Whitehaven and Aston in $5bn merger discussions December 6, 2011 WHITEHAVEN Coal and Aston Resources are discussing what could be a $5bn (£3.1bn) merger to create Australia’s biggest independent coal company, the two confirmed yesterday, sending Aston’s shares up as much as seven per cent. The coal industry has been Australia’s hottest sector for deals in the past three years, topped by US miner Peabody [...]
Lonmin signs union pay deal December 6, 2011 Lonmin has signed a two-year wage agreement with the South African National Union of Mineworkers. In the first year of the agreement – which will be backdated to 1 October – employees will receive pay increases and improvements in benefits of up to 10 per cent, depending on their job grades. The figures, which will [...]
Ultra Electronics buys two firms December 6, 2011 Ultra Electronics, a supplier for the US Navy, announced yesterday the purchase of two surveillance technology companies for a combined price of $115m (£73.3m), in order to expand its access to work from the US government. Special Operations Technology, purchased for $38.4m, is a communications surveillance systems that manages large amounts of data from mobile, [...]
Lo-Q partners with MasterCard December 6, 2011 Lo-Q, an online queuing system, and MasterCard have agreed to develop a contactless payment solution for theme parks. The agreement between the companies will last three years and is expected to increase Lo-Q’s market value over the long-term. The companies will combine MasterCard’s PayPass payments technology, which allows users to checkout using their mobile phones, [...]
Mecom sells in Norway to cut net debt December 6, 2011 NEWSPAPER group Mecom yesterday agreed the sale of its Norwegian division Edda Media to publishing and broadcasting corporation A-Pressen in a £190m deal. This value represents 7.9 times Edda Media’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for 2010 and will help Mecom cut its net debt of €302m (£259m), the company said. The [...]
New chair for Trinity Mirror December 6, 2011 PUBLISHING group Trinity Mirror yesterday announced that Sir Ian Gibson will be stepping down as chairman in August 2012 to be replaced by accountant David Grigson (pictured), who will join the board as a non-executive director and chairman designate from 1 January. Grigson is currently the chairman of communications group Creston and a non-executive director [...]
Nexon flotation will be Japan’s biggest this year December 6, 2011 ONLINE gaming company Nexon yesterday announced a public offering expected to raise ¥91bn (£745.5m) when it joins the Tokyo Stock Exchange on 14 December. After gauging interest from investors last week, the company settled at the mid-point of a speculative price range to sell shares at ¥1,300 each, in what is set to be Japan’s [...]
Amazon launches its video on demand service Lovefilm on Microsoft’s Xbox December 6, 2011 LOVEFILM, Europe’s largest subscription service, today becomes available on Microsoft’s video games console Xbox. The company, which was originally established in May 2002 as Online Rentals Limited and was acquired by Amazon in February 2011, has traditionally operated as a mail-order DVD rental service. However, in the last two years Lovefilm has enabled its customers [...]
Samsung soars as Apple loses court bid December 6, 2011 APPLE has lost its most recent battle in a legal fight against Samsung, as its bid to stop Galaxy sales in the US was denied, causing shares in the South Korean company to jump by more than two per cent. Apple was trying to get an injunction against the sale of certain Samsung products in the [...]
IAG traffic numbers rise in November December 6, 2011 INTERNATIONAL Airlines Group, formed by the merger of BA and Iberia, has posted a 2.1 per cent rise in passenger traffic in November, boosted by 4.6 per cent growth in premium traffic. Traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, rose by 2.1 per cent versus November 2010, while passenger load factor – a measure of how [...]
