Buy-out boom returns as €25bn Abertis deal looms July 5, 2010 TWO shareholders in the Spanish infrastructure group that owns Cardiff and Belfast International airports will team up with British private equity group CVC to mount a €25bn (£21bn) leveraged buy-out. The deal for Barcelona-based Abertis would dwarf the largest deal since the financial crisis – a $3.9bn (£2.6bn) bid for Extended Stay Hotels by a [...]
CITY VIEWS: WOULD YOU INVEST IN OCADO? July 5, 2010 JOHN BUTTERWORTH | INSURANCE CONSULTANT “I don’t think there is a problem with the firm floating. The long-term Waitrose deal is a definite plus point. It’s something different for investors: rewards come from taking a punt.” EMMA ATKINS | KENNEDY LAW “Online shopping is so convenient and the timing could be right for them. I [...]
BP rules out a share issue July 5, 2010 BP yesterday dismissed speculation it will issue new shares in a bid to meet the spiralling costs of tackling its huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A spokesman told City A.M. last night: “We welcome new shareholders or existing shareholders wanting to increase their shares, but there are no current plans to issue [...]
Dana Petroleum shares soar as Korean firm looks to buy July 5, 2010 SHARES in takeover target Dana Petroleum have rocketed 23 per cent over the past several days in response to confirmation that the Korean National Oil Company (KNOC) is in preliminary talks about acquiring the firm. Shares are at their highest level since last August, when Dana was subject to similar takeover rumours. They remained broadly [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WILL MIDDLE EASTERN INVESTMENT HELP BP? July 5, 2010 DAVID BUIK | BGC PARTNERS “The most important thing for BP to do right now is provide decent evidence that it can plug the leak. Investment could make a hostile takeover unlikely and BP’s assets are expensive anyway.” MANOJ LADWA | ETX CAPITAL “Investment from the Middle East may help in the short-term and it [...]
London cuts are madness, Boris tells PM July 5, 2010 BORIS Johnson yesterday cornered David Cameron in crunch talks over public spending cuts planned for London, arguing that excessively heavy-handed measures would damage the capital’s standing as the economic powerhouse of the UK. The Mayor has been vocal since the Budget last month in calling for care to be taken in London when implementing the [...]
Treasury wields the axe on an extra £1.5bn of spending July 5, 2010 THE government scrapped a further £1.5bn of unfunded spending commitments yesterday, as it continued to wield the axe on years of Whitehall waste. There was never any funding in place for any of the projects, but the former government claimed under spending on other commitments would provide the cash. Treasury officials said the government had [...]
Clegg performs his first U-turn July 5, 2010 NICK?Clegg yesterday performed the first major U-turn of the coalition government, after he rewrote plans that would have made it harder to force the government to call a general election. Under his previous proposals, a majority of 55 per cent would be needed to dissolve parliament.?That will now rise even further to 66 per cent. [...]
School building scheme halted July 5, 2010 EDUCATION secretary Michael Gove today confirmed a freeze of the schools building programme as part of his proposed £3.5bn cuts to education spending. The plans will mean that 715 building projects are not carried out and 123 academy schemes are to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, hitting mostly marginal constituencies. Gove called the Building [...]
Botched ballot saves BT from strike action July 5, 2010 BT escaped its first strike in 23 years after its workers’ union botched a vital ballot. The Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) was convinced it had secured enough votes to organise a walk out later this summer, with BT scrabbling to provide cover for maintenance work and even planning to draft in management to answer the [...]
