Sberbank heads to US to find investors April 25, 2011 THE CHIEF executive of Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank, is to tour the United States this week to court potential investors ahead of a privatisation expected to start later this year. Herman Gref and other top managers are visiting the US this week to meet the largest fund managers and institutions. The state-owned lender, which has [...]
Economic lessons from the last Royal Wedding April 25, 2011 SO, it’s Royal Wedding week – how exciting! I have decided to become a Royalist this week because we all get an extra day of holiday to celebrate Kate and Wills’ big day on Friday. Who cares if UK economic output suffers further as a result? Last week I was temporarily a staunch Republican as [...]
Treasury near to deal with Swiss April 25, 2011 The Treasury is close to agreeing a deal with the Swiss authorities to tax assets that up to 15,000 Britons have banked in secret accounts there. The deal is set to raise between £3bn and £6bn, but allow the Swiss to maintain clients’ privacy. Swiss banks would collect the money, which would then be handed [...]
Delay to Shell flared gas deal April 25, 2011 Legal hurdles have delayed Iraq’s $12bn (£7.3bn) deal with Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi to capture flared gas, but agreement on a final draft contract may be only a few weeks away, a senior Iraqi oil official said yesterday. “I expect by the end of next week we will be very close to settling these [...]
Mamut set to table Waterstone’s bid April 25, 2011 RUSSIAN oligarch Alexander Mamut will make a formal bid for struggling high street book chain Waterstone’s as early as this week. The Moscow-based billionaire will mount a cut-price £35m bid for the retailer, which is being sold off by its embattled owner HMV. The bookseller had been valued at between £50m and £75m, yet Mamut [...]
All Saints edges closer to sale amid administration fear April 25, 2011 HIGH street fashion retailer All Saints is set to complete a sale to US private equity house Goode Partners by the end of this week, despite fears its creditors could put it into administration. Sources close to the process said the US firm was “leading the deal” to buy all of the ordinary shares in [...]
Oligarch’s friendship with chain founder April 25, 2011 BILLIONAIRE bibliophile Alexander Mamut has a long-standing friendship with Tim Waterstone, the founder of the book chain that bears his name. Although it is not yet clear whether they will mount a joint bid for the retailer, the pair have joined forces behind a bookseller in the past. The oligarch and the Englishman formed the [...]
Good Friday great for retailers April 25, 2011 The New West End Company, which represents 600 retailers on Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street, reported increased sales figures over Easter, as shoppers took advantage of warm weather and extra holiday time. It said 2m shoppers flocked to the area during the first three days of the Easter weekend – up 4.1 per [...]
Yahoo buys TV sharing company April 25, 2011 Yahoo said yesterday it has bought IntoNow, a start-up that enables users to identify and share television programmes with their friends, in its continuing drive to boost its social media credentials. Financial terms were not disclosed. IntoNow, which is led by Adam Cahan, a former executive with Google and Viacom’s MTV, works with an app [...]
Ford idles plants over shortages April 25, 2011 Ford will idle plants in Taiwan, China and South Africa beginning this week due to the shortage of parts from Japan after the 11 March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, the company said yesterday. All three plants were scheduled to be shut at a later date.
