Lack of debt finance hampers hotel deals December 20, 2012 THE number of hotel deals slowed in the second half of the year as the lack of debt financing continues continued to take its toll on the sector, data published yesterday by Deloitte showed. UK hotel transactions totalled around £300m in the second half of the year, a significant slowdown on the £1bn reported in [...]
Luxury home developer confirms takeover talks December 20, 2012 NORTHACRE Group, the ultra high-end residential developer, yesterday confirmed it has received two takeovers offers, one of them led by its chief executive Ken MacRae. The Aim-listed firm, which helped develop the Lancasters apartments next to Hyde Park, said it is in preliminary talks with Law 2492, MacRae’s management buyout vehicle. It has also received [...]
Jeweller Theo Fennell halves its losses December 20, 2012 THEO FENNELL yesterday said it more than halved its losses in the first half of the year. The luxury jewellery, which is in ongoing takeover talks with private equity firm EME Capital, posted a £610,083 loss in the six months to 30 September down from £1.4m last year, thanks to cost cutting measures. But sales [...]
Chinese property giant to make maiden investment in the City December 20, 2012 CHINA’S largest property developer by market value is set to make its first foray outside of the country after putting in an offer to buy One Finsbury Circus in the City for £152m. China Overseas Land & Investment is close to signing a deal to acquire the freehold of the Grade II listed block, designed [...]
L&G acquires £40m tower in the Docklands December 20, 2012 LEGAL & General Property said yesterday it has bought a West Tower in the Docklands for £40m, marking the third data centre site the firm has snapped up in three months. The property, which makes up one half of the City Reach development near Canary Wharf, is the principal data-hosting facility of Telstra Global EMEA, [...]
Hopes rise for black cab firm after new bid December 20, 2012 VOLVO Car Corporation’s owner Zhejiang Geely has entered the race to take over stricken UK black cab maker Manganese Bronze, after it emerged the Chinese company was in talks to buy the Coventry-based manufacturer. Manganese, which has been making the iconic black cabs through its London Taxi Company since 1948, fell into administration in October [...]
Fastjet’s Lenigas pays himself just £1 a year… plus expenses December 20, 2012 AIRLINE boss David Lenigas yesterday eschewed a traditional executive salary by agreeing to take home just £1 a year. Lenigas, chairman of low-cost African airline Fastjet, will take the tiny annual salary plus “legitimately invoiced” expenses. “I am passionate about the possibility of Fastjet’s ability to change Africa’s GDP growth profile,” the airline boss said [...]
Go-Ahead to pay £7m for delayed trains December 20, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT is forcing transport group Go-Ahead to compensate London Midland passengers for cancelled trains and delays to services last year in a package of benefits worth £7m. In compensation, London Midland season ticket holders will be given five days’ worth of free travel passes. A further 500,000 cheap advance tickets for passengers on routes [...]
Mood across the pond lifted by upwardly revised growth data December 20, 2012 THE US economy grew faster than previously estimated in the third quarter of the year, official data showed yesterday. America’s GDP expanded at a 3.1 per cent annual rate in the three months to September, the Commerce Department said, a step up from the 2.7 per cent pace it reported last month. Exports and government [...]
Eurozone consumer confidence ends the year in the doldrums December 20, 2012 CONSUMER confidence in the Eurozone improved slightly in the final month of 2012, a prominent survey suggested yesterday, but remains considerably below its long run average. And a think tank focusing on European politics predicted a tough year ahead. “Next year is not only likely to see domestic politics across the EU clash with the [...]
