Management shake up for DLA Piper April 12, 2012 DAVID Bradley yesterday stepped down as managing partner of law firm DLA Piper, as part of a management shake-up that will see several changes made to its executive board. Bradley will return to fee-earning work as a partner in the firm’s employment, pensions and benefits group from 1 May, and will be replaced at the [...]
Police watchdog slams links to News Corp as lawsuits reach US April 12, 2012 SENIOR London police staff linked to the News Corp phone hacking scandal showed poor judgement, took bad decisions and got too close to journalists working for Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers, an independent watchdog said yesterday. While the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) rejected allegations of corruption involving two of the top personnel at the Metropolitan Police [...]
HK Exchange taps banks to finance bid April 12, 2012 HONG Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEx) is in talks with banks to help finance its bid to take over the London Metal Exchange (LME), a sign that the world’s most valuable bourse is aggressively pushing ahead with a bid. Sources close to HKEx yesterday said it was seeking to raise up to $3bn (£1.88bn), [...]
Bidders close in on Trainline as rail travel sees surge in demand April 12, 2012 A SERIES of private equity houses including Bridgepoint and Blackstone are considering a bid for ticket agency thetrainline.com. The bookings website, currently owned by British buyout firm Exponent, is up for sale with first-round bids expected to be in by later this month. It could go for up to £400m after environmental concerns and record [...]
John Mack joins LendingClub April 12, 2012 Former Morgan Stanley chief executive John Mack joined the board of LendingClub Corp yesterday. LendingClub said it picked Mack for his experience in the bond market. Mack has a long history on Wall Street, where he joined Morgan Stanley’s bond department in 1972, eventually becoming president of the bank in 1993. LendingClub, which is not [...]
KKR invests $65m in China deal April 12, 2012 KKR & Co agreed yesterday to invest $65m (£40.7m) in China Cord Blood Corp, making it the global private equity firm’s first healthcare investment in China. KKR’s investment will give the firm about 24 per cent of China Cord Blood on a fully diluted basis. China Cord Blood, with a market cap of about $200m, [...]
Emerging markets boost L’Oreal April 12, 2012 French cosmetics maker L’Oreal yesterday reported 6.4 per cent like-for-like revenue growth for the first quarter, lifted by big-spending consumers in emerging markets and renewed appetite for luxury goods. Emerging markets reported €2.09bn in sales for the quarter, eclipsing for the first time Western Europe, which reported sales of €1.95bn. L’Oreal said it was confident [...]
BP gets bloody nose overs its directors’ pay April 12, 2012 BP suffered a bloody nose over its directors’ pay packets yesterday, as shareholders at its annual meeting voiced continued concerns about the firm’s strategy two years after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Around 11.8 per cent of shareholders voted against the firm’s remuneration plans, with a further 1.7 per cent withholding their votes. The [...]
IEA says oil market is starting to turn a corner after record highs April 12, 2012 GROWTH in oil supply has outstripped rising demand for the first time since 2009, the International Energy Agency said yesterday, adding that it “detects a turning of the tide for market fundamentals”. Global supply is expected to grow by 0.7m barrels per day during the year, despite unplanned stoppages in the North Sea and elsewhere [...]
Aggreko upbeat on 2012 as it wins £50m Dominican contract April 12, 2012 AGGREKO, the world’s biggest temporary power provider, said yesterday underlying revenue had risen by more than 20 per cent in the first three months of the year, putting it on track for further growth in 2012. Separately, the company announced a 100 megawatt (mw) contract in the Dominican Republic valued at about $80m (£50m) over [...]
