Softbank nears deal for Sprint Nextel stake October 14, 2012 JAPAN’S Softbank Corp is nearing a deal to buy a 70 per cent stake in Sprint Nextel Corp for about $20bn (£12.4bn), a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The deal, which could come as soon as today, is expected to be structured in two parts: Softbank will provide about $8bn of new capital [...]
Minister to pick an interim West Coast operator October 14, 2012 TRANSPORT secretary Patrick McLoughlin will today reveal who will run the West Coast Main Line while the government gets to the bottom of the failed franchise competition. McLoughlin is due in front of parliament this afternoon to outline the plans for the route once Virgin Trains’ current franchising agreement ends on 9 December. Both Virgin [...]
BAE looks abroad after failure of mega-merger with EADS October 14, 2012 BRITISH industrial giant BAE will concentrate on winning new overseas business to boost growth, following the collapse of its £28bn merger with EADS. Chief executive Ian King has also made it clear that he would be happy to revive the deal if national governments were willing to let it proceed. King has issued an open [...]
FTSE 100 chairmen cheer third runway for Heathrow Airport October 14, 2012 POLITICIANS might remain divided over the thorny problem of expanding Heathrow, but a survey of FTSE 100 chairmen suggests that big businesses would welcome a third runway. A survey of around 30 of Britain’s most powerful chairmen showed that more than two thirds would support an extra runway, though there was also support for a [...]
St Paul’s briefly re-occupied October 14, 2012 AHEAD of today’s anniversary of the Occupy London Stock Exchange protests that led to a tent city of anti-capitalists around St Paul’s, protesters took their grievances into the cathedral itself yesterday, unfurling a banner on the steps while others chained themselves to the pulpit during evensong. They left later last night.
Nuclear group Urenco attracts potential buyer October 14, 2012 FRENCH nuclear company Areva is thought to be examining a bid for British atomic fuel producer Urenco. Areva, which failed to make a bid for the Horizon nuclear new-build project by last month’s deadline, is now weighing up Urenco, according to the Sunday Times. The firm, which denied in January that it was interested in [...]
BP gets ready to field offers for Russian joint venture TNK-BP October 14, 2012 THE FUTURE of BP’s lucrative but fraught Russian joint venture could be decided this week, with the firm’s obligation to conduct good faith sale talks with partner AAR ending on Wednesday. After this date, BP is free to sell its stake in TNK-BP to another buyer, most likely to be Rosneft. AAR, controlled by a [...]
Tax breaks help UK lead way in European oil exploration efforts October 14, 2012 THE UK is leading a minor resurgence in European oil and gas exploration, according to figures out yesterday. A stable oil price and new tax breaks to offset exploration charges imposed in 2010 have encouraged explorers in British waters to drill more in the third quarter of the year, Deloitte said in its survey of [...]
Bernanke: QE3 is helping the world economy October 14, 2012 MONEY-PRINTING in the US helps the world economy and does not harm developing countries, Ben Bernanke claimed yesterday, hitting back at critics of his latest quantitative easing (QE3) package. The Federal Reserve chairman insisted that the steps he is taking should boost the US economy and so help the world economy get back on track, [...]
New bank watchdog to monitor profits as well as their conduct October 14, 2012 BANKS’ will come under extra scrutiny in future if they are seen to make large profits on potentially dodgy products, under new proposals for the incoming Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that will be unveiled later this week. The watchdog will monitor behaviour in financial institutions, as well as how products and services work for the [...]
