Balls Brothers owner seeks new investor for expansion February 20, 2012 BALLS BROTHERS part-owner Novus Leisure is on the lookout for a new investor as the bar and club operator seeks to double the size of its London business in a ambitious expansion plan. Current owners Barclays and RBS – who seized control in a debt-for-equity swap that all but wiped out private equity house Cognetas [...]
State banks to post losses February 20, 2012 TAXPAYER-owned banks Lloyds and RBS are expected to report huge losses of up to £6bn this week as they unveil their full-year results. The consensus estimate for Lloyds alone is a loss of some £4bn, putting the 41-per cent taxpayer-owned bank back in the red after a £281m profit last year. The huge loss is forecast [...]
Irish bankers prepare Royal Exchange sale February 20, 2012 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE, one of the City of London’s best-known buildings, is to be sold as part of the winding-down of the wealth management division of the former Anglo Irish Bank. The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), formed last year by the merger of troubled Anglo and Irish Nationwide, has agreed to sell the real [...]
RBS considers Jurys Inn debt-for-equity swap February 20, 2012 THE ROYAL Bank of Scotland is considering taking a stake in Jurys Inn as part of a debt-for-equity swap in which lenders to the hotelier will write down as much as £250m of borrowings. The taxpayer-owned bank, together with other lenders Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and Irish Banking Resolution Corporation (IBRC), are considering three plans [...]
Hedge funds set to seize Travelodge February 20, 2012 BUDGET hotel chain Travelodge is set to fall into the hands of two US hedge funds as it struggles under the burden of interest payments on its £530m debt pile. Avenue Capital and Golden Tree Asset Management, who are among the major creditors that have bought up its loans, have joined forces with an unnamed [...]
China cuts reserve ratio in bid to counter slowdown February 20, 2012 CHINA’S central bank has cut the amount of cash banks must hold in reserves, boosting lending capacity by an estimated 350-400bn yuan (£35-£45bn) in a bid to crank up credit creation as the world’s second-biggest economy faces a fifth successive quarter of slowing growth. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is on the course of [...]
Hong Kong tycoon eyes Four Seasons February 20, 2012 HONG-KONG business tycoon Li Ka- Shing has been named as a potential investor in Four Seasons Healthcare, UK’s biggest care home operator, which is exploring refinancing options ahead of a debt repayment deadline later this year. The debt-laden company is said to have attracted the interest of CK Life Sciences, a healthcare business owned by [...]
Li Ka-Shing: the Superman who soared from the factory floor February 20, 2012 LI Ka-Shing, Hong Kong’s richest man and chairman of Cheung King Infrastructure, is one of the largest foreign investors in the UK following two major acquisitions over the past two years. Last year, the octogenarian billionaire snapped up Northumbrian Water for £2.4bn, in the largest takeover of a UK publicly listed company since Kraft bought [...]
BA set to pay up over price fixing claims February 20, 2012 BRITISH Airways is set to end a five-year saga over the regulator’s allegations of price fixing by paying a reduced fine. BA has held talks with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over the £121.5m fine issued in August 2007. The British flag carrier is now expected to pay part of the charge, but this [...]
Airline industry is demanding more capacity February 20, 2012 THREE airline industry trade bodies will join forces today to call for an increase in Britain’s flight capacity in order to boost global competitiveness. ADS Group, the Airport Operators Association and the British Air Transport Association spoke out as the government prepares for a consultation on aviation, including plans for a new multi-runway hub airport. [...]
