Best Buy founder mulls buyout June 26, 2012 Best Buy founder Richard Schulze is working with banks including Credit Suisse to explore a private takeover of the world’s largest consumer electronics retailer, according to sources close to the matter. Schulze, who set up the firm in 1966 and is its largest shareholder with a 20.1 per cent stake, is in the early stages [...]
Investors cheer News Corp idea to split up firm June 26, 2012 INVESTORS applauded News Corp yesterday, sending its shares up more than eight per cent, after the media giant confirmed it is mulling the prospect of splitting its empire in two. “News Corp… is considering a restructuring to separate its business into two distinct publicly traded companies,” the firm said in a statement. The potential move, [...]
Murdoch’s plan to divide seen as a path to conquer June 26, 2012 THE Sky’s the limit once again for News Corporation. It took the first step in what looks like a bold new strategy to acquire the remaining 61 per cent of BSkyB yesterday. The media giant confirmed that it is “considering a restructuring to separate its business into two distinct publicly traded companies” – understood to [...]
Debt sharing comes with strings attached, Brussels report states June 26, 2012 EUROPEAN Council chief Herman Van Rompuy yesterday released a fresh plan for closer integration, involving eurobonds as the final stage of a fiscal union. “In a medium-term perspective, the issuance of common debt could be explored as an element of such a fiscal union and subject to progress on fiscal integration,” the report said, warning [...]
Cynicism towards crisis meeting takes toll on yields and currency June 26, 2012 THE EURO fell against the dollar and Spanish borrowing costs jumped yesterday, on doubts about the outcome of the European summit starting tomorrow in a bid to mitigate the debt crisis. Yields on Spanish three-month securities hit 2.36 per cent, soaring from 0.85 per cent at the last such auction. Spain auctioned off €3.08bn worth [...]
Europe’s heads clash ahead of crucial summit June 26, 2012 EUROPEAN leaders remain on a collision course ahead of crunch talks that commence tomorrow in Brussels, with little sign of compromise between struggling Eurozone states and countries that may have to foot the bill for more bailouts. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was yesterday quoted as having assured her coalition partners that shared debt liability in [...]
Greece chooses euro champion Stournaras as finance minister June 26, 2012 GREECE yesterday named liberal economist Yannis Stournaras as its new finance minister, replacing Vassilis Rapanos who quit on Monday after less than a week in the job. Stournaras, an economics professor at the University of Athens and the head of the influential IOBE think-tank, has the nickname Mr Euro in Greece for his role in [...]
France increases minimum wage June 26, 2012 France’s new government announced a cosmetic two per cent increase in the minimum wage yesterday as it seeks to soften the blow from tax hikes and spending freezes to the struggling economy. President Francois Hollande’s Socialist government has pledged to cut the public deficit to 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product this year from [...]
Egan-Jones cuts German outlook June 26, 2012 Credit ratings agency Egan-Jones last night cut Germany’s rating to A-plus with a negative outlook from AA-minus, saying that whether or not Greece or other Eurozone members exit the monetary union, Germany will be left with “massive” additional, uncollectible receivables. The downgrade came as GfK said German consumer confidence is holding up, with its household [...]
Italy offers state support to MPS June 26, 2012 Italy yesterday offered up to €2bn (£1.6bn) to plug a capital gap in the bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the second time in three years the state has had to bail out the world’s oldest bank. Rome said it was ready to underwrite special bonds issued by the bank to plug a capital shortfall [...]
