Campbell Soup nears sale of Europe brands August 12, 2013 CAMPBELL Soup Company, the US soup maker immortalised by artist Andy Warhol, yesterday said it was close to selling a clutch of European brands to CVC Capital Partners, the owner of Formula One. Campbell’s, based in New Jersey, has entered into exclusive final talks with CVC about offloading its continental portfolio, which includes mayonnaise [...]
Dole agrees $1.2bn buyout by chief exec August 12, 2013 TINNED fruit maker Dole will be privatised by its 90-year-old chief executive for the second time in a decade after agreeing to a $1.2bn (£776m) buyout. The California-based company, which started life growing pineapples in Hawaii more than a century ago, will exit the stock market after boss David Murdock offered owners $645m to [...]
Fresh bid for Steinway pianos August 12, 2013 PIANO maker Steinway Musical Instruments surged almost 10 per cent in trading yesterday after receiving a mystery bid for the firm that topped a previous offer from Kohlberg & Co. The offer of $38 a share, or $475m, from an unnamed bidder surpassed Kohlberg’s $35 a share offer made on 1 July. The [...]
Unilever offloads salad dressing August 12, 2013 PINNACLE Foods, the US packaged food business behind brands such as Birds Eye and Hungry Man, said yesterday it has agreed to buy Unilever’s Wish-Bone salad dressings business for $580m (£374.7m). The deal is the latest sale of a well-known food brand by the FTSE 100 consumer group, after it sold its iconic peanut [...]
Prudential hits record high due to expansion August 12, 2013 PRUDENTIAL boss Tidjane Thiam was yesterday vindicated after his decision to bet the company on overseas expansion pushed the insurer’s share price to record highs. Just three years ago Thiam’s job was on the line following a bungled £20bn bid for Asian rival AIA that left the company with a near-£400m bill. But now [...]
Bottom Line: Tidjane Thiam back on top as bet on Asian growth pays off August 12, 2013 IT’S HARD to believe that just three years ago Prudential chief Tidjane Thiam was being called on to justify his position. After a clumsily handled bid for Asian insurer AIA was derailed by nervous shareholders and widespread media opposition, the firm was left nursing costs of £377m. But a vote of confidence at the [...]
US deficit reduction on track despite July adding $98bn to red August 12, 2013 THE US government is on track to substantially reduce its budget deficit for the current financial year, despite spending $98bn (£63.4bn) more than it took in last month. Figures released last night showed July’s deficit up sharply from the $69.6bn recorded in the same month of 2012, yet statisticians said this was due to different calendar timings [...]
Musk unveils Hyperloop concept August 12, 2013 AMERICAN entrepreneur Elon Musk last night set out details of what he believes will be the future of transport – an air-propelled pod sent through a low-friction tube suspended on pylons over California, going by the name of Hyperloop. Musk, the founder of Paypal and Tesla Motors, published an open source design of the concept, [...]
London Whale’s former boss set to be arrested August 12, 2013 AN ARREST warrant has been issued for the supervisor of the so-called London Whale trader, the authorities revealed yesterday. Prosecutors from the US attorney’s office are believed to be pushing for the arrest of Javier Martin-Artajo, claiming he tried to cover up the scale of the losses. Former trader Bruno Iksil built up derivatives positions [...]
Labour U-turn on criticism of Tesco and Next August 12, 2013 LABOUR’S immigration spokesman Chris Bryant yesterday endured a day from hell as he attempted to defuse a row with two retail giants while launching a new immigration policy. Bryant had planned to attack Tesco and Next for allegedly preferring cheap employees from eastern Europe at the expense of British workers. But after the firms complained [...]
