ON THE GRID March 18, 2010 McLaren unveiled the first of a range of supercars yesterday that will take its Formula One battle with Ferrari and Mercedes out of the racetrack and into the automotive arena. McLaren said the new MP4-12C, with a likely price tag of around £150,000 and annual production of 1,000 cars from 2011, represents the “logical next [...]
Police arrest former Anglo Irish Bank chairman in dawn raid fraud probe March 18, 2010 Irish police arrested Sean FitzPatrick yesterday, the former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, as part of a fraud investigation seen as vital to Ireland’s efforts to win back investor confidence. The government has said it would investigate fully the role of nationalised Anglo Irish and other banks in the collapse that brought a spectacular period [...]
FSA recruits two new female board members March 18, 2010 BAIGRIE Davies director Amanda Davidson and Dame Sandra Dawson, professor of management at Cambridge University have joined the Financial Services Authority (FSA) board as non-executive directors. Ethical investment specialist Davidson has been a director of Baigrie Davies since 2005. She was also a founding director of Chase de Vere and held a directorship at Holden [...]
Government backs electric car revolution March 18, 2010 The government yesterday announced it will back Ford and Nissan in the development of electric cars and environmentally friendly engines, allotting nearly £2bn to the cause in an effort to further green motoring development in the UK. Ford is preparing to invest £1.5bn into its four UK sites over the course of five years after [...]
CITY VIEWS: do you think your next choice of car Will be electric? March 18, 2010 MARK DAVIES | NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK “I doubt I will buy an electric car. I have family that lives far away in places such as Wales and the north of England, so I need to be able to travel distances that I don’t think an electric car is suitable to handle. If a model is [...]
Giving investment clubs the personal touch March 18, 2010 IN these difficult economic times wealthy individuals have become intensely focused on wealth preservation, circling the wagons to protect what they have while continuing to look for opportunities to create new riches through canny investments. It was somewhat surprising then to find David Giampaolo in ebullient form this week as he prepares for the latest [...]
Israeli drugmaker Teva wins battle to buy rival Ratiopharm for almost $5bn March 18, 2010 Israel’s Teva yesterday won the battle for generic drugmaker Ratiopharm, paying €3.7bn (£3.3bn) to boost sales in Germany, the world’s second-largest generics market. Teva, which beat rival bids from US drugs powerhouse Pfizer and Iceland’s Actavis, said the combined company would have had 2009 revenue of $16.2bn (£10.6bn), compared with Teva’s own sales of $13.9bn. [...]
Australia urges access to Rio trial March 18, 2010 Australia urged China yesterday to allow its diplomats full access to the trial of four Rio Tinto staff charged with commercial spying in a case that could hurt political and economic ties. “The world will be watching how this particular court case is conducted,” said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, adding the Australian government would do [...]
Bridgepoint to sell a 17 per cent Safestore stake March 18, 2010 Private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital, the largest shareholder of Safestore, said it planned to sell up to 32m shares, or about half its stake in the British self-storage retailer. The shares represent about a 17 per cent stake in Safestore, Bridgepoint said, adding that it would continue to hold at least 17.9 per cent shares [...]
Acquisitions help Co-op to boost profits March 18, 2010 THE Co-operative group is to pay a bumper dividend after its profits jumped 85 per cent in 2009. Buying Somerfield helped the Co-op record a £402m profit while revenues surged by almost a third. Dividends totalling £55m will be dished out to its members as a result of the profits hike. The group merged its [...]
