Pizza boss Osmond to get a slice of £100m from Pearl April 5, 2010 Private equity owners Hugh Osmond and Manjit Dale stand to gain more than £100m in the run-in to the summer listing of Phoenix. The pair, through their respective vehicles Sun Capital and TDR Capital, own contingent rights to more than 20m unissued shares in Phoenix, the new name for zombie life assurance fund Pearl. These [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS April 5, 2010 NEW LOYALTY SCHEME FOR THE PALM Palm, the US-based group of steak and lobster restaurants which opened its first London site in Knightsbridge last year, is extending its loyalty club to UK customers. The 837 Club, which has 150,000 members Stateside, has a one-time membership fee of £25, but that becomes an automatic gift card [...]
BA’s £3m share package for bosses risks inflaming tensions with Unite April 5, 2010 NEWS of a £3m pay package for British Airways (BA) executives has fuelled criticism of the airline by trade union Unite which has accused the airline of striking the deal on the same day strike negotiations were taking place. BA agreed a share deal that will see a seven-member executive committee awarded close to £3m [...]
Virgin lights £500m fire under RBS bid April 5, 2010 VIRGIN Money has made an aggressive push for dominance ahead of today’s deadline for expressions of interest in Royal Bank of Scotland’s branch network, securing up to £500m of extra financial firepower from new billionaire stakeholder Wilbur Ross. Virgin Money, which will today table its initial bid for the 300-plus RBS branch network, is one [...]
Permira eyes Findus Italy April 5, 2010 PRIVATE equity house Permira is poised to make a takeover bid for Unilever’s Italian frozen food business Findus Italy. Unilever is expected to formally announce the sale of Findus towards mid-April, with Permira looking at making a bid for the Italian business, which is currently priced between €500m-€800m (£444m-£710m). Permira, which bought frozen food brands [...]
THE BUZZ ON PRIVACY April 5, 2010 Google Buzz has asked all of its users to confirm or change their privacy settings, following concerns about privacy issues. Last month, US Congress members urged regulators to investigate the service provided by the search engine and the private information it exposed. Google, whose co-founder is Sergey Brin (pictured), launched Buzz at the beginning of [...]
Heritage seeks answers over Tullow delay April 5, 2010 Explorer Heritage Oil has expressed concern at Uganda’s slow pace in approving the sale of its assets to London-based explorer Tullow Oil. The east African country discovered oil in 2006 in the Lake Albert region along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, and production is expected to begin later this year. Exploration [...]
My Gunners can shoot down Barca, says Wenger April 5, 2010 BARCELONA v/s ARSENAL ARSENE WENGER insists his injury-hit Arsenal side can defy the odds and dethrone champions Barcelona on their way to securing a place in the Champions League semi finals. The Gunners have been masters of the unlikely second leg comeback in recent years having humbled Real Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan under [...]
Public sector pensions need overhaul: CBI April 5, 2010 PUBLIC sector pensions need a complete overhaul to create a more affordable retirement system for government workers and to contain a trillion pound burden on the taxpayer, the Confederation for British Industry (CBI) argues in a new report published today. Research from the business lobby showed that because these pensions include an unpredictable guarantee from [...]
WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SECTOR PENSION REFORM? April 5, 2010 CORIN TAYLOR | INSTITUTE FOR DIRECTORS Public sector pensions are unsustainable – they are costing too much and there is an unfair divide between the private and public sectors now the latter’s pay is at, or above, private sector levels. You must protect existing accrual but a scheme has to reflect the reality of an [...]
