Buyout firm Bain Capital close to launch of $6bn fundraising May 30, 2012 US PRIVATE equity house Bain Capital is weeks away from kicking off a $6bn (£3.9bn) fundraising. The buyout firm, co-founded by Mitt Romney, is preparing to begin fundraising for its eleventh fund by the end of June, and will send out a private placement memorandum with the final terms. It will ask for money from pensions funds [...]
BT pulls plug on Kensington internet plan May 30, 2012 THE Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea could become a “technological backwater” after BT sensationally withdrew its plans to roll out super-fast broadband to the area. The telecoms giant had planned to install 108 street cabinets that would have provided super-fast broadband to up to 34,000 homes and businesses. However, the council rejected 96 of [...]
£140m deal for Makro UK will boost Booker May 30, 2012 FOOD wholesaler Booker aims to turn around the loss-making cash and carry firm Makro UK after taking it off the hands of German retailer Metro in a £140m deal. It will hand Metro £15.8m and a 9.99 per cent stake in Booker as the two firms agree to work together on improving their supply chains [...]
A tale of two companies shows why chief execs count May 30, 2012 IT WAS the best of times for Britain’s biggest food wholesaler Booker on 24 May. Its preliminary results showed another good year: sales of £3.9bn, pre-tax profit up 27 per cent to £90.8m and a net cash pile of £63.4m. Why then did its share price rise yesterday by almost 10 per cent after it [...]
Cable feared treatment by Murdoch press May 30, 2012 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable yesterday told the Leveson inquiry that he feared being “done over” in newspapers owned by News International if he did not give the go-ahead to its parent company’s £8bn bid for broadcaster BSkyB. “I had heard directly and indirectly from colleagues that there had been veiled threats that if I made [...]
Coulson charged with perjury over phone hacking evidence May 30, 2012 PRIME Minister David Cameron’s former spokesman was charged with perjury yesterday, after denying in court any knowledge of widespread phone hacking by reporters at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World. The charges against Andy Coulson, a former editor of the tabloid weekly, damages Cameron because it calls into question his judgment in employing a man [...]
Investors may never recoup losses, says RBS May 30, 2012 THE chairman of RBS yesterday admitted to investors they would not recoup the losses from its collapse in their lifetime. “I don’t believe that shareholders’ wealth is likely to be restored any time in my lifetime or some lifetimes beyond,” chairman Sir Philip Hampton said at the bank’s annual shareholder meeting. Hampton was responding to [...]
Euro states told to prepare for years of reform May 30, 2012 EUROPE faces a slow and painful struggle before its economies can start growing strongly again, warned Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso yesterday, praising the efforts of Eurozone governments in cutting budget deficits. The EC published its annual scorecards judging the success of member states’ economic policies, and recommended that even strong countries like Germany need [...]
Telefonica eyes sale of German division as tries to reduce debt May 30, 2012 SPAIN’S Telefonica, under increasing pressure to slash its debt pile, said yesterday that it was preparing to list its German unit and possibly other businesses in Latin America, stepping up its plan for disposals. Telefonica needs to raise €7-8bn a year through 2015 to cope with debt maturities and is also struggling with sinking revenue [...]
EU retail sales and mood fall further in May May 30, 2012 BUSINESS confidence plummeted across Europe’s major economies in May, European Commission (EC) data showed yesterday, while retail sales kept dropping and lending to firms slowed. Economic sentiment dropped 2.3 points to 90.6 in the Eurozone, the EC index revealed, falling 4.3 points in Italy, 3.9 in the Netherlands and 1.5 per cent in France. That [...]
