Beer, oysters and rugby chat November 22, 2012 TO the refined setting of the Mansion House for the Guinness and Oyster Luncheon yesterday. The annual boozy lunch, which raises funds for the Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People, is now in its 47th year and firmly penned into all City social calendars worth their salt – or, perhaps more appropriately, vinegar or tabasco. [...]
Bean counters meet at old fish market for accountancy gongs November 22, 2012 FORMER Deloitte partner and ex-BAA chief financial officer Margaret Ewing picked up the outstanding industry contribution gong at the British Accountancy Awards in Billingsgate on Wednesday night. Accounting giants KPMG won global firm of the year, Johnston Carmichael won national firm of the year, while mid-tier firm of the year was Cooper Parry. KPMG’s Raylene [...]
Close Bros does well but weak securities drag November 22, 2012 FINANCIAL services group Close Brothers said yesterday it has made a solid start to its new financial year, though its Winterflood Securities arm continues to suffer from low trading volumes. The FTSE 250-listed firm’s loan book has grown four per cent to £4.3bn, Close said in a trading update for the quarter to the end [...]
Glencore gets EU nod as it ends zinc deal November 22, 2012 GLENCORE won approval from EU antitrust regulators yesterday, as expected, marking another hurdle jumped for its £56bn mega-merger with miner Xstrata. The European Commission cleared the deal – which has taken a tense 10 months of negotiations since Glencore first approached Xstrata in February – but said that the commodity trader must scrap its exclusive [...]
Hancock twins make sweet deal after selling the family business November 22, 2012 THE TWIN brothers behind the pick ‘n’ mix company Hancocks have sold the family business to a Dutch private equity firm for £50m. Andrew and Adrian Hancock have sold the Leicestershire-based cash and carry business founded by their parents 50 years ago to H2 Equity Partners, the group said yesterday. The sweets and chocolates specialist [...]
Top StanChart exec joins WHSmith board November 22, 2012 TOP banking executive Annemarie Durbin has been drafted in at high street retailer WH Smith as a non-executive director. Durbin, currently group head of corporate governance, property, environment and security at Standard Chartered, will replace Mike Ellis who steps down in January. Durbin, who has been at Standard Chartered Group for 17 years and worked [...]
AnaCap eyes RBS branch sale November 22, 2012 ANACAP Financial Partners, a private equity backer of Aldermore Bank, has emerged as a new bidder in the race to snap up the 316 branches that RBS is being forced to sell. AnaCap is understood to have indicated to RBS that it is interested. The European Commission is forcing RBS to sell off the branches [...]
BP formalises tie-up terms November 22, 2012 OIL MAJOR BP, Rosneft and its parent Rosneftgaz yesterday formalised terms for their tie-up. The deal, announced last month, involves BP selling its 50 per cent stake in TNK-BP to Kremlin-controlled Rosneft, in exchange for $12.3bn (£7.7bn) and a 18.5 per cent stake in the state-backed producer. The Russian government approved BP’s purchase from Rosneftgaz [...]
Do you think David Cameron should veto the EU budget? November 22, 2012 JOHN BLOOR ALIUM No. It will isolate us from Europe at a crucial time and I still believe we need to embrace them” DEREK MILLER RETIRED CIVIL SERVANT Yes. The budget as it stands is ridiculous in the current environment considering that the EU hasn’t exactly been doing very well.” SEBASTIAN MOORE SETEL Yes. At [...]
Cobham extends BHP contract November 22, 2012 Defence technology group Cobham has won a A$65m (£42m) contract extension with BHP Billiton to transport miners in and out of remote mines in Australia. Cobham has provided services to companies operating in the Pilbara region since 2003. Earlier this month, Cobham issued a profit warning due to declining revenues from the US defence market. [...]
