Heron boss sees tough market March 29, 2011 HERON INTERNATIONAL chief executive Gerald Ronson said he expects the property market to recover by 2014 / 15, but believes rents and sales will remain patchy before then, particularly outside of London. Ronson said in a speech at the annual Heron lunch that insurers and overseas investors could take up the slack over the next [...]
All change for National Express March 29, 2011 NATIONAL Express yesterday said it would look to appoint new non-executive directors, after its second largest shareholder Elliot Advisors demanded a boardroom shakeup to help drive growth. The bus, coach and rail operator said it will draw up a shortlist of potential directors after its activist shareholder wrote a letter to other investors, asking them [...]
Bribery rules may hit M&A March 29, 2011 INCREASED scrutiny of subsidiaries under the new UK Bribery Act could hit M&A deals, with buyers forced to increase due diligence on acquisitions, or risk liability for corrupt practices. Guidance issued today on the Act is expected to make it clear that the definition of associated persons – those who perform services on behalf on [...]
HSBC chairman calls for list of banks to face tougher rules March 29, 2011 AT LEAST 80 banks should be deemed systemically important and subject to greater regulatory scrutiny and potentially higher capital levels to prevent competitive distortions, HSBC’s chairman said yesterday. In a speech on regulatory changes, Douglas Flint also said the quality of supervision needs to improve and dropped a heavy hint his bank would consider leaving [...]
Clinton calls for reform in Syria as cabinet hands in resignation March 29, 2011 US SECRETARY of state Hillary Clinton yesterday used a conference in London to call for the “timely implementation of reforms” in Syria as the president, Bashar al-Assad, sought to stay in power after his government resigned. Clinton, speaking at a conference on the future of Libya, said the US supports the demands of the Syrian [...]
Apollo Global Management float to raise £350m as demand soars March 29, 2011 SHARES of private equity firm Apollo Global Management priced at the top of a proposed range last night and its initial public offering is set to raise a higher than expected $565.4m (£353.4m), an encouraging sign for other asset managers considering public offerings. Founded by former Drexel Burnham Lambert banker Leon Black in 1990, Apollo [...]
CPP’s shares plunge as FSA probes sales March 29, 2011 SHARES in CPP, the recently-floated credit card and identity theft insurer, fell 46 per cent yesterday to 150p following its after hours statement on Monday revealing that the FSA had been examining “alleged failings in sales calls with customers”. The share price fall is embarrassing for JP Morgan Cazenove and UBS which floated the FTSE250 [...]
Senior rainmaker who advised Harrods sale March 29, 2011 KEN Costa’s contacts book will be sorely missed at Lazard, which he is leaving at the end of this week for unknown reasons. During his three and a half years at the firm he is best known for pulling off the £1.5bn sale of Harrods to the Qatari royal family, a deal in which he [...]
Lazard loses a second top dealmaker March 29, 2011 LAZARD has lost a chief dealmaker with Ken Costa quitting his roles as chairman of Lazard International and co-head of UK?investment banking. Costa, 62, will leave at the end of this week, creating a second gap among Lazard’s senior rainmakers after the unexpected departure of Lazard International chief executive Naguib Kheraj. Kheraj left recently just [...]
Japan thinks about taking over Tepco March 29, 2011 SHARES in Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) fell 18 per cent yesterday on talk that the Japanese government could nationalise the power producer in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis. Tepco, which owns the stricken plants at Fukushima, had its shares temporarily suspended yesterday after a glut of sell orders on the back of nationalisation [...]
