MEDIA VETERAN IN PUSH TO REPLACE LOCKE AS MECOM CHAIR January 27, 2011 FORMER Telewest chief executive Stephen Davidson has put himself up as a possible executive chairman of Mecom, the European regional newspaper group. If successful, Davidson would replace Alasdair Locke, the current chairman who is seen by some shareholders to have been too close to former chief executive David Montgomery. Montgomery recently departed after pressure from [...]
Japan fuels fear of crisis January 27, 2011 FEARS of a fresh sovereign debt crisis originating in Asia were fuelled yesterday by Standard and Poor’s decision to cut Japan’s credit rating to AA-. “This supports our fears that 2011 will be the year when Japan’s dire fiscal position finally impacts markets both at home and abroad,” Julian Jessop of Capital Economics said. “Given [...]
Pain must always come before gain January 27, 2011 CREDIT rating agencies have come in for a lot of flak, not least in this newspaper, but yesterday they proved that they can still tell the Emperor it has no clothes. The downgrade of Japan’s credit came as a stark reminder that government debt will be the new sub-prime. It certainly ought to serve as [...]
THE HISTORY BOYS January 27, 2011 Our cricketers did it… Now it’s Murray’s turn Ferrer stands between Briton and a place in final as Federer crashes out BRITISH No1 Andy Murray heads into this morning’s Australian Open semi-final looking to take a huge step towards completing a memorable sporting double Down Under this winter. Following on from England’s first Ashes series [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 27, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES POLICE TARGET “HACKTIVISTS” An online “hacktivist” group that brought down the websites of perceived opponents of WikiLeaks has itself become the target of an international police crackdown. The London Metropolitan Police arrested five men in connection with a recent spate of attacks by Anonymous, behind last month’s revenge assault on the websites of [...]
LinkedIn prepares IPO January 27, 2011 Business networking site LinkedIn plans to raise as much as $175m (£110m) in an initial public offering that could value the firm at almost $3bn. The highly-rated company saw its sales more than double to $161.4m in the first nine months of last year from $80.8m in 2009. Its profits for the same period hit [...]
Blues shock £40m Torres bid rejected by Liverpool January 27, 2011 LIVERPOOL have confirmed that they have rejected a £40m bid from Chelsea for Fernando Torres. The champions reportedly failed in an attempt to lure Atletico Madrid’s Sergio Aguero to Stamford Bridge this week, accroding to the Spanish club, and have now turned their attention to Torres. A Liverpool spokesman said last night: “Chelsea have made [...]
La Caixa unveils audacious plan to restructure January 27, 2011 SPANISH savings bank La Caixa will boost its capital and become a listed bank, under audacious new restructuring plans. It will transfer its banking business to listed unit Criteria CaixaCorp, which will in turn transfer some of its industrial stakes in companies to a new entity. The new banking business will be called CaixaBank, which [...]
West Ham claim Spurs’ plans aren’t eco friendly January 27, 2011 WEST HAM have stepped up the propaganda war over the bid for the Olympic Stadium, claiming Tottenham’s plans would harm the environment. Letters were sent to MPs this week, claiming that a study commissioned by West Ham’s contractors, Westfield, shows the energy used in knocking down the Olympic Stadium, as Spurs intend to, and building [...]
DLA Piper to be biggest law company January 27, 2011 DLA Piper is to merge with Australian partner DLA Phillips Fox to create what it says could be the world’s largest law firm. The combined entity will create a 700-strong legal empire in the Asia-Pacific region. DLA Piper already employs around 4,000 lawyers across 30 countries and generates revenues of £1.4bn. It will jump ahead [...]
