MPs raise concerns over new panel’s independence June 7, 2011 CONCERNS have been raised over the independence of the new body being set up to spot potential crises in the British economy by an influential committee of MPs. The Treasury select committee said it was “not so clear” whether Alistair Clark, a former Bank of England employee, would be sufficiently independent to sit on the [...]
HMV secures bank loan but cedes equity June 7, 2011 STRUGGLING music retailer HMV agreed to give its banks a five per cent equity stake in return for a costly last-ditch loan refinancing yesterday. The refinancing deal struck with lenders RBS and Lloyds gives HMV £220m in two loans and a revolving credit facility and wins it breathing space as it fights for survival. But [...]
Lloyds faces branches headache June 7, 2011 LLOYDS could be pressured into selling the 620 branches it has on the block to a bank that already has a presence on the High Street, City A.M. understands. A Treasury source said that the bank could be asked to sign a deal with an existing “challenger bank” that has enough branches to rival the industry’s [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 7, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES EVERCORE SET TO ENHANCE ITS ROLE IN EUROPE WITH £86M LEXICON BUY Evercore Partners, the US investment bank, is set to bolster its position in Europe with a deal to buy Lexicon Partners, the London-based advisory firm co-founded by Andrew Sibbald, for about £86m. UBS IN PAY PLEDGE TO TRY AND STEM DEFECTIONS [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW GOOD A DEAL IS THIS REFINANCING FOR HMV? June 7, 2011 NICK BUBB | ARDEN PARTNERS This seems to us to be a triumph of hope over experience. We expect the higher interest charge to wipe out any earnings before interest and tax this year and we note from the statement that current trading still remains very poor. HMV is now trading on nearly 4.5 times [...]
HMV DEBT REFINANCING June 7, 2011 Q.WHAT DOES THIS HMV REFINANCING INVOLVE? A.HMV’s lenders RBS and Lloyds have agreed to supply two term loans of £70m and £90m that mature in September 2013, and a £60m revolving credit facility. The deal refinances its previous £240m debt facility with £220m of fresh debt. The banks will charge HMV interest of four per [...]
Commerzbank raises €5.3bn June 7, 2011 COMMERZBANK, Germany’s second largest lender, has raised €5.3bn (£4.7bn) from a rights issue in order to repay state aid. The transaction, priced at a 45 per cent discount, is part of a series of steps to repay the German government for the cash it injected to support the bank during the financial crisis. Commerzbank has [...]
Resolution to return £500m to investors June 7, 2011 LIFE insurance asset buyer Resolution yesterday pledged to return £500m cash to shareholders over the next year, starting with £250m of share buybacks that kick off today. Resolution, which is restructuring life insurance books bought from Friends Provident, Axa and Bupa, will return the second £250m to shareholders in the first half of 2012 after [...]
Cowdery’s buyout fund is dead man walking but shares still worth a look June 7, 2011 WHEN Clive Cowdery returned with the second incarnation of Resolution, his life insurance consolidation vehicle, he had ambitions to match the firm’s moniker. To be frank, he hasn’t resolved very much and today’s £250m buyback suggests he doesn’t plan to either. February’s “pause” on new acquisitions is now looking like a final stop. The zombie [...]
LSE rival bidder eyes new firms June 7, 2011 THE HOSTILE bidder for Toronto bourse operator TMX Group is in talks with new members, as it looks to derail an agreed merger with the London Stock Exchange. Desjardins Financial Group, GMP Capital and Dundee Capital are close to an agreement to join the Maple consortium of Candian banks and pension funds to bolster its [...]
