BAT starts court fight over brand-free cigarette packets December 1, 2011 BRITISH American Tobacco (BAT) yesterday launched a High Court challenge against an Australian law that will require plain packaging of cigarettes from December 2012, saying it infringes intellectual property rights. This legal action comes just days after tobacco giant Phillip Morris sued the government over this plan, which will require all cigarettes to be sold [...]
COACH DISAPPOINTS IN HONG KONG DEBUT December 1, 2011 US luxury handbag maker Coach dropped in its trading debut in Hong Kong yesterday as thin volumes in its depositary receipts limited their appeal to local investors. The company’s Hong Kong depositary receipts (HDR), each representing one tenth of Coach’s common stock, closed at HK$48.50, a decline of 0.5 per cent, while the Hang Seng [...]
SABMiller acquisition of Foster’s given green light by shareholders December 1, 2011 SHAREHOLDERS in Foster’s Group overwhelmingly backed SABMiller’s A$9.9bn (£6.4bn) acquisition deal in a vote yesterday, giving the takeover the go-ahead. Ninety-nine per cent of shareholders voted in favour of the acquisition by the beer company behind Castle, Grolsch and Miller Lite, which was given the green light by the Australian government on Sunday. The bid [...]
Tesco makes new push into online movies December 1, 2011 CUSTOMERS who buy a DVD from Tesco will also be able to watch the film online in a new venture launched by video-on-demand website Blinkbox and the supermarket giant. This is the first time a major retailer has bundled a material product with its digital version, in a sign that DVDs are becoming increasingly obsolete. [...]
CITY VIEWS: WOULD YOU SHOP IN THE CITY AT WEEKENDS? December 1, 2011 LUCY DILLAWAY | CALYX “I would if the trains were working. I live in East London, and the DLR is not always on. The trains aren’t consistent on the weekend, so it’s hard to come in. I’ll shop near home or online instead.” NICKY DOCKREE | AWD “Normally I’d go to the West End to [...]
City shops open their doors to weekend trade December 1, 2011 IN a push to encourage shopping in the City, the Royal Exchange and Leadenhall Market will open this Saturday and Cheapside will be pedestrianised. This will be the first time Cheapside has been open for business on a weekend in over a century. Over 150 stores will be trading, with many offering discounts and complimentary treats [...]
Polyus ready to list in the UK, says boss chief December 1, 2011 RUSSIAN firm Polyus Gold is ready for a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange if market conditions remain as they are, according to the boss of a company with a blocking stake in the miner. Dmitry Razumov, chief executive of Onexim group, said: “We are heading towards the premium listing and will definitely get [...]
Goldman is gloomy about the European economy but thinks oil is on the up December 1, 2011 GOLDMAN Sachs reckons a bet against European high-yield corporate debt is the most promising trade for 2012, according to a research note out yesterday. The banking giant said if Europe sinks into recession, as it expects, then high-yield firms will come under “considerable pressure”. Goldman is also gloomy about German bunds, telling traders to bet [...]
Mercuria raises $1.1bn to fund future growth December 1, 2011 MERCURIA, one of the world’s top energy traders, has raised almost $1.1bn (£700m) through a loan facility and the sale of oil and gas assets, beefing up its balance sheet for future growth, its chief executive said yesterday. Marco Dunand said that Mercuria Energy Trading’s Singapore unit was about to close the books on a [...]
Rio Tinto wins bid for Hathor December 1, 2011 FTSE 100 miner Rio Tinto yesterday declared a C$4.70 per share bid for Canadian uranium miner Hathor Exploration a success, after securing acceptances from over 70 per cent of its shareholders. The group said that around 94.95m Hathor shares were tendered by shareholders or already owned by Rio Tinto, representing 70.21 per cent of the [...]
