Gatwick owner prepares bid for Spain’s airports September 25, 2011 THE OWNER of Gatwick and London City Airports has joined forces with the operator of Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport and German insurer Allianz SE to bid for Madrid and Barcelona airports. Global Infrastructure Partners, the $5.6bn (£3.6bn) investment fund backed by Credit Suisse and General Electric, is understood to be putting together a bid [...]
BOEING DELIVERS FIRST DREAMLINER 787 September 25, 2011 Boeing will deliver its first 787 Dreamliner jet to Japan’s All Nippon Airways today, following three years of delays in the ambitious project to build the new lightweight passenger plane. The Dreamliner is made using more carbon fibre instead of the traditional aluminium, allowing it to be more fuel efficient than rival air carriers. Boeing, [...]
Number two set to replace Spirit’s Dyson September 25, 2011 THE SECOND in command at pubs company Spirit looks set to step up to the top job when Ian Dyson (pictured) quits as chief executive. Mike Tye, currently deputy chief executive, is tipped to take over when Dyson – who has been at the firm for just one year – departs. It is understood that [...]
Asda’s bid for Iceland warms up with Barcap September 25, 2011 ASDA appears to have moved closer to a bid for frozen food chain Iceland by lining up backing from Barclays Capital. It comes after Asda, Britain’s second-largest supermarket, brought on board advisers from Lazard in June to help it put together an offer. Iceland’s current owner, the resolution committee of collapsed bank Landsbanki, needs to [...]
High Street boosts discounts September 25, 2011 HIGH street retailers stepped up the battle to win over cash-strapped shoppers this weekend by slashing prices and launching promotions, days after Britain’s supermarkets announced fresh price cutting campaigns. Top fashion retailers including Next and Gap launched a two day “flash sale” over the weekend, with items discounted at 50 and 30 per cent respectively [...]
Novartis ready to shed jobs to keep costs low September 25, 2011 SWISS drugmaker Novartis will make sweeping job cuts at sites across the world in a bid to keep a cap on costs, according to sources in its home country. Like many pharmaceutical companies, Novartis is starting to face generic competition, with its breast cancer drug Femara and its blood pressure medicine Diovan losing patent protection. [...]
GERALD RONSON’S COLOURFUL NEW TENANTS ARRIVE AT HERON TOWER September 25, 2011 NOT content with winning City A.M.’s award for Personality of the Year, real estate tycoon Gerald Ronson has gained another title – owner of Britain’s largest privately held aquarium. The larger-than-life character has been putting the finishing touches to the colourful marine addition at Bishopgate’s 230m high Heron Tower. Ronson is of course not one [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK September 25, 2011 WHEN ten City boys ventured all the way to Knightsbridge to chew the fat, so to speak, at the Brompton Bar & Grill, they needed to make sure they had adequate sustenance to make the arduous journey back again. Settling in for a long lunch in the bistro’s private dining room they whetted their appetites [...]
NBNK to bid on reduced Lloyds assets September 25, 2011 NBNK is prepping its formal bid for 632 Lloyds branches and a reduced package of assets to cut down the branches’ £20bn funding gap. In a supplementary move, the buy-out vehicle chaired by Lord Levene and led by Gary Hoffman could also make a bid for Northern Rock so as to shave some £6bn off [...]
LDC private equity unit sees its pay costs double September 25, 2011 PAY has doubled at Lloyds’ private equity division, Lloyds TSB Development Capital (LDC), its accounts show. The total cost of compensation for its 89 staff rose from £15m in 2009 to £32.7m last year, while directors’ shared £5m last year, up from £2.3m the year before. The highest paid director saw compensation rise from £606,000 [...]
