British steel production boost January 23, 2011 Steel production in the UK shot up by 24.7 per cent last year, manufacturers’ group EEF said today. Like on like production soared to 9.4m tonnes in 2010 from 7.5m tonnes the previous year, they announced. “The strong improvement reflects the pick up in manufacturing activity experienced both in the UK and in our principal [...]
Apollo bids for Sara Lee January 23, 2011 A private equity group led by Apollo Global Management has submitted a takeover offer for Sara Lee, but an expected rival offer has not yet been made by Brazilian beef processor JBS, a source said over the weekend. Details of the bid submitted by Apollo, Bain Capital and TPG Capital were not immediately available. Preliminary [...]
REISS ON THE RISE January 23, 2011 High street fashion retailer Reiss predicts earnings from its UK stores will have risen by 40 per cent in its current financial year ending this week. The brand, a favourite of Kate Middleton, forecast earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from the UK outlets to be around £12.7m, up from £9.1m last year.
Keep a file of rejected gifts, say advisers January 23, 2011 UK companies should prepare for the Bribery Act now by establishing a “no-list” of hospitality gifts that have been turned down, say City advisers. Much has been made of what can be accepted as corporate hospitality under the Act’s new rules, but companies should pay more attention to what its employees reject based on internal [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 23, 2011 Navigant Navigant has announced the appointment of Romek Matyszczyk as a director in its London-based disputes and investigations team. With over 20 years of specialist valuation experience, Romek has advised on all aspects of valuing businesses, companies, listed and unlisted securities, intellectual property and intangible assets. Prior to joining Navigant, he was a partner in [...]
M&A dealers beat the market January 23, 2011 Deal-makers who brave the uncertain market conditions to make multiple acquisitions are being rewarded, according to research by Cass Business School and Towers Watson. Groups that made two or more acquisitions with a value above $100m in the last quarter of 2010 outperformed the MSCI World index by 4.9 per cent, and have beaten the [...]
Riversdale Mining talks stall January 23, 2011 Talks between Riversdale Mining and China’s Wuhan Iron & Steel Corp over acquiring a state in the Zambeze coal project in Mozambique have been suspended while a takeover bid by Rio Tinto remains on the table, Riversdale said. Riversdale is recommending its shareholders accept Rio Tinto’s offer, saying it was unaware of any higher offers [...]
Swiss banker placed in custody January 23, 2011 Former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer, who was found guilty of breaching bank secrecy laws over his transfer of client data to the online website Wikileaks, has been remanded in custody, reports said yesterday. The former chief operating officer at private bank Julius Baer’s subsidiary in the Cayman Islands was detained on Saturday because he risks [...]
Stick up for global trade, report says January 23, 2011 GLOBALISATION must be promoted by business and governments as “a positive force for economic and social good,” an influential report said today. Despite a slight slowdown during the recession, the world’s largest economies will continue to globalise steadily between now and 2014, according to the Ernst and Young globalisation index. And authorities must “avoid any [...]
Mitchells & Butlers chairman John Lovering to resign January 23, 2011 JOHN Lovering is set to step down as chairman of the pubs group Mitchells & Butlers this week, a year after taking over following an investor-led board battle. Lovering, the former chairman of retailer Debenhams, has told the board he wants to leave as soon as a successor is found, because he feels he has [...]
