Brit Insurance sold to Fairfax in £190m deal June 18, 2012 BRIT Group yesterday announced the sale of its Brit Insurance business to Canada’s Fairfax in a deal worth around $300m (£191m). The disposal is the last major step in Brit Group’s restructuring under chief executive Mark Cloutier, who was brought in by the firm’s private equity owners at the end of 2011 and has aimed [...]
Facebook snaps up another photo firm June 18, 2012 FACEBOOK yesterday announced its acquisition of Face.com, the facial recognition software company, for an undisclosed amount believed to be around $100m (£63.9m). Rumours of this deal, which comes just weeks after Facebook bought photo app Instagram for $1bn, have been circulating since last month. The companies did not specify plans for the partnership, but Face.com [...]
INDITEX BUYS FLAGSHIP ZARA STORE IN WEST END FOR £155M June 18, 2012 Inditex, the world’s largest fashion retailer, yesterday announced it has bought the flagship Zara store at the heart of London’s West End for £155m. The Spanish-listed group, which owns Zara, said it had bought the 7,000 square-metre property at the intersection of Oxford Street and New Bond Street from German fund manager Deka. Last year [...]
Record profits for Economist June 18, 2012 THE ECONOMIST Group enjoyed record global circulation and profits last year, as revenues rose four per cent to £361.8m. The publisher said circulation of the Economist jumped six per cent to top 1.5m print copies and 123,000 digital editions. Revenues from online operations almost doubled, making up for a 17 per cent drop in UK [...]
RIM to scrap Celestica deal June 18, 2012 CONTRACT electronics maker Celestica will stop making products for its biggest customer, Research In Motion, by the end of the year as the BlackBerry maker seeks to cut costs by shrinking its global supply base. RIM’s decision to trim the number of companies that build its smartphones illustrates the falling fortunes of the once-dominant smartphone [...]
The City gains seven sculptures June 18, 2012 A NUMBER of City of London-based businesses, including Hiscox, Aviva, British Land, IVG UK and Aon, have clubbed together with the City of London Corporation to create Great St Helen’s: Sculpture Space in the heart of the City. Set among London’s iconic architectural landmarks, including the Gherkin and the Lloyd’s building, a free curated exhibition [...]
Majestic Wine finds reason to celebrate with record profits June 18, 2012 THE BOSS of Majestic Wine said the UK public was as much in love with food and wine as ever, after consumers spending on special occasions helped to drive record full-year profits. The wine retailer posted pre-tax profits of £23.2m, up 14.5 per cent in the year to 2 April, helped in part by growing [...]
Quintain partners with Hong Kong firm June 18, 2012 QUINTAIN ESTATES revealed yesterday it has struck up a joint venture with Hong Kong billionaire Henry Cheng Kar-Shun, in a deal that will help kick-start one of the UK’s biggest housing projects. The regeneration specialist said Cheng’s investment vehicle Knight Dragon has taken a 60 per cent stake in its Greenwich peninsular project, sending shares [...]
Notebook firm pens plans for Milan float June 18, 2012 ITALIAN notebook maker Moleskine plans to list in Milan this year and has hired investment banks to run the sale of stock in the company, whose thread-bound jotters are based on originals favoured by the likes of Vincent Van Gogh and Ernest Hemingway. Goldman Sachs, Mediobanca and UBS will run the offering for majority-owner Syntegra [...]
WHAT LIES IN STORE FOR MAJESTIC WINE IN THE YEAR AHEAD? June 18, 2012 PATRICK COFFEY LIBERUM We expect consensus profit before tax expectations to fall around five per cent to £24.5m due to lower en primeur sales in 2013. The macro-outlook remains uncertain in 2013, however the excellent long term structural growth story remains intact and the rollout story should protect earnings if the macro worsens. We reiterate [...]
