WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 20, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES RIO PLANS RUSSIAN DIAMOND PUSH AS IT EYES ALROSA TIE-UP Rio Tinto is planning a push into Russian diamond mining, eyeing a tie-up with Alrosa, the state-owned miner, as the global industry looks ahead to rising demand from China amid tight supply constraints. The company declined to comment on its intentions or on [...]
Japan’s Nikkei 225 opens up March 20, 2011 The Nikkei 225 opened up 2.72 per cent in early trading in Tokyo to hit 9,206.75. The positive reaction followed news yesterday the Japanese government plans to dedicate up to 10 trillion yen (£78bn) in crisis lending to businesses to help them finance day-to-day operations and repair damage from last week’s deadly earthquake and tsunami. [...]
Facebook buys London’s Snaptu March 20, 2011 Facebook has agreed to buy Snaptu, a London-based application developer for mobile devices that have fewer capabilities than smartphones, for up to $70m as the world’s largest social network focuses on expanding its mobile services. The site has been increasingly focusing on building up its mobile phone services for its 500m users, last week hiring [...]
Diageo turns to tequila for its next buy March 20, 2011 DRINKS group Diageo is considering a bid for tequila firm Jose Cuervo, people with knowledge of the company confirmed yesterday, as part of chief executive Paul Walsh’s multi-billion pound acquisition spree. Diageo, which already distributes Cuervo on behalf of the Beckmann family that owns the brand, is said to be considering a $2bn (£1.2bn) takeover [...]
AT&T snaps up US arm of T-Mobile March 20, 2011 AT&T will buy the US arm of T-Mobile in $39bn (£24bn) deal that will see Deutsche Telekom receive around eight per cent of AT&T’s equity and $25bn in cash. The deal will give AT&T an extra 34m customers, making it the biggest network in the US and surpassing bitter rival Verizon, in which Vodafone has [...]
JJB prepares for crunch vote March 20, 2011 JJB creditors will vote tomorrow on restructuring plans that could decide whether it can stay in business. It is expected to get the seal of approval after its biggest landlord, FTSE 100 firm Hammerson, threw its weight behind proposals in a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). Under the terms of the deal landlords who lose out [...]
HMV to set out its rescue plan March 20, 2011 ENTERTAINMENT giant HMV is considering selling its book chain Waterstone’s as part of a rescue plan to be revealed to its banks this week. The group is thought to be considering the options of selling Waterstone’s, which could be worth up to £75m, a share issue and more store closures. HMV has issued four profit [...]
Growth forecasts to be cut March 20, 2011 BRITAIN’S projected rate of economic recovery will be downgraded by the government’s fiscal watchdog this week, analysts expect. In November the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicted 2.1 per cent growth for 2011 – considerably above most recent independent forecasts. “We suspect that the OBR will lower its shorter-term GDP projections,” commented Investec’s Philip Shaw. [...]
Chancellor: no tax hikes or extra spending cuts March 20, 2011 CHANCELLOR George Osborne yesterday indicated he would not put up taxes or make further spending cuts in the Budget on Wednesday. He said that last year’s Budget had been a “rescue mission” that had taken the country out of the “fiscal danger zone”. Osborne added: “But now we’ve got to move from rescue to recovery and [...]
ECONOMISTS’ VIEWS: HOW SHOULD THE BUDGET ENCOURAGE GROWTH? March 20, 2011 DAVID KERN | BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE “Make recruitment easier and allow faster planning decisions. Lower the youth minimum wage and scrap employment regulation, to encourage jobs.” TOM CLOUGHERTY | ADAM SMITH INSTITUTE “Cutting red tape is like a free tax cut so we need a lot of that – especially for small businesses that [...]
