Lehman set to sell off biggest asset Archstone November 26, 2012 LEHMAN Holdings is set to sell apartment owner Archstone, it announced yesterday, in a cash and shares deal worth roughly $6.5bn (£4.05bn). Lehman Brothers bought the company, which at the very peak of the housing boom was worth around $22bn. But it will now get just $2.7bn of cash and $3.8bn of shares from developer [...]
Amazon’s UK sales revealed by committee November 26, 2012 AMAZON made £3.351bn in revenues in the UK last year, private letters published by the government’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) revealed yesterday. Information shared by the web retailer with the committee, intended to be confidential, revealed a 23 per cent rise in sales on Amazon.co.uk last year. The UK’s website, which channels revenue to Amazon’s [...]
UK e-tail is paying off all round November 26, 2012 THE UK component of Amazon’s European revenues is a startling figure. Amazon’s sales hit €9.1bn (£7.3bn) across the continent last year. The new data shows it took in £2.91bn, or almost 40 per cent, from amazon.co.uk alone, and another £441m from other UK business such as Lovefilm. With Amazon getting 45 per cent of its [...]
Lawyers slug it out for charity November 26, 2012 LOYAL readers will remember that The Capitalist reported last month on five sparring solicitors from DLA Piper, Clyde & Co and SJ Berwin clubbing together to compete in a black tie charity boxing match near St Paul’s. The gloves are now firmly off and The Capitalist is happy to report that Saturday’s punch-up at the [...]
Bookies raise a glass to the surprise new Bank governor November 26, 2012 FOLLOWING the announcement yesterday that Canadian candidate Mark Carney is the new chosen one at the Bank of England, bookies have wasted no time in setting odds on his reign as governor. Ladbrokes has set odds of 8/1 that Carney will authorise a greater volume of quantitative easing than his predecessor. They also make interest [...]
Betfair is cashing out of Greece over crackdown November 26, 2012 BETFAIR has pulled out of Greece in its second European exit in a month, citing the threat of sanctions from the country’s gambling authorities. The exchange betting operator has been trading without a licence in the country, claiming that Greek gambling laws violate EU ones. Earlier this month the Greek Gambling Commission announced a clampdown [...]
YouView sued by Yorkshire telecoms group in trademark name dispute November 26, 2012 YOUVIEW, the internet-connected set top TV box company backed by BT and the BBC, has been sued in the High Court for trademark infringement, and may have to face a hefty payout or change its name. The lawsuit, from Yorkshire-based telecoms firm Total, comes after YouView lost an appeal to have its name trademarked. Two [...]
Quintain pushes forward in Greenwich as asset values fall November 26, 2012 QUINTAIN moved a step closer to realising its giant Greenwich Peninsula scheme after announcing yesterday it has submitted plans for the first 500 homes on the site. The developer secured a £300m investment in June from Hong Kong billionaire Henry Cheng, helping to kick-start the 150-acre project, which will see 10,000 homes built on the [...]
International Greetings on track November 26, 2012 International Greetings, the maker of wrapping paper, cards and children’s party bags, said sales and underlying profits for the six months to 30 September were on track to meet City expectations, boosted by strong growth in the US. The UK-listed group is gearing up for the festive season and has made over 65m Christmas crackers [...]
McGraw-Hill sells textbook arm November 26, 2012 US financial services and publishing firm McGraw-Hill said yesterday it will sell its educational publishing unit to buyout firm Apollo Global for $2.5bn (£1.6bn), ending talk of the business being spun off as a public company. The sale completes a shift for the 124-year-old firm, which has published educational textbooks for nearly a century. As [...]
