Premier wins deal clearance June 22, 2011 Premier Foods has won competition clearance for its £182m asset sale to Princes, though the Office of Fair Trading has imposed conditions. Premier Foods agreed to sell its canned business, which includes the Fray Bentos and Crosse & Blackwell brands, back in February. The OFT has ordered the divestment of Fray Bentos and some manufacturing [...]
GKN Driveline invests in hybrid June 22, 2011 Automotive driveline system provider GKN Driveline has teamed up with EVO Electric to manufacture and sell products for hybrid and all-electric vehicles. GKN plans to invest £5m in the venture, made up of both debt and equity. GKN will also acquire 25.1 per cent of Imperial Innovations Group-backed EVO Electric. The venture will be headquartered [...]
Aggreko to power Tanzania June 22, 2011 Temporary power supplier Aggreko has sealed an estimated £23m contract with the Tanzania Electric Supply Company to supply emergency power to drought-stricken Tanzania. Aggreko is to provide two 50 megawatt diesel-powered plants at Ubungo and Tegeta for a 12-month period and will also manage the fuel supply generated. Tanzania’s power output had been badly affected [...]
Weir buys Korean valves stake June 22, 2011 Engineering group Weir has snapped up a majority interest in Korea’s HIM Tech Company for an undisclosed sum. Weir said the acquisition will help drive sales of its valves in Asia. HIM Tech posted sales of $10.5m in the last calendar year, and the firms said the book value of HIM’s valves business was $1.8m.
Vallares slips on its London trading debut June 22, 2011 THE oil investment vehicle fronted by former BP boss Tony Hayward and financier Nat Rothschild was trading slightly lower than its bumper IPO price on its first day trading yesterday. Vallares floated at £10 a share and was trading around the £9.90 mark for much of yesterday. The firm raised £1.35bn in its IPO last [...]
Moelis raids UBS to hire old colleagues June 22, 2011 WALL STREET banking star Ken Moelis has poached another high-profile executive from UBS, in the latest of a string of defections at the Swiss lender. He has added Liam Beere, one of UBS’s most prominent European dealmakers, to his team at Moelis & Co, the boutique advisory firm he set up in 2007. Moelis had [...]
Philips shares plunge after profit warning on weak Europe demand June 22, 2011 PHILIPS Electronics warned of sharply lower profits at its lighting division and toasters-to-shavers consumer business yesterday, due to weak demand in Europe. The profit warning, which wiped 13.5 per cent off the shares, caps a string of disappointments from Philips and suggests consumer demand in Europe is likely to remain fragile against a backdrop of [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 22, 2011 Barclays Wealth Paul Burd has been appointed as head of business services for Barclays Wealth Operations and head of operations, Glasgow. Most recently, Burd was general manager of worldwide securities at JP Morgan, based in Cape Town, following previous roles at JP Morgan including managing director of the investment bank’s London Investment Management Operations team. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 22, 2011 HALMA UBS rates the safety equipment group “sell” with a target price of 325p. The broker holds mixed views about the firm’s recent full year results, with profits enjoying a boost thanks to acquisitions but underlying figures stagnating. UBS expects Halma to make £125m of M&A deals this year before it can justify its current [...]
Banks drop but FTSE treads water ahead of Fed decision June 22, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index closed marginally lower yesterday, as weakness in banks offset gains in defensive stocks with investors jostling positions ahead of a US interest rate decision. London’s blue chip index bobbed around but closed down 2.32 points at 5,772.99, as cautious investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s assessment of the economy and any plans [...]
