Cooper may drop bid for Laird July 11, 2011 Shares in UK electronics manufacturer Laird fell almost nine per cent yesterday after its US suitor Cooper Industries threatened to walk away from merger talks rather than launch a sweetened offer. Cooper said it may consider a higher bid than the £493m offer it made last month if due diligence supported a higher price, but [...]
Strauss-Kahn court date delayed July 11, 2011 New York prosecutors and the lawyers for Dominique Strauss-Kahn have agreed to postpone the next court date in the sexual assault case for two week to give both sides more time to investigate. The delay to 1 August from 18 July was announced in a letter to the judge yesterday. The move came as defense [...]
Virgin could prefer Rock bid to Lloyds July 11, 2011 VIRGIN Money has submitted a bid for some 600 branches being sold by Lloyds, but could drop the offer after it sees Northern Rock’s sales document this week, City A.M. has learned. The information memorandum detailing the Rock assets on sale is due “imminently”, according to a source familiar with the situation, after George Osborne [...]
Deficit cuts at risk from UK’s slow growth July 11, 2011 THREE more years of sluggish growth will weigh down on the UK, while the economic recovery across many peer countries also looks set for slowdown, forecasters have said. Below-trend growth threatens to knock chancellor George Osborne’s deficit reduction plans off track, the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) announced this morning. The group estimates [...]
EU banks fear impact of new stress tests July 11, 2011 THIS year’s health check of Europe’s banks will provide “unprecedented” new insight about the industry that will be useful in a time of market turmoil, the head of the regulator overseeing the test said yesterday. “We are still in a very fragile area,” Andrea Enria, chairman of the European Banking Authority (EBA), said in regard [...]
Alcoa second quarter profit doubles on aluminium prices July 11, 2011 ALCOA, the world’s third largest aluminium producer, posted a jump in second-quarter profits, aided by soaring prices for aluminium. Net earnings at the US bellwether have more than doubled to US$322m (£205m) compared with $136m in the same quarter a year earlier, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Revenue rose to $6.66bn, up 27 [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU THINK ITALY WILL NEED A BAILOUT FROM THE IMF? July 11, 2011 ABHIJIT PANDYA | DDO SOLICITORS “I would have thought they would be OK. It’s possible that they could raise the money internally. They’re far better able to attract foreign investors to buy their bonds than Greece. They also have profit making industries.” MIKE OGILVIE | OGILVIE SEARCH “I don’t think they’re in worse shape than [...]
Sky sinks as investors mull a future without Murdoch July 11, 2011 SHARES IN BSkyB were rocked yesterday by the revelation News Corp will not be making a bid – at least not in the short term. It closed down 4.6 per cent at 715p after earlier falling below 700p for the first time in almost a year. One of BSkyB’s major shareholders yesterday said News Corp’s bid [...]
HOW A BAD DAY JUST KEPT ON GETTING WORSE FOR NEWS CORP July 11, 2011 10:20am Nick Clegg calls for Rebekah Brooks to step down after meeting with murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s mother and sister. He also urges Rupert Murdoch to “do the decent thing” and drop his bid for BSkyB. Brian Paddick calls for a public inquiry. 11:30am Labour leader Ed Miliband, who has maintained a high profile throughout [...]
Bargain hunters should start fishing – but broadcaster is not without risks July 11, 2011 THE sell-off in BSkyB continued apace yesterday, as arbitrage traders piled out of the stock faster than you could shout “the deal is off”. The satellite broadcaster is still a brilliant company, however – one of Britain’s best: bargain hunters should take note. Analysts at Citi point out that BSkyB was trading at 600p a [...]
