LSE IN SIGHT AS NASDAQ PULLS NY BID May 16, 2011 INVESTORS bet on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) becoming the next hostile takeover target yesterday after US exchange Nasdaq dropped its bid for NYSE Euronext and rejoined the race for a merger partner. LSE shares jumped 6.8 per cent despite it suffering a setback in its merger with the Toronto Metals Exchange when Canadian consortium [...]
IMF boss refused bail May 16, 2011 IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn was denied bail yesterday over allegations he attempted to rape a maid in a New York hotel. A US judge decided he was at high risk of taking flight despite his family offering to pay $1m (£617,500) in bail. He will now remain in custody at New York’s Rikers Island prison [...]
BP misses key deal deadline May 16, 2011 TALKS to rescue BP’s $16bn (£9.9bn) share swap with Kremlin-controlled oil group Rosneft appeared close to collapse last night as the midnight deadline passed without any deal being announced. The deal, which would give BP an interest in offshore Arctic exploration venture leases that could contain over 40bn barrels of oil, has previously been blocked [...]
Glencore heads towards final strait May 16, 2011 THERE is still time for it to all go horribly wrong but the signs are very much that the commodities trader Glencore is about to pull off a major triumph with its $11-$12bn flotation. The process, which began some weeks ago but was foreshadowed by months if not years of speculation, has been played out [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 16, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES WEST COAST RAIL FACES RETURN TO STATE HANDS Britain’s most profitable train franchise could be taken back into state hands following a government decision to delay the auction of the West Coast service amid an overhaul of the rail system. Virgin Trains is due to hand back the contract to run the lucrative [...]
Huhne welcomes police May 16, 2011 EMBATTLED government minister Chris Huhne has denied allegations that he asked someone else to take his penalty points for a speeding offence, as pressure on his cabinet position intensifies. The claims that Huhne lied about speeding offences are now set to be the focus of a police investigation. “All I want to say is that [...]
Goldman shuffles executives May 16, 2011 Goldman Sachs has picked a third co-chief of investment banking to help ramp up its efforts in this branch of the business, the firm told employees yesterday. London banker Richard Gnodde will take up the role, while the bank’s current global head of M&A, Gordon Dyal, will become co-chairman of investment banking. The reshuffle is [...]
Soros dumps most of his gold May 16, 2011 Billionaire investor George Soros’s hedge fund dumped most of its gold holdings during the first-quarter, well ahead of the recent commodities sell-off, a regulatory filing showed yesterday. Soros Fund Management, based in New York, owned 49,400 shares of the SPDR Gold Trust at the end of March, down from 4.7m shares held at the end [...]
Banks are on track to miss Merlin target May 16, 2011 THE TREASURY yesterday gave its support to the UK banks involved in the Merlin agreement, despite preliminary figures showing that the banks are on course to miss targets for lending to businesses. Figures collated for the Bank of England by accountants at PricewaterhouseCoopers suggest that since the Project Merlin deal was made between the government [...]
Betfred to lay out the details of £200m offer for Tote bookmaker May 16, 2011 ONE OF the bidders for the Tote bookmaker will unveil details of its offer this morning, in an attempt to convince stakeholders of its suitability. Bookmaker Betfred will announce today that it will bid almost £200m for the government-owned betting chain, and will earmark an additional £11m payment this year for the racing industry, a [...]
