Morgan Stanley names financial unit executives January 4, 2010 MORGAN Stanley named investment bankers Eric Bischof and Jonathan Pruzan as global co-heads of its financial institutions group (FIG), replacing Ruth Porat who was named as the group’s chief financial officer last month. The bank also named John Esposito as the head of FIG Americas, according to a memo send out on 29 December, that [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT IN THE CADBURY BID BATTLE? January 4, 2010 JEREMY BATSTONE-CARR | CHARLES STANLEY “Our “Reduce” recommendation is predicated on the view Cadbury will do enough to ensure sufficient shareholder support to see off its rivals. We think it unlikely that [the next trading] update will have disappointed, judging by the strong anecdotal evidence to suggest robust Christmas-related sales activity.” HENK POTTS | BARCLAYS [...]
Nestlé fuels Cadbury bid speculation January 4, 2010 NESTLÉ was again mooted as a potential rival to consumer goods giant Kraft in its £10.1bn bid to acquire confectioner Cadbury yesterday, after boosting its balance sheet by selling its stake in eye care group Alcon. Speculation exploded in the City about the ramifications of the sale, with analyst Warren Ackerman at Evolution Securities noting [...]
Oil surges to two-month highs as cold weather boosts demand for heating January 4, 2010 Oil rose more than two per cent to touch two-month highs over $81 a barrel yesterday as cold weather battered the US and other big consumer regions, driving up demand for heating fuel. Frigid temperatures are expected to drive up US heating demand to 21 per cent above normal, with consumption in the US Northeast, [...]
M&B appoints Joe Lewis man to board of directors January 4, 2010 MITCHELLS & Butlers (M&B), the pub and restaurant group, said yesterday it will appoint Ronald Robson, a representative of rebel shareholder Joe Lewis, to its board from 22 January. The appointment will need to be ratified by shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting on 28 January, it added. Lewis’s investment vehicle, Piedmont, which is [...]
Cambridge to sell bonds January 4, 2010 CAMBRIDGE University is considering selling bonds for the first time in its history. The university is following the lead of several Ivy League institutions that have benefited from the scheme. It hopes to raise £300m to invest in new buildings. The university’s director of finance Andrew Reid told City A.M.: “This is something we have [...]
Dubai opens tallest tower in the world January 4, 2010 DUBAI’S Emaar Properties yesterday opened the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper, marking the completion of the last of its big local landmark projects and the start of a new strategy which is expected to focus on overseas projects. “We will be focusing on our subsidiaries — hospitals and hospitality — which will create a [...]
FXall snaps up Citi forex platform January 4, 2010 INVESTMENT bank Citi has agreed a deal to sell its electronic foreign exchange platform, LavaFX, to electronic forex platform FXall, it said yesterday. FXall, which has some 800 institutional clients including large hedge funds and asset management firms, did not disclose the terms of the deal. The firm said the acquisition, for an undisclosed fee, [...]
Total signs $2.25bn deal with Chesapeake January 4, 2010 France’s Total signed a $2.25bn (£1.49bn) tie-up with Chesapeake Energy, becoming the latest oil firm to gain a foothold in US shale-gas fields Total said it would take a 25 per cent stake in Chesapeake’s Barnett Shale gas fields in north Texas, paying $800m in cash and providing $1.45bn toward the fields’ development for up [...]
Staffline earnings to rise January 4, 2010 SHARES in Staffline, the blue-collar recruitment and training specialist, closed 5.8 per cent up yesterday after the company said its full-year earnings would be in line with upwardly revised market expectations. The board said the performance of the Aim-listed firm had been driven by new contract wins since June and a cost-cutting programme. Chief executive [...]
