RESTAURATEURS FLOCK TO RENT 1 BISHOPSGATE IN CITY’S DINING BOOM August 22, 2011 IT IS not big enough for the new headquarters of the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority, which requires a capacious 100,000 square feet. But the four vacant office units at 1 Bishopsgate have attracted a “healthy level of interest” from insurance, finance, shipping, software and law firms – even a handful of hedge funds [...]
HP rallies after its share price collapse last week August 22, 2011 HEWLETT Packard shares rallied yesterday after a respected analyst upgraded the stock in the wake of a brutal restructuring mooted last week. Shares in the US computer giant, which is to buy Autonomy in an eye-watering $10.2bn (£6.2bn) deal, gained four per cent, recouping some of Friday’s 23 per cent drop. As well as announcing [...]
£50m bill for ITV as staff live longer August 22, 2011 ITV has moved to offload the risk associated with its huge pension fund deficit in a £1.7bn deal with Credit Suisse. The complex transaction will add £50m to ITV’s pension-deficit, last valued at £312m. It has been designed so ITV can protect itself against current and former workers living longer than expected. The broadcaster has [...]
African Barrick appoints RBC August 22, 2011 AFRICAN Barrick Gold, the FTSE 250 Tanzanian gold miner, has appointed RBC Capital Markets as joint corporate broker and ended its relationship with Morgan Stanley. Sources said the firm made the decision following an internal review, which concluded the miner should ditch Morgan Stanley, its joint corporate broker alongside JP Morgan Cazenove since March 2010. [...]
Micro Focus shares drop after it ends takeover talks with Bain and Advent August 22, 2011 SHARES in IT firm Micro Focus International slumped more than six per cent yesterday after it ended four months of takeover talks. The firm, which supports mainframe computer applications for companies like Tesco, saw its stock close down 15.82p at 247.18p. The deadline for takeover offers passed on Friday and Micro Focus said bids had [...]
City cheers plan to punish slower road repair firms August 22, 2011 THE City of London Corporation yesterday welcomed government plans for a scheme to charge contractors doing road repairs in the City, providing a financial incentive for works to be completed quickly. The lane rental plans, which Transport for London will consult on over the next 12 weeks, would charge firms for digging up roads during [...]
Ministry of Defence pays Boeing £1bn for Chinooks August 22, 2011 BOEING has agreed to build 14 new Chinook helicopters for the UK Ministry of Defence, under a contract worth £1bn. The American aerospace firm will also provide the RAF with support services for the fleet for the first five years of the deal. Construction work on the aircrafts will take place in Philadelphia. The purchase [...]
Crisis fails to dampen deal prices August 22, 2011 PENSION transfer prices have held up despite the market volatility linked to the sovereign debt crisis, experts said yesterday. America’s credit rating downgrade and the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis have had little impact on corporate bond yields, which drive the price costs of pension insurance buyouts and buy-ins – known as bulk annuities. Pensions consultant [...]
Essar shares hit by fears over red tape August 22, 2011 INDIA-FOCUSED refiner and power generator Essar Energy said three projects would be delayed as it continues to battle hold-ups from regulators, hurting its shares. The company said yesterday there would be “minor delays” to three power projects and that it is still awaiting forest clearance from the Indian government for its three coal blocks which [...]
Petrofac beats forecasts thanks to its contract with Malaysian state oil firm August 22, 2011 OIL services firm Petrofac posted a forecast-beating first-half profit, boosted by its business in Malaysia, and said it was confident demand from national oil firms would continue to fuel future growth. Petrofac, which designs and builds oil and gas infrastructure and also invests alongside oil firms in oil fields, yesterday posted net profit of $246.3m [...]
