Resolution to float as Tiner becomes CEO September 10, 2008 Acquisitions vehicle appoints new board members and gears up for spending spree Clive Cowdery’s buyout firm Resolution yesterday announced plans to raise £1bn through an initial public offering in November, as it prepares for a series of acquisitions of financial services companies in need of restructuring. Cowdery has pulled off a major coup by landing [...]
Brain-drain? It’s nothing but a blip September 10, 2008 Lots of City workers are heading for Dubai at the moment, but don’t worry: London will lure them back soon, says Max Orbach We all know somebody who has re-located to Dubai, Singapore or even Moscow in the last few months, as the British economy has wobbled, house-prices have fallen and inflation has risen. While [...]
EDF may face £1.5bn fee for BE takeover September 8, 2008 French energy giant EDF is facing yet another hurdle in its British Energy (BE) takeover bid – a £1.5bn approval fee. Close to finalising the bid, investors Invesco and M&G, which own 21 per cent of the shares, are understood to have pushed for a sweetener at the eleventh hour and will reiterate their position [...]
Builders set for mega loss on portfolios September 8, 2008 Homebuilders Barratt and Redrow are expected to report a £300m loss on their portfolios later this week. Barratt chief executive Mark Clare will announce they had to write £160m off the value of their land bank and work in progress. Despite Barratt boosting its shares earlier in the summer when refinancing debts and covenants, shares [...]
Nationwide merger will suit all sides September 8, 2008 Nationwide’s merger with The Derbyshire Building Society and The Cheshire Building Society, which was confirmed yesterday, will see it stretch its lead at the top of the list of UK mortgage lenders. The tie-up will hand the building society an extra 95 branches to add to the 900 retail locations it already operates, reinforcing its [...]
TUC calls for tax reforms September 8, 2008 The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called for a new higher-rate tax bracket for those earning over £100,000, putting it on a collision course with Conservative leader David Cameron. The TUC’s statement, made in advance of its annual conference which begins tomorrow in Brighton, contrasts sharply with a newspaper interview given by Cameron at the [...]
Lehman talks continue amid board revamp September 8, 2008 US investment bank Lehman Brothers’ fundraising efforts could take a new twist this week, as talks with Korea Development Bank (KDB) over a $6bn investment look to have slowed. Chief executive officer Dick Fuld has drafted a blueprint for dividing the group into a “good bank” and a “bad bank”, by hiving off the bank’s [...]
London blue chips set for further falls September 8, 2008 Strategist are betting on the FTSE 100 to fall further this week due to mounting concerns over the outlook for the UK economy. Last week marked the blue chip index’s biggest weekly fall for six years leaving it teetering on the edge of so-called bear market territory, defined as a 20 per cent fall from [...]
US mortgage agencies are nationalised September 8, 2008 The US government took control of twin mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac yesterday as it unveiled a series of measures designed to rescue the beleaguered US housing market. Treasury secretary Henry Paulson said the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) would place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under “conservatorship” to prevent the collapse of [...]
Hammers’ ultimatum for Croatia boss Bilic September 8, 2008 West Ham have warned Croatia coach Slaven Bilic that they will not hold the manager’s job open for the former Hammers player. Bilic features on a four-man shortlist to replace Alan Curbishley, along with Italians Roberto Donadoni and Gianfranco Zola and former Getafe boss Michael Laudrup. Hammers officials plan to hold talks with Bilic later [...]
