Activist ups heat on F&C August 31, 2010 ACTIVIST investor Sherborne has increased its stake in British fund firm F&C Asset Management to just short of 15 per cent, piling fresh pressure on F&C management and fuelling takeover speculation. F&C confirmed yesterday that Friday’s trade of 16m shares had seen Edward Bramson’s Sherborne Investors hike its stake to 14.6 per cent from 11.3 [...]
Genzyme says it is still up for sale August 31, 2010 GENZYME chief executive Henri Termeer said he is willing to sell the company he built up over 25 years, but not for $69 a share. Termeer yesterday said it was unlikely that French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA would go hostile with its $18.5bn bid and that the two sides had a good chance of coming to [...]
French push to regulate commodities August 31, 2010 FRANCE has sent detailed proposals to the European Commission calling for common action to regulate volatile commodities markets before it is due to head the Group of 20 economic powers, ministry officials said. President Nicolas Sarkozy said last week that regulating commodity derivatives would be one of the priorities of France’s presidency of the G20 [...]
August sees investors start to turn bullish August 31, 2010 A GROWING belief among British investment managers that fears of a renewed economic slump are overblown has halted a five-month decline in allocations to stocks, according to a Reuters poll. The survey of 11 British fund managers polled on asset allocations in August shows the average exposure to equities jumped more than three percentage points [...]
Hitachi mulls hard-drive IPO August 31, 2010 HITACHI is planning an initial public offering (IPO) of its hard-drive unit and could name underwriters in early September, several people familiar with the situation said. Bankers are in discussions with Hitachi about an IPO of the world’s third-largest hard-drive maker, several sources said. The stock float would be in the United States and could [...]
Pakistan to defy calls to ban ‘spot-fix’ stars August 31, 2010 PAKISTAN are to defy calls from England to suspend the three players implicated in the ‘spot-fixing’ allegations. Professional Cricketers’ Association boss Angus Porter told yesterday how the England players thought it would be “preferable” that those involved would not play in the two forthcoming Twenty20 matches and the five-match one-day series. Test captain Salman Butt, [...]
Harry sweats on £8m coup for Real ace August 31, 2010 TOTTENHAM boss Harry Redknapp remained ‘hopeful’ of pulling off the biggest coup of transfer deadline day last night by luring Real Madrid ace Rafael van der Vaart to White Hart Lane in a cut-price £8m deal. Redknapp admitted he was alerted to the Dutch midfielder’s availability just two hours before yesterday’s 6pm deadline, prompting a [...]
Wenger’s lack of keeper activity beggars belief August 31, 2010 OF all the deals penned during another hectic deadline day yesterday, it was the one transfer that wasn’t completed which raised the eyebrows the most. With a scouting network to rival almost any club in Europe, it beggars belief why Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger still can’t sign a goalkeeper, despite being linked with so many. [...]
Theo: I blame myself for World Cup snub August 31, 2010 THEO WALCOTT doesn’t blame anyone else but himself for his World Cup omission – and insists England boss Fabio Capello has faith in him to succeed. Walcott, 21, was surprisingly left out of Capello’s 23-man squad for South Africa in the summer, but has bounced back with four goals already for Arsenal this season. Winger [...]
Black Cats purr at arrival of £13m Gyan August 31, 2010 SUNDERLAND boss Steve Bruce told of his delight last night after smashing the club’s record transfer fee to land Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan in a £13m deal. The powerful frontman spent all day in the north-east thrashing out a deal before finally agreeing to make the switch from French club Rennes 20 minutes before the [...]
