City helps UK pull ahead of rivals to be Europe’s top destination for investment in financial services
Global flight to risk-free income good for London: BNP Paribas RE’s UK chief November 9, 2020 A frantic search among global investors to pump capital in relatively safe investments is increasingly driving allocations across London, according to the CEO of BNP Paribas’ real estate division in the UK. Etienne Prongué, since July CEO of BNP Paribas Real Estate UK, said that a range of recent transactions are clear indicators that foreign [...]
Nestlé snaps up majority stake in UK’s Mindful Chef November 9, 2020 Nestlé has agreed to acquire a majority stake in the healthy recipe box and prepared frozen meals company Mindful Chef, bolstering its food and direct-to-consumer offerings in the UK and Ireland. Financial details and terms of the deal, which is expected to close before the end of the year, were not disclosed but school friends Giles Humphries, [...]
Europe set for positive open as Nikkei hits highest level since 1991 November 9, 2020 While President Trump still appears to be in denial about the loss of the Presidency to Joe Biden and still refusing to concede, markets appear to be unconcerned about the prospect of a contested outcome, and have moved on to what might happen next. CMC Markets UK’s chief market analyst Michael Hewson tells City A.M. [...]
Facebook and Twitter start removing violent rhetoric as US election tensions rise November 6, 2020 Facebook removed last night a fast-growing group in which supporters of US President Donald Trump posted violent rhetoric, as the social media giant, as well as Twitter, step up efforts to take down baseless claims and avoid potential violence after a contentious election. The “Stop the Steal” group, which called for “boots on the ground to [...]
EU Commissioner: ’50/50 chance’ UK and EU will strike Brexit deal November 6, 2020 There is a “50/50” chance that Britain and the European Union will be able to reach a deal over the terms of Britain’s exit from the bloc, a member of the European Commission said earlier this morning. “We are extremely clear on the conditions and the access to our European market,” EU Internal Market Commissioner [...]
Insurer Beazley slips into underwriting loss as catastrophe costs jump November 6, 2020 London-based specialist insurer Beazley said this morning that it would slip into an underwriting loss for the year, as the company set aside $80m million to pay out catastrophe claims. The group also reiterated its pandemic-related loss estimate. “Our initial estimate of the costs of the third quarter catastrophe events including hurricanes Laura and Sally [...]
UK’s Aveva to raise £2.84bn to fund OSIsoft acquisition November 6, 2020 British industrial software provider Aveva Group said this morning it intends to raise £2.84bn billion through a rights issue to partly fund the acquisition of SoftBank-backed peer OSIsoft. Aveva, which is buying the company for an enterprise value of $5bn, said the rights issue will offer 125.7 million shares at a price of £22.55 per [...]
European lockdowns force EasyJet to scale back capacity even further November 6, 2020 EasyJet said this morning that the new lockdowns in England, Germany and France have forced the British airline to scale back its already reduced flying schedule, and it would now fly no more than 20% of capacity until at least the end of this year. The airline, whose finances are under pressure due to the [...]
Bakery giant Hovis sold to private equity firm Endless November 6, 2020 Bakery brand Hovis has been acquired by Endless, a UK based mid-market private equity firm, for an undisclosed sum. The company confirmed this morning that the terms of the agreement have been approved by both the Gores Group and Premier Foods, Hovis’ current owners. The acquisition enables Hovis to focus on further tapping into growing [...]
AstraZeneca strikes £307m deal for heart and blood pressure medicines October 30, 2020 UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) said today it will sell the commercial rights for two of its heart failure and blood pressure medicines to German pharmaceutical company Cheplapharm Arzneimittel GmbH for £307m. Cheplapharm, which already holds the European rights for Atacand and Atacand Plus since 2018, can sell now them in around 70 countries under [...]