Getting to grips with the BRICs: Foreign Office insights for the City December 5, 2010 FOUR former British Ambassadors to Brazil, Russia, India and China gathered recently at the Royal Automobile Club in SW1 to discuss these fast-growing economies, collectively nicknamed the BRICs. The objective was to help an audience of business people better understand how these countries see themselves in the context of their emerging status as world powers; [...]
Groupon puts end to talks with Google December 5, 2010 GROUPON, the internet based coupon company that is in potential takeover talks with Google, is believed to have walked away from the discussions over the weekend. Google and Groupon began negotiations last week with speculation becoming ever more intense that Google could offer between $5bn (£3.2bn) and $6bn for the firm. Groupon offers consumers steep [...]
Honda puts the brakes on Hero joint venture December 5, 2010 HONDA Motor Co. has reached a basic agreement to dissolve its partnership in India’s Hero Honda Motors Ltd. Meanwhile US private equity groups are set to buy a stake in Hero, with buy-out groups Carlyle and TPG helping the Munjal family, which controls the Indian company, to buy back Honda’s 26 per cent stake. The [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 5, 2010 Linklaters Linklaters, the global law firm, has appointed Anne Byrne as UK head of real estate, based in London. Byrne, a partner since 2001, previously worked for Capital Shopping Centres and ProLogis and recently acted for UBS on its new European headquarters building at Broadgate. Linklaters also hired Yves Moreau as the global head of [...]
SALE ON THE MENU FOR WAGAMAMA December 5, 2010 Morgan Stanley may now be the sole bidder for noodle bar chain, Wagamama, and has resumed talks with the restaurant’s owner, private equity firm, Lion Capital. Morgan Stanley’s private equity division was told its second-round bid was too low. It would not comment on reports it has placed an offer for just over £200m.
WOMEN ON BOARDS: HEALTHY FOR BOYS, GIRLS AND THE BOTTOM LINE December 5, 2010 FOLLOWING the formation of the 30 Per Cent Club last month, which aims to get women filling 30 per cent of boardroom seats, shocking new research will hit City bookshelves this week, revealing what we at The Capitalist already suspected: upping the number of women in the boardroom is good for profits. The findings are [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK December 5, 2010 SIX high-powered ladies with a healthy appetite for their meat and two veg – and for a good Dom Perignon – sauntered into 108 Marylebone Lane Restaurant and Bar this week for a sumptuous lunchbreak. Feasting on a ham plate for starters and duck, rare steaks and sausages for the main course, they finished off [...]
Bounce in US is set to lift shares in Europe too December 5, 2010 The call this morning is for stock markets in Europe to open higher following a turn-around by US markets to close in positive territory on Friday evening, despite weak non-farm payrolls data. GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 index to open up 13 points from Friday’s close, at a level of 5,758. The German DAX [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD December 5, 2010 Europe’s sovereign debt crisis will still hang over global markets this week, but on Wall Street investors will not be afraid to bet on stocks. Wall Street has shown its ability to hold onto gains, or quickly recover from losses last week despite Europe’s debt woes, suggesting that investors are confident of a sustained rally. [...]
It’s snow fun for the shops, but a winter wonderland for gas December 5, 2010 WITH THE great freeze ongoing this morning, a lot of people will not be too happy struggling through the cold to work. 73 per cent of companies had staff off work last week, and many more undoubtedly will have failed to get to work today. The costs of cold weather to the economy are far [...]
