Lloyds arm finally closes in on UK firm December 19, 2011 LLOYDS Development Capital (LDC), the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, has finally signed a deal to buy out a home-grown British manufacturer in a deal first disclosed by City A.M. last month. LDC has bought Benson Group, which makes packaging for household brands such as Neurofen and Asda’s “cheeky monkey cake”, for an [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: CAN HMV TURN ITSELF AROUND AND STAY AFLOAT? December 19, 2011 Manoj Ladwa | ETX Capital After 90 years in business, HMV looks set to go down the road of many other companies that failed to change with the times…Unfortunately, like a bad stock market trader, HMV’s survival strategy is to sell money makers such as HMV Live to prop up its loss making retail business, [...]
Moulton gets Better with second fund December 19, 2011 JON Moulton is set to take advantage of Britain’s faltering economic recovery with the launch of his second turnaround fund. The legendary private equity boss, pictured, plans to raise up to £200m to invest in struggling companies through Better Capital Fund II. Moulton (pictured) launched the first fund two years ago, after quitting Alchemy, and [...]
Aggreko boosts profit forecasts December 19, 2011 AGGREKO, the world’s biggest temporary power provider, nudged up its pre-tax profit forecast for 2011 to about £324m after a strong finish to the year, leaving it well positioned for 2012. The guidance represents profit growth of about five per cent for the firm. Revenue was expected to be about £1.4bn, up 13 per cent [...]
Carmaker Saab goes bankrupt December 19, 2011 SWEDISH car maker Saab was declared bankrupt by a court yesterday, ending a nine-month survival battle by its Dutch owner. Saab’s former owner and key licence holder General Motors rejected a rescue deal from Chinese investors at the weekend. The firm has not made any vehicles since April.
CAPCO TO DEVELOP EARLS COURT WITH KWOKS December 19, 2011 PROPERTY developer Capital & Counties (Capco) said yesterday it had entered an agreement with Hong Kong property titans the Kwok family to redevelop parts of its Earls Court site. Capco has been in talks for months over plans to turn one of the exhibition centre’s car parks into a residential area with 808 new homes [...]
Henderson offloads Hermes stake December 19, 2011 Investment management company Henderson has sold its stake in the Hermes private equity fund. Henderson said that there would be “no gain or loss for the group on disposal of its interest for cash”. The company will, however, see its assets under management drop by £1.4bn as a result of the deal. Henderson inherited the [...]
LME starts its own clearing arm December 19, 2011 The London Metal Exchange has decided to create its own clearing service called LMEClear, it announced yesterday, a move traders say is designed to make the exchange more attractive ahead of a potential sale next year.
Joe Lewis raises his stake in M&B December 19, 2011 Billionaire currency trader Joe Lewis’s Piedmont investment vehicle has upped its stake in pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers, a former acquisition target, to over 25 per cent. Piedmont, which in October abandoned plans to make an offer for the group, is now M&B’s largest shareholder with a 25.65 per cent stake. “He’s blocking [...]
Jacques Vert agrees takeover December 19, 2011 Sun European Partners has made a cash offer to snap up Aim-listed Jacques Vert in a deal which values the womenswear brand at £41.2m. Its shares soared 66 per cent on the news, which came nearly a month after the British fashion retailer issued a full-year profit warning.
