Qatar sovereign fund close to buying Credit Suisse London HQ January 29, 2012 QATAR’S sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), is in the final stages of acquiring Credit Suisse’s headquarters in London and may sign the deal in a few weeks, two sources familiar with the matter said. “They’re working out the details now. It’s a matter of a few weeks,” one of the sources said, adding [...]
Facebook may file to float at any moment January 29, 2012 SOCIAL networking giant Facebook could submit the paperwork for its long-awaited public offering as early as this week, taking the first step towards a flotation expected to raise up to $10bn (£6.4bn). Though the timescale has been vague, this move has been anticipated since late 2011 when it emerged Facebook was nearing the 500 shareholder [...]
Engineer ABB close to buying Thomas & Betts January 29, 2012 SWISS engineering giant ABB was near an agreement last night to acquire US manufacturer Thomas & Betts for about $4bn (£2.5bn), the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. An agreement could be announced as soon as today, though the talks could still fall apart, the paper said, citing the same [...]
Fear of more bank failures still to come January 29, 2012 ANXIETY over the future of banks throughout the world has reached its highest point since a survey of potential “banana skins” was launched 13 years ago, with economic crises leading the list of concerns. The wide-ranging analysis, conduced by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) and PwC, reveals today that many people [...]
Gerald Ronson returning to service station roots with bid January 29, 2012 PROPERTY tycoon Gerald Ronson plans to return to his roots with a bid for a collection of Welcome Break service stations put up for sale by Robert Tchenguiz. The Heron Tower developer, who has boasted he “probably knows more about petrol retailing than anyone in the country” after 40 years in the business, has expressed [...]
Iceland chief rules out PE January 29, 2012 ICELAND founder Malcolm Walker has ruled out working with a private equity house on a bid for the supermarket. Walker, the chief executive who with his management team has a 23 per cent stake, said he would “move on” if he could not buy the chain. A spokesman said, however, he had no knowledge of [...]
Police arrest Murdoch staff January 29, 2012 POLICE arrested four current and former staff of Rupert Murdoch’s Sun tabloid plus a policeman over the weekend as part of an investigation into suspected payments by journalists to officers, police and the publisher said. Police also searched the paper’s London offices at publisher News International in a corruption probe linked to a continuing investigation [...]
Rank in talks to take over Gala casinos January 29, 2012 LEISURE OPERATOR Rank Group is eyeing rival Gala Coral’s casinos business, in an estimated £250m deal that would make Rank the largest casinos operator in Britain. Talks between the two parties are ongoing, although it is understood discussions to merge Rank’s 35 Grosvenor Casinos with Gala’s 24 gaming venues are at an early stage, with [...]
Sir Stelios: EasyJet board can be easily replaced if pay deal leads to resignations January 29, 2012 EASYJET founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has again hit out at the remuneration of the budget airline’s board members, after reports suggested directors might resign if shareholders voted down their pay packages. “These guys are welcome to resign anytime. I know as shareholders we could easily replace them with talented executives and experienced non-executive directors who [...]
Acquisition volumes jumped as equities’ prices declined in 2011 January 29, 2012 CORPORATE acquisition volumes jumped in 2011 as prices fell, with the retail sector experiencing the biggest rise, professional services firm BDO revealed yesterday. The group’s Private Companies Price Index (PCPI) showed the price-earnings multiples paid by trade buyers fell from an average of 11.7 times in 2010 to 10.6 times in 2011, helping boost sales. [...]
