Lavendon chief to leave May 31, 2011 PLATFORM hire company Lavendon has begun the hunt for a new chief executive following Kevin Appleton’s departure after nine years at the firm. Lavendon recently completed a business review following takeover offers, which the firm said brought up questions of succession. The firm’s shares were sent tumbling in January after Ashtead and TVH Services walked [...]
Ronson project makes first deal May 31, 2011 LONDON property tycoon Gerald Ronson’s new investment vehicle completed its maiden purchase yesterday. Ronson Capital Partners (RCP), “a club of like-minded partners” drawn mostly from the UK and the Middle East, has spent £63m on International House on Chiltern Street, Marylebone. RCP aims to demolish the 12-storey tower once the existing tenants’ lease deals expire [...]
Losses mount at Chariot Oil May 31, 2011 AIM-LISTED exploration group Chariot Oil & Gas more than doubled its losses last year, but said it was confident of becoming the first firm to drill in Namibia later this year. Chief executive Paul Welch said the company was “in control of its destiny” as it posted a loss of $7.3m (£4.4m) for the year [...]
VW makes formal offer for MAN May 31, 2011 German carmaker Volkswagen (VW) formally launched its bid for MAN yesterday, in a move toward creating Europe’s biggest truckmaker. VW aims to raise its stake in MAN to 35-40 per cent of voting rights from just over 30 per cent now, just enough to get regulatory approval for closer cooperation between MAN and Scania without [...]
ValiRx sees revenues rise May 31, 2011 ValiRx, the life science company with a focus on cancer diagnostics and therapeutics for personalised medicine, has seen revenue for the year increased to £177,297, up from £29,326 in 2009, in its final results. The company pointed to solid progress with pre-clinical programmes of leading therapeutic compounds and the successful $1m (£608m) disposal of a [...]
Renold reports a profit increase May 31, 2011 Renold, the world’s second-largest supplier of industrial chains, yesterday reported revenue of £191m for the year to the end of March, up from £156.1m in the previous year. Operating profit was £7m, with net operating profit of £4.3m, compared to a loss of £4.8m the prior year. Adjusted earnings per share were 2p.
Upbeat forecast for Voestalpine May 31, 2011 Austrian steel group Voestalpine yesterday predicted strong earnings after Asian demand for luxury cars and orders for its products from the energy industry helped it beat full-year profit forecasts. The maker of steel used in cars, railways and pipelines said yesterday it was operating at full capacity and net sales were close to levels last [...]
Buyout group pays €2.1bn for PAI’s Spie May 31, 2011 A GROUP led by Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) has agreed to buy French engineering group Spie in a deal valuing it at €2.1bn (£1.8bn), in the biggest French leveraged buyout (LBO) since the 2008 financial crisis. French private equity group PAI Partners, which said in March it was considering a possible sale of the [...]
Playstation pays price for gamers’ privacy loss May 31, 2011 ONLINE privacy has left few survivors in recent weeks. Dictators and celebrities were not the only ones left cowering in the shadow of Twitter. Online consumers were also shown to be vulnerable to the new threats emerging across the digital landscape. The hacking of personal data is a concern for anyone wielding their online purchasing [...]
Chemical maker Ashland buys ISP May 31, 2011 SPECIALTY chemicals maker Ashland has struck a deal to buy privately held International Specialty Products for $3.2bn (£1.9bn) as part of a plan to bolster its strong roster of products for the skin care, drug and energy sectors. Ashland, along with larger rivals Dow Chemical and BASF, has long focused on the specialty chemical sector, [...]
