asset Management (ISAM) hedge fund. Barker will work alongside Fink as a director, and will focus on the group’s plans to launch several new funds in coming months. The group’s flagship Global Macro [...]
LMS set to join main market June 2, 2009 LMS Capital, which has benefited as larger private equity firms have been unable to snap up stricken small companies due to capital constraints, is joining its bigger rivals on the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) main market. The group is leaving AIM for the Official List after runaway growth since its June 2006 listing, and will [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 2, 2009 DeloitteThe business advisory firm has appointed Anne Hamilton to lead its insurance tax team. Hamilton was previously a tax partner at rival PricewaterhouseCoopers. “In light of Solvency II we anticipate that there will be considerable restructuring work to make sure that insurance companies’ balance sheets have capacity,” said Deloitte head of UK insurance Mark Fitzpatrick. [...]
