Wellcome Trust on hunt to find a new chairman after Sir William Castell’s exit October 12, 2014 The Wellcome Trust is entering the last week of an exhaustive search to find a new chairman to replace outgoing chair Sir William Castell. The charitable trust, the UK’s biggest private source of funding for medical research, has appointed executive search firm Korn Ferry to find a replacement for Castell, who is stepping down in [...]
Elliott Advisors exec in £38m pay bonanza October 12, 2014 ONE OF the top directors at Elliott Advisors took home £38m last year, one of the highest single pay packets for an executive during the period. Elliott, a US hedge fund with a substantial operation in the UK around St James’s, disclosed the windfall in an annual accounts filing at Companies House during the past [...]
Record St Leger festival fails to stave off loss for Arena Racing October 12, 2014 THE UK’s biggest racecourse owner Arena Racing galloped to a loss last year despite a record-breaking St Leger festival. The horse-racing giant, which was created through a merger of Arena Leisure and Northern Racing this year, reported losses of £5.7m for the year ending December 2013. However, the group said its St Leger festival, held [...]
Chain Reaction cycles itself to earnings surge October 12, 2014 CHAIN Reaction Cycles, the family owned online bicycle seller, pedalled to a huge increase in profitability last year after cutting costs and boosting margins. The northern Irish business, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, said profits rose to £4.8m despite a fall in sales to £144.9m from £155.6m last year. The company’s directors said [...]
Apax strikes deal to take Dutch software maker Exact private October 9, 2014 Private equity firm Apax took listed Dutch software group Exact private yesterday in a €730m (£574.6m) deal. Apax has agreed to pay €32 a share in cash through a subsidiary vehicle called Eiger Acquisition to take over the group, a 27 per cent premium to the group’s undisturbed share price before Apax’s interest was revealed back [...]
Investcorp founder Nemir Kirdar to step down after 32 years October 9, 2014 Investcorp founder Nemir Kirdar will retire from the group next year after more than 30 years at the heart of the Bahrain-based group. “I step down satisfied that Investcorp is now firmly established as a global financial institution,” he said. Kirdar, who is executive chairman and chief executive of the firm, will retire on 30 [...]
Espirito Santo Financial Group files for bankruptcy after Luxembourg court denies protection request October 9, 2014 One of the groups behind bailed out Portuguese lender Espirito Santo has filed for bankruptcy after it was denied protection from creditors. Espirito Santo Financial Group (ESFG), which once owned 25 per cent of the main banking group Espirito Santo, was denied protection by a court in Luxembourg last Friday alongside its subsidiary Espirito Santo [...]
Expedia gets thumbs up for £380m takeover of Wotif October 9, 2014 EXPEDIA’S $615m (£380m) takeover of Australian online travel firm Wotif Group was passed with a thumping majority by shareholders yesterday. The tie-up had faced heavy scrutiny from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which feared a takeover would hurt competition in the online travel industry, but it approved the deal last week. Wotif shareholders passed [...]
Apple share price rises after Carl Icahn tweets about letter to Tim Cook October 8, 2014 Billionaire investor Carl Icahn boosted Apple’s share price again yesterday after publishing a cryptic tweet signalling further agitation towards the US tech giant Icahn, who boosted the value of Apple’s market cap by $17bn in August 2013 after tweeting about his holding in the company, said he would publish more details in a letter [...]
Moore Capital makes much more October 8, 2014 MOORE CAPITAL, the hedge fund founded by US investor Louis Bacon, bolstered profits at its British arm last year, fresh accounts show. The US group, which has its UK headquarters in Mayfair and trades as Moore Europe Capital Development, reported profits of £36.4m for the year ending 31 December 2013, up from £32.2m. Turnover jumped [...]