3i rediscovers its appetite for big deals July 7, 2010 PRIVATE equity giant 3i yesterday said its portfolio of investments had turned the corner and that the outlook for new deals was looking more positive. The largest listed private equity firm said it invested £105m in the three months to the end of June, up from £76m in the same period of 2009, when the [...]
3i July 7, 2010 BARONESS Hogg, 3i’s chairman, is ending her eight-and-a-half year stint on a high note. It’s been a rocky ride: staggering growth in the early part of her tenure was tempered by a plummeting share price in the face of the financial crisis. Since he joined in January 2009, chief executive Michael Queen has been quietly [...]
McAlpine wins Heron job July 7, 2010 DEVELOPERS Heron International yesterday appointed Sir Robert McAlpine as the main contractor on the Heron, its residential development in the City of London. McAlpine has beaten rival construction firms to the deal to build the 36-storey tower next to the Barbican. Work is set to begin next week and conclude in 2013. Heron’s commercial director [...]
JP Morgan in WaMu probe July 7, 2010 HOLDERS of $1bn (£659m) of securities issued by a Washington Mutual entity have sued to void an eve-of-bankruptcy exchange of their investment, a complaint filled with claims of fraud and secret agreements says. The dispute centres around an exchange of securities that were swapped into preferred stock just as regulators seized Washington Mutual Bank (WaMu) [...]
Booz, AT Kearney merger talks crumble July 7, 2010 MANAGEMENT consultancy firms Booz & Company and AT Kearney have called time on discussions over a merger, a move that would have created the world’s third-largest powerhouse in global consulting. Booz and AT Kearney said in a statement that their “future aspirations will be best realised as separate partnerships”, after it emerged last month that [...]
State Street is bullish on profit target July 7, 2010 ASSET management and custody firm State Street said yesterday that quarterly operating earnings would easily top Wall Street forecasts, sending its shares up nearly 10 per cent and boosting the broader market. State Street, the third-largest US custody bank, said second-quarter operating earnings would be 93 cents a share, handily beating analysts’ average forecast of [...]
Xstrata £1bn upgrade for Peru mine July 7, 2010 XSTRATA has approved a £1bn expansion of its copper mine in southern Peru, which will boost the firm’s output and extend the life of the mine by 20 years. The mining group’s existing projects at Tintaya were due to run out of ore in 2012, but Xstrata said yesterday it will develop the deposits nearby. [...]
PM promises to give power to the people July 7, 2010 DAVID Cameron will today announce an end to Whitehall targets, promising to replace them with a new structure that makes ministers more accountable to voters. The Prime Minister will tell a conference of civil servants that people rather than politicians will set the benchmarks for departmental performance, with the power to instigate change if government [...]
DS Smith makes bid for Otor July 7, 2010 PACKAGING and office products company DS Smith has extended its reach in Europe with the purchase of Otor from private equity group Carlyle. DS Smith has made a £206m bid for 95 per cent of the French packaging firm, with the rest of the deal value consisting of assumed debt. The firm, which has a [...]
WOSSY WINS ITV SHOW July 7, 2010 JONATHAN Ross has agreed to front a new chat show with ITV1 to be shown next year. He said he was “thrilled and excited” to be producing the “brand new” show. The financial details of the one-year deal were not disclosed. Ross earned an estimated £6m a year at the BBC, which he left earlier [...]
