Second William Hill bid rejected by Sportingbet October 14, 2012 WILLIAM HILL’S proposed takeover of online bookie Sportingbet looks set to go down to the wire this week, after the Sportingbet board knocked back a second bid for the company last week. Sources close to negotiations said yesterday that William Hill, together with GVC Holdings, made an improved informal bid for Sportingbet late last week, [...]
Hannam back on front foot with Afghan mining venture October 14, 2012 TOP city dealmaker Ian Hannam is pushing ahead with a gold mining project in Afghanistan just months after leaving his post at JP Morgan Cazenove. Hannam, famed in the Square Mile for his deal making skills, will switch his focus to mining company Centar, the firm he established to mine the Qara Zaghan gold mine [...]
Medium-sized firms are the key to growth October 14, 2012 THE BUSINESS world is hiding a “squeezed middle” that should be encouraged to expand faster, according to research published today. Medium-sized businesses generate 16 per cent of jobs but represent just one per cent of UK companies, CBI figures cited by Deloitte show. And a lack of capital and trust caused by a nervous post-crisis [...]
Rentokil gears up for City Link sell off option October 14, 2012 RENTOKIL Initial, the business service group, is set to conduct a make or break review of its loss making delivery arm City Link at the end of the year with a view to selling off the business. The FTSE firm, which offers pest control, laundry and parcel delivery services, is gearing up to sell the [...]
It’s a skilled business making technology look magical October 14, 2012 ANY sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” was science fiction master Arthur C Clarke’s third law of prediction. Unfortunately, its consequences aren’t too often examined for business, as RBS seems to be now finding out. The problem with technology that looks like magic is that it looks easy – a few swipes, a few [...]
Tory ministers want new deal with Europe October 14, 2012 A LEADING backbench MP yesterday told City A.M. that a majority of Conservative cabinet ministers would like to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU. Douglas Carswell, MP for Clacton, made the comments following a report that education secretary Michael Gove wants Britain to threaten to leave the European Union if it does not claw back [...]
Black cab firm on brink as it seeks bail out October 14, 2012 LONDON black cab maker Manganese Bronze will seek an emergency cash bail out from its Chinese partners this week as it battles to stay alive. The Aim-listed firm was forced to suspend its shares on Friday after recalling 400 of its cabs due a fault with the steering box on its new black cab model. [...]
Spirit Pubs to be lifted with Games effect less than feared October 14, 2012 THE PUB sector is set to receive some rare good news after a disappointing summer when Spirit Pub Company announces preliminary annual results tomorrow. Analysts expect Spirit – which runs around 800 pubs – to report a four per cent rise in sales to around £761m. Spirit’s performance will be a welcome sign of resilience [...]
Vivendi unit in talks with cable firm Numericable over tie-up October 14, 2012 FRENCH mobile phone operator SFR, a unit of Vivendi, is in talks with unlisted cable company Numericable over a possible tie-up, the country’s daily Le Figaro reported over the weekend. Le Figaro did not cite its sources but said in an online report that the two companies had been in “very serious” discussions for around [...]
Adele smash hit leads XL to surge in profits October 14, 2012 BRITISH superstar Adele helped lead her record label, XL Recordings, to an “exceptional” year in 2011, helping boost its turnover from £21.4m to £111.7m. The surge in revenues for 2011 helped lift pre tax profits from £4.1m in 2010 to £41.7m. The firm said the success of Adele’s album, 21, would not be repeated in [...]
