City dismisses share giveaway as a gimmick June 23, 2011 A PLAN to hand shares in nationalised lenders to taxpayers was scorned as “doomed to failure” and “a gimmick” yesterday by observers in the City. BGC Partners’ Louise Cooper said it “sounds like a nightmare to administer” and that it was a throwback to the privatisations of the 1980s, asking: “Should we really be repeating the experience [...]
“FAIR SHARES” PLAN June 23, 2011 Q. WHAT’S THE PLAN? A. The idea is to privatise the government’s 83 per cent stake in RBS and its 41 per cent stake in Lloyds by divvying up the shares and giving them to taxpayers. People would not have to pay for them up front but would pay a floor price to the Treasury [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD RBS AND LLOYDS SHARES BE GIVEN TO TAXPAYERS? June 23, 2011 KAMAAL HUSSAIN | LINEDATA LIMITED “The government needs to retain control, the crisis is still causing problems so we need to wait until it is over. I don’t think we should sell because relinquishing control will cause an unbalance we aren’t equipped to deal with.” ROBERT UNSWORTH | MONTPELIER SYNDICATE “The shares should be given [...]
FSA report on RBS to blame bad regulation June 23, 2011 THE FSA’s report on the collapse of RBS will show that “the regulation was woefully inadequate” in the run-up to the financial crisis, FSA chair Lord Turner said yesterday. “If RBS had been subject to Basel III from 2007 onwards, it would have been a completely different situation,” he said. He added that the FSA’s report would [...]
UBI shares fall ahead of €1bn rights issue June 23, 2011 SHARES in Italian lender Unione di Banche Italiane (UBI) slumped perilously close to the subscription price for its €1bn (£885m) rights issue, threatening to leave underwriters on the deal with millions of euros of unpurchased stock. The regional bank’s share price closed down 5.1 per cent on the Borsa Italiana yesterday at €3.82 per unit, [...]
Aviva sells off RAC to Carlyle for £1bn cash June 23, 2011 AVIVA is to sell its RAC roadside rescue business to private equity firm The Carlyle Group for £1bn, as the British group continues scaling back from non-core areas to focus on its insurance operations. The auction process was fiercely fought, with Carlyle battling rivals Clayton Dubilier & Rice and BC Partners to be the first [...]
Laggard of sector deserves second look June 23, 2011 AND so the great tidying-up exercise continues. Fresh from selling part of its stake in Dutch unit Delta Lloyd for £381m, Aviva has offloaded its roadside rescue business RAC for £1bn. Analysts said it had done well to sell the unit on a price to earnings multiple of 17 times, considering its own stock trades [...]
TOP CHEFS LINE UP FOR SOLDIERS’ BANQUET June 23, 2011 DO TOO many cooks spoil the broth? Not in the case of the second Square Mile Salute City banquet in aid of wounded soldiers, backed by media partner City A.M., when 12 of the world’s most acclaimed chefs will join forces to cook a gourmet menu at Guildhall. Following the success of last year’s fundraising [...]
Ladbrokes bids for rival June 23, 2011 BOOKMAKER Ladbrokes yesterday confirmed it has made an approach for Sportingbet, sending shares in its smaller rival up 13 per cent. Ladbrokes has been looking for a way to expand its presence in the online gaming market for some time, with talks with 888.com falling through earlier this year. The betting giant stressed the talks [...]
Coucher defends payout June 23, 2011 Ex-Network Rail boss Ian Coucher has defended the £1m payout he received from the company on leaving, after it was revealed in Network Rail’s accounts that he took a year’s pay in lieu of notice and a settlement related to the company’s long-term incentive plan. Coucher said the payment reflected the fact he had wanted [...]
