City office provider buys back full portfolio amid record interest July 6, 2022 London office provider Office Space in Town (OSiT) has claimed full ownership of its portfolio, City A.M. can reveal today, as it looks to grow its portfolio into a £1bn powerhouse before the end of the decade. The company, which has a market capitalisation of some £220m, has snapped up the remaining 80 per cent [...]
Homeowners look to flog properties as UK house price growth slows July 6, 2022 Requests for property valuations have hit their highest since January, according to the latest research, as homeowners look to make the most out of the market while house prices are still hot. House price growth has been slowing since the beginning of the year, according to the country’s most watched indexes. While still breaking new [...]
Government is failing to incentivise chip manufacturers to remain on UK soil, say tech leaders July 6, 2022 The government is failing to properly entice semiconductor companies to remain on UK soil, tech leaders told ministers yesterday. Simon Thomas, CEO of Paragraf, a manufacturer of advanced semiconductors made of graphene, accused the Department of International Trade (DIT) of sending “mixed signals” and warned that the UK risks being side-lined as bullish efforts by [...]
OneWeb wins unanimous approval for ‘historic’ push into Brazil July 5, 2022 Taxpayer-backed satellite giant OneWeb has won unanimous approval from Brazil’s telecommunications watchdog for landing rights in the country, in a “historic” milestone for the company. It means the British communications darling can build satellite hubs known as gateways, critical pieces of infrastructure for solid satellite connection across Latin America and the Caribbean. The 15-year deal, [...]
AstraZeneca strengthens cancer drug pipeline with up to $1.2bn deal July 5, 2022 AstraZeneca has strengthened its cancer drug pipeline the $100m (£82.5m) acquisition of a clinical-stage T-cell engager, which will be used to develop medicines for lymphoma. The famed Covid-19 vaccine maker inked a deal which will see the T-cell engager TNB-486 as well as the owning company TeneoTwo fall under its wing, with promises of further [...]
B&M retail poaches DFS Furniture’s CFO amid inflation concerns July 5, 2022 The chief financial officer (CFO) of DFS Furniture has been poached by B&M Retail S.A., after steering the sofa retailer through the turbulent pandemic period. Mike Schmidt, who will also step onto the board as an executive director, is expected to take up the new position by the beginning of next year. The ex-Citi and [...]
Mortgage costs expected to grow by another £2,500 as inflation spirals July 1, 2022 The cost of a mortgage is expected to grow by another £2,500 by the end of this year, in comparison with December 2021, according to property site Zoopla today. Economists anticipate “sharp” hikes to mortgage rates in the coming months, as the Bank of England seeks to tame spiralling inflation, which is already at 9.1 [...]
Business of Space: Big decisions for satellite giants – to merge or to share? June 24, 2022 City A.M.’s Millie Turner offers up a roundup of the most important news across the space industry, every Friday. Inmarsat prepares for rival takeover SpaceX and OneWeb pledge cooperation NASA’s Artemis programme heads for major test Inmarsat: Nearly over the dotted line British satellite darling Inmarsat is getting increasingly closer to a successful takeover by US rival Viasat, as pressure [...]
Shares in defence supplier Ultra soar as Kwarteng hints of £2.6bn takeover approval June 24, 2022 The £2.6bn takeover of UK defence supplier Ultra Electronics by private equity-owned Cobham is reportedly set to receive a green light from the government. Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced on Thursday that he is “minded to accept undertakings offered”, despite national security concerns. The move seemingly sparked the interest of investors, as Ultra’s share soared [...]
City of London to ignite UK space boom, says science minister June 24, 2022 Britain’s space boom could be supercharged by the City of London’s expertise and financial muscle, the minister responsible told City A.M. yesterday. While the global space economy has spent the last 40 to 50 years recovering from a Cold War hangover, “We’re now in the hockey stick of a huge commercial space boom,” science, research and innovation [...]