HSS tools up for future deal October 8, 2014 TOOLS company HSS Hire Group is weighing plans to list on the stock market next year after boosting sales by a third this year due a boom in corporate outsourcing. The company’s owner, Exponent Private Equity, is exploring options for the company, such as an initial public offering or a trade sale, after turnover rose [...]
Electra on hook for up to £3m to defeat Ed Bramson raid October 6, 2014 Electra will face a bill of up to £3m after facing down corporate raider Ed Bramson’s bid to wrest control of the fund yesterday. Roger Yates, Electra chairman, said the long running battle would cost the group between £2m and £3m in banking and legal fees. “I don’t think the way in which [...]
Ed Bramson: The man in the spotlight who refused to deliver his lines – View from the Floor October 6, 2014 Ed Bramson was perhaps the calmest man in the room yesterday. Sitting quietly beneath the crystal chandeliers adorning the opulent surroundings of Saddlers’ Hall, he clutched a macintosh and umbrella and sat in the audience as the downpour hammered outside. All eyes were on the British-born, silver-haired New Yorker when chairman Yates opened the floor. [...]
BNY Mellon fund division snaps up $23bn bond firm Cutwater October 6, 2014 BNY MELLON yesterday bought US fixed income firm Cutwater Asset Management to add to its roster of asset management subsidiaries. Cutwater, which manages $23bn (£14.3bn), will sit within BNY Mellon Investment Management (BNY-MIM) and work closely with London-based Insight Investment management, which is also owned by the New York custody bank. Cutwater was previously owned [...]
Allianz chief executive Michael Diekmann to exit next year amid Pimco troubles October 2, 2014 The chief executive of Pimco owner Allianz will leave the German insurance group next year, adding to the turmoil currently engulfing the business. Michael Diekmann, the group’s CEO for the past 11 years, would leave the firm in May, it said yesterday. He will be replaced by internal candidate Oliver Baete, a former McKinsey executive. [...]
Concern over research payments sparks sales platform innovation October 2, 2014 THE AUTHOR of a business classic is rolling out a new platform for fund managers to buy research in the wake of regulatory concerns over how firms pay for analyst notes. Russell Napier, who wrote the cult book Anatomy of the Bear, yesterday launched the Electronic Research Interchange (Eric) with former senior Icap broker Chris [...]
Sainsbury’s needs to shore up the shop – Bottom Line October 1, 2014 In business, timing is everything, and retail moves faster than most businesses. Justin King, Sainsbury’s ex-kingpin, seems to have grasped this better than most when he sailed off into the sunset earlier this year, just as the storm clouds were gathering over the supermarket. Under King’s helm, Sainsbury’s reported a 2.1 per cent rise in [...]
Ackman surpasses fundraising target with $3bn from investors October 1, 2014 PERSHING Square, the hedge fund run by activist investor Bill Ackman, yesterday smashed its fundraising target for a new listed company after raising over $3bn (£1.85bn) from more than 30 different investors. Ackman, 48, raised $2.7bn for the vehicle, Pershing Square Holdings, having originally intending to sell $2bn worth of shares. An additional private placement [...]
Carlyle and PAI join forces to snap up Schneider sensors unit October 1, 2014 SCHNEIDER Electric yesterday closed the $900m (£556m) sale of its sensors and technologies business to private equity firms the Carlyle Group and PAI Partners. Schneider told investors in April it had agreed to sell the Custom Sensors & Technologies division, which employs about 4,500 people, after entering into exclusive talks. It has now received all [...]
Icap optimistic despite bleak interim show outlook September 30, 2014 MICHAEL Spencer, the boss of interdealer broker Icap, yesterday said he was “guardedly optimistic” about the future despite anticipating a 15 per cent drop in half-year revenues. Icap said sales for the six months ending September were expected to drop by 10 per cent on a constant currency basis – or 15 per cent on [...]