Tomkins gets £2.9bn offer July 19, 2010 INVESTORS in Tomkins, the automotive and building products group, reacted coolly to a £2.9bn takeover approach from a consortium of Canadian investors yesterday. Tomkins said it was in advanced talks with a team comprising Onex, Canada’s largest listed private equity house, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, a gargantuan savings fund, over an indicative [...]
From humble belt buckle maker to huge buns-to-guns empire, then back to earth July 19, 2010 TOMKINS has shed several skins to reach its current incarnation as a diversified industrial components manufacturer sitting in the FTSE 250. From humble beginnings as the FH Tomkins Buckle Company, a maker of belt fasteners, Tomkins grew and floated on the London stockmarket in 1956. Controversial City tycoon Greg Hutchings bought a 23 per cent [...]
Tomkins July 19, 2010 INVESTORS might be giving their Canadian suitors a chilly reception, but this really is a no-brainer. The 325p bid offers a premium of 41 per cent on Tomkins’ pre-approach price, and a rich valuation of 15.8 times earnings per share in 2010. A rival is unlikely to trump this generous bid, and the cautious outlook [...]
BoA veteran Jim O’Neil set for UKFI role July 19, 2010 UKFI, the body set up to manage the taxpayer’s stakes in the banks, has welcomed Bank of America Merrill Lynch veteran Jim O’Neil as the latest in a long line of senior executives to parade through its revolving door. O’Neil, who last year advised Lloyds Banking Group on its £22.5bn recapitalisation, will be doing the [...]
FSA fines father and son duo £180,000 for insider trading July 19, 2010 A FATHER and son duo were yesterday slapped with £179,200 of insider dealing fines from the Financial Services Authority (FSA), in relation to their dealing in shares of oil and gas explorer Tower Resources. Jeremy Burley used his position as managing director of Ugandan equipment provider BMS Minerals to glean inside information on Tower Resources’ [...]
India’s HDFC Bank posts its best profit growth in more than a year July 19, 2010 HDFC Bank, India’s second-biggest private sector lender, yesterday reported its strongest profit growth in more than a year, and highlighted more gains for the booming industry on robust loan demand. HDFC Bank and its bigger rivals State Bank of India and ICICI Bank are benefiting from improving business and consumer confidence in an economy set [...]
International Power in GDF merger talks July 19, 2010 BRITISH energy firm International Power (IP) confirmed it had revived merger talks with GDF Energy yesterday, sending its share price soaring. The companies have restarted long-running talks over France’s GDF buying up new shares in IP. Previous talks collapsed in January after the firms failed to agree terms. GDF, already one of the world’s largest [...]
Pressure back on Pru as AIA gets new boss July 19, 2010 AMERICAN International Group (AIG)’s hiring of Mark Tucker to run its Asian arm piles pressure on Prudential to realise value from its Far Eastern operation, analysts argue. Mark Tucker, a former chief executive of Prudential, will take over from Mark Wilson at the head of American International Assurance (AIA) before its Hong Kong flotation in [...]
Birds Eye will pay €805m to buy Findus ? July 19, 2010 UNILEVER has agreed to sell its Italian frozen foods unit Findus to Birds Eye Iglo, which is owned by private equity group Permira, for €805m (£687.9m). The sale represents the disposal of Unilever’s last remaining frozen foods business in Europe. Unilever said in a statement that about 650 factory and head office staff at Findus, [...]
Debenhams seals new debt package July 19, 2010 DEBENHAMS has sealed a new deal to refinance its debts, signing a new £650m agreement that will cut its interest bill. The deal includes a £250m loan and a £400m revolving credit facility expiring in October 2013, with an option to extend to October 2014. It expects interest costs net of fees to fall from [...]
