Standard Life closes fund September 21, 2010 STANDARD Life’s private equity arm has closed its latest fund of funds on €700m (£594m), around €200m below its previous investment vehicle. SL Capital Partners’ European Strategic Partners 2008 fund, which will invest in western European buy-outs, received €200m more than its original target. SL Capital chief executive David Currie said: “That we have successfully [...]
Canada forces BHP to extend Potash offer September 21, 2010 MINER BHP Billiton was yesterday forced to extend the deadline for its offer for Canada’s PotashCorp by a month to comply with regulatory requests for extra information. PotashCorp investors now have until 18 November to accept, though analysts at Citigroup warned shareholders may prove unwilling to sell up unless BHP raises its $130-per-share offer – [...]
Severstal plans London float September 21, 2010 RUSSIAN steel group Severstal is expected to launch a float of its gold mining division in London later this year. Severstal, which owns a portfolio of gold assets in Russia and west Africa, is likely to sell off around 30-35 per cent of the company, retaining a large controlling stake for itself. The float is [...]
Wellstream confirms takeover bid is causing shares in the UK to skyrocket September 21, 2010 BRITISH oilfield services group Wellstream Holdings said it had received several bid approaches, lifting its shares 30 per cent and valuing the company at over £700m. Wellstream, which was floated on the stockmarket in 2007 by British private equity firm Candover, makes flexible pipes used by oil companies in deep water, an area set for [...]
Losses nearly double at Third Quad after painful restructuring September 21, 2010 THIRD Quad Capital, the latest venture from former Blue Oar Securities boss Andrew Monk, has seen losses almost double over the first half of the year as it completes a “painful but necessary” restructuring. Monk, who was ousted from Blue Oar when it was taken over by Edward Vandyk’s Evolve Capital last year, said the [...]
Bids for the Priory disappoint September 21, 2010 Royal Bank of Scotland has received bids for the Priory Group of less than the £1bn asking price. The bank had hoped to attract private equity buyers for the owner of the Priory clinics, but the first round of bidding last week has fallen short. Bain Capital, Blackstone, Cinven and Advent are among the first-round [...]
Boost for the US housing market September 21, 2010 US housing starts increased more than expected in August to their highest level in four months, data from the Commerce Department showed yesterday. Housing starts rose 10.5 per cent last month, the largest increase since November, to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 598,000 units. Compared to last year, the figure has risen by 2.2 per cent, [...]
Burberry moves into direct sales September 21, 2010 Luxury retailer Burberry has created an iPad app to allow consumers to view and buy its latest clothing range live from the catwalk. Chief executive Angela Ahrendts would not be drawn on the potential revenue boost from the Retail Theatre scheme, but said the concept was part of a move towards the fashion brand embracing [...]
Deloitte quits its Swiss base for British HQ September 21, 2010 ACCOUNTING giant Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has given the UK a vote of confidence after ditching its Swiss base and relocating to British shores. The move comes as part of a radical legal overhaul of the accountant’s global structure and sees Deloitte make the UK its new legal home. As part of the legal overhaul, Deloitte [...]
Mears starts energy scheme September 21, 2010 SOCIAL housing repairs company Mears has paired up with British Gas to work on carbon cutting schemes, the firm said yesterday, and is in talks to take over more of collapsed rival Connaught’s leftover contracts. Mears said it will expand into energy saving for the 500,000 local authority-run homes under its care, enabling it to [...]
