CAMERON REJECTS EURO INTEGRATION January 13, 2011 PRIME Minister David Cameron (left) said the UK will not fund a bailout of Portugal and Spain. “We want a strong Eurozone . . . but we are not going to be drawn into fresh and new mechanisms within the euro,” he said, even as French Prime Minister Francois Fillon called on the UK to embrace integration. [...]
Capital boost for Commerz January 13, 2011 STATE-BACKED German lender Commerzbank is selling a raft of new shares in a debt-for-equity swap, as it looks to raise capital to meet incoming regulations. Germany’s second biggest bank yesterday said it would sell around €640m (£538.3m) of shares to bring up the amount of capital it holds to meet Basel III regulations. Commerzbank plans [...]
No replacement in sight for Mecom as Montgomery quits January 13, 2011 EUROPEAN newspaper group Mecom has said that its chief executive will leave by the end of the month, but it confessed yesterday that it’s no nearer to finding a replacement for him. The group is being forced by its two leading shareholders to part company with chief executive David Montgomery but yesterday a source close [...]
COMMERZBANK’S SHARE DEAL January 13, 2011 Q.why does the bank need to improve its capital base? A.Global regulators are cracking down on hybrid capital, so the bank is shedding its hybrid capital in favour of stronger equity-based capital. Under Basel III, banks will no longer be allowed to consider hybrid capital as Tier 1 – the core funds that the lender [...]
RMT sets DLR strike dates January 13, 2011 TRANSPORT union RMT yesterday announced 48 hours of strike action on the Docklands Light Railway between 03.59 hours next Thursday 20 January 2011 and 03.58 hours on Saturday 22 January 2011 in a dispute with Serco Docklands. RMT blamed a “breakdown” in industrial relations for the move. The planned strike comes after the government warned [...]
Ashtead joins bid for rival January 13, 2011 INDUSTRIAL hire firm Ashtead joined TVH in its pursuit of rival Lavendon yesterday, with the pair launching a £185m bid to buy and break up the firm. Under the latest indicative offer, Ashtead would put up 47.5 per cent of the cash price to acquire Lavendon’s UK operations, with Belgium-based TVH taking the European and [...]
Northern Foods still open to other takeover bids says CEO January 13, 2011 NORTHERN Foods reported in line Christmas trading yesterday, as its acting chief executive said the door was open for tycoon Ranjit Boparan to make a counter bid that could derail its merger plans. Northern Foods is set to put its £1.7bn merger with Irish food manufacturer Greencore to a shareholder vote on 31 January, but [...]
Caffray returns to Tiger January 13, 2011 GIL CAFFRAY yesterday returned to the Tiger Management fold, rejoining the hedge fund where he was head trader for eight years until 2000. Caffray left to co-found FrontPoint Partners, and remained chairman when it was bought by Morgan Stanley in 2006. He will join old boss Julian Robertson at Tiger, where he will take on [...]
News Corp to consider sale of MySpace January 13, 2011 NEWS Corp is exploring strategic options for its MySpace social network, including a sale or a spinout, the company said yesterday. The news comes a day after the former social networking high-flyer slashed nearly half of its staff. News Corp, which paid $580m (£366.3m) for MySpace in 2005, believes a spinout would be the most [...]
How to value a failing social network January 13, 2011 WHEN Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace for $580m back in 2005, he appeared to have got himself a bargain. In 2007, analysts at RBC Capital Markets said the site was worth $5bn, which would have meant a staggering return on News Corp’s original investment. Alas, what began so well looks set to end with a whimper, after News Corp [...]
