Wetherspoon’s Down to be Go-Ahead’s finance head January 24, 2011 THE FORMER JD Wetherspoon finance chief who shocked the pubs sector by quitting in October was yesterday unveiled as transport group Go-Ahead’s new finance director. Go-Ahead, which runs a fifth of London’s buses as well as the Southern and South Eastern rail franchises, is listed in the FTSE 250. He will replace Go-Ahead’s Nick Swift [...]
TOYOTA STILL NUMBER 1 January 24, 2011 TOYOTA kept its spot at the top of the global car sales ranking in 2010, despite a series of high-profile safety recalls – including of its hybrid Prius model – (pictured). But Toyota outsold General Motors by less than 30,000 units as GM – its closest US rival – achieved faster growth in the world’s [...]
Greencore rejoins fight for Northern January 24, 2011 SHARES in Northern Foods rose 17.5 per cent yesterday following potential partner Greencore’s pledge to improve its merger offer. Greencore yesterday responded to Ranjit Boparan’s takeover bid for Northern by acknowledging “the importance attached…to the certainty of cash value” in the counter offer and promising to consider its own options. It is understood that Greencore [...]
Premier offloads Quorn in £205m deal to tackle debt January 24, 2011 PREMIER Foods has sold its vegetarian Quorn and Cauldron brands to a private equity consortium in a £205m deal. Exponent Private Equity and Intermediate Capital Group bought the meat-free division, after six companies considered making offers. The future of the brands has been the subject of months of speculation with the short list of parties [...]
Private equity suitors want a slice of Sara Lee January 24, 2011 TWO buyers are circling for the global food manufacturer Sara Lee. The board of Sara Lee, the maker of cheesecakes, ice-cream, snacks and cereals, received a preliminary bid late last week from a group of buyout firms led by Apollo Global Management and including Bain Capital and TPG Capital. The company is also on the [...]
The ex-butcher who knows how to cut it fine January 24, 2011 HAVING started his career in a butcher’s shop in Wolverhampton, Ranjit Singh Boparan has a lifetime of experience in food firms – and knows how to cut things fine. Boparan’s £342m bid for Northern came two hours after the Takeover Panel’s original deadline of 5pm on Friday, after he negotiated a last-minute extension with the [...]
Weak TV sales drag Philips below target January 24, 2011 PHILIPS ELECTRONICS blamed television sales for disappointing fourth-quarter profit and said western consumers would be reluctant to spend this year, adding urgency to its drive into emerging markets. Shares in the Dutch consumer appliances, healthcare and lighting group, which is seeking to boost sales in fast-growing countries including China and India, tumbled more than six [...]
Autonomy keeps pace with spate of big contract wins January 24, 2011 AUTONOMY yesterday continued a run of contract wins by announcing a “significant agreement” with Euronews for its Intelligent Data Operating Layer (Idol) software. The firm also said it has entered into a similar agreement with an unnamed US hedge fund. The announcement to supply Euronews – an international news channel with 335m viewers throughout Europe [...]
Intel boosts its dividend and ups buyback January 24, 2011 INTEL yesterday boosted its share buyback plan by $10bn (£6.3bn), seeking to revitalise its flagging stock amid criticism it is getting left behind by rivals like Nvidia in a red-hot, fast-moving mobile market. Intel is increasing its quarterly dividend by 15 per cent to 18.12 cents per share and the extension of its share buyback [...]
Rio Tinto bid for Riversdale wins backing of key shareholder Tata January 24, 2011 RIO TINTO’S $3.9bn (£3.3bn) bid for Africa-focused coal miner Riversdale gained steam yesterday after a representative of Riversdale’s top shareholder Tata Steel backed the offer. The full board of Riversdale, coveted for its coal projects in Mozambique, recommended the bid saying it was unaware of any other offers in the works, even as an Indian [...]
