Barclays to deny foul play in bid June 20, 2010 BARCLAYS president Bob Diamond will today deny the British bank planned to pocket a secret $11bn (£7.5bn) windfall when it bought Lehman Brothers’ US brokerage at the height of the financial crisis. In a resumption of the bitter legal wrangle between Barclays and parties representing Lehman Brothers, Diamond is expected to tell a New York [...]
BP’s Hayward to head east June 20, 2010 TONY HAYWARD, BP’s embattled chief executive, is to launch a Russian charm offensive in a bid to calm the nerves of President Dmitry Medvedev over the group’s future. Although the timing of the meeting has yet to be confirmed, Hayward intends to meet with Medvedev to reassure him that BP can survive the liabilities of [...]
Public sector’s turn to face recession June 20, 2010 IT hasn’t been fun being in the private sector in recent years. It bore all of the cost of the recession, with more than 100 per cent of the contraction in GDP falling on private firms – the public sector, meanwhile, continued to expand. Wage growth has been weak to non-existent for most private workers [...]
ECB: More fiscal policing June 20, 2010 THE European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet is today expected to set out strict proposals to stop further financial crisis in the Eurozone. The ECB’s first plan is to rule out expulsions from the 16-country group, to stop market jitters. Under Trichet’s proposals, Eurozone finance ministers would become “guardians of fiscal sustainability”, with an independent [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 20, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES JPMORGAN PUSHES ON WITH TALKS OVER BRAZILIAN HEDGE FUND JPMorgan Chase is pushing ahead with talks to buy a large Brazilian hedge fund and private equity group, in spite of impending US legislation designed to limit the involvement of commercial banks in such activities. People close to the situation said the US financial [...]
China move spurs markets June 20, 2010 The Australian dollar jumped more than 1 percent and the euro hit a three-week high against the U.S. dollar in trading today as investors took China’s commitment to allow more yuan flexibility as a signal to buy riskier assets. China said on Saturday it would gradually make the yuan’s exchange rate more flexible, indicating it [...]
BASF SEALS £2.8BN DEAL June 20, 2010 Chemical giant BASF is poised to buy German specialty chemicals company Cognis for at least €3.3bn (£2.8bn) reports the Wall Street Journal. The deal was agreed this weekend, when Cognis and its owners, who include Goldman Sachs and private equity group Permira, rejected a higher offer from Lubrizol. An announcement on the deal is expected [...]
Stay focused, urges BSkyB boss Darroch June 20, 2010 BSKYB’S staff have been told by chief executive Jeremy Darroch that they should not be distracted by the near £8bn takeover bid launched last week by the group’s largest shareholder News Corporation. Darroch, who sits side by side on the Sky board with directors who have rejected the bid claiming it does not fully value [...]
CVC looks to invest in London Eye group June 20, 2010 PRIVATE equity group CVC Capital is close to purchasing a stake in theme park operator Merlin Entertainments, which owns Legoland, Madame Tussauds and the London Eye. Reports suggests that CVC would buy a minority stake from Merlin’s existing shareholders, which include rival private equity firm Blackstone, sovereign wealth fund Dubai International Capital and the Lego [...]
Unite union threatens round of fresh industrial action at BA June 20, 2010 THE Unite union is expected to notify British Airways of another strike ballot today, which if successful could mean widespread disruption during the peak of the holiday season. Unite has completed preparations for a ballot and voting could commence seven days after the union puts BA on notice. If BA flight attendants vote in favour [...]
