Axis-Shield rebuffs bid from US rival July 6, 2011 SHARES in Axis-Shield jumped to a 10-year high yesterday after the company rebuffed a £230m bid from its bigger US rival Alere. The Dundee-based firm, which makes medical diagnostics kit, said that its board had unanimously rejected the proposal because it “fundamentally undervalued the company and its future prospects”. The response came after Alere made [...]
Booker rises above retail gloom with jump in sales July 6, 2011 BRITAIN’S biggest cash and carry wholesaler has defied the retail sector gloom with a sales lift. Booker, which runs more than 170 branches in the UK, saw like-for-like sales rise by 7.4 per cent in the 12 weeks to 17 June. Non-tobacco sales were up 5.7 per cent and tobacco sales up 10.1 per cent, [...]
Sports Direct buys stake in high-end fashion firms July 6, 2011 SPORTS Direct has bought an 80 per cent share in the USC and Cruise chains, to give it a foothold in the luxury clothing market. The designer fashion chains are currently controlled by Scottish tycoon Sir Tom Hunter through his West Coast Capital private equity firm. Sports Direct paid £7m under the deal, which was [...]
CAA probes Heathrow’s charge rise July 6, 2011 BRITAIN’S airport regulator has launched a full investigation into whether Heathrow’s passenger charges have unfairly impacted short-haul carriers, following a complaint by airline British Midland International. The Civil Aviation Authority said yesterday that it would open an extended inquiry into Heathrow’s decision last year to raise the rate for each domestic passenger flying out of [...]
AirAsia plans boost to Airbus plane deal July 6, 2011 AIRASIA is understood to be close to buying an extra 100 A320neo jets from Airbus, in a deal that would make the budget airline one of the world’s largest carriers. Last month the Malaysian airline’s owner, Tony Fernandes, stormed into the Paris Air show ordering a record-breaking 200 revamped A320 planes for £10.5bn – the [...]
Ticket sales enjoy jump at easyJet July 6, 2011 NO-FRILLS airline easyJet yesterday reported a 9.1 per cent rise in passenger numbers in June compared with last year, in line with its rivals, as its expansion plan takes flight. In the 12 months to June, easyJet sold 53.36m seats on its flights – a jump of 12 per cent on last year. The rise [...]
Moulton snaps up office supplies from DS Smith as part of £200m disposal July 6, 2011 VENTURE capitalist John Moulton is splashing out £40m on parts of DS Smith’s stationery and office supplies business after the firm sold the rest to Spanish firm Unipapel. Moulton’s Better Capital said its purchase of the UK and Irish business will go through once Unipapel buys up the other parts of DS Smith’s Spicers arm [...]
US buy boosts Balfour orders July 6, 2011 BALFOUR Beatty, Britain’s largest infrastructure contractor, said it will make further selective acquisitions after recently snapping up a US peer, a move that it said will lift its order book. Balfour, which operates in 80 countries and offers a range of infrastructure services, said in a short trading statement yesterday that the outlook for infrastructure [...]
Aston Martin mulls HK float July 6, 2011 ASTON Martin, the iconic car maker famous for supplying James Bond with his wheels, is mulling a share issue in Hong Kong, according to chief executive Ulrich Bez. He said there were no immediate plans to float and that advisers have not yet been appointed. He also said the firm is ready to launch a sales [...]
Kraft adviser to quit Lazard July 6, 2011 A KEY financial adviser to US food giant Kraft in its takeover of British chocolate maker Cadbury is to step down from his position at investment bank Lazard. Peter Kiernan, a managing director in the bank’s mergers and acquisitions team in London, is understood to be tendering his resignation. He is expected to leave later [...]
