SAIC eyes up a stake in Saab September 8, 2009 China’s largest carmaker SAIC Motor group may take a stake in Saab Automobile by teaming with luxury sportscar maker Koenigsegg, it emerged yesterday. SAIC, which is partnered with a General Motors (GM) in China, is interested in buying into the US carmaker’s Swedish unit, but its ill-fated investment in South Korea’s loss-making Ssangyong Motor weighs [...]
Lufthansa opens up the books on bmi to its rivals September 8, 2009 BRITISH Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic have signed confidentiality agreements with Lufthansa over talks with its bmi airline, it is understood. The German carrier has opened its books at Bmi, offering limited due diligence to its rivals ahead of a potential sale of the airline. Bmi’s assets are desirable because they include slots at sought-after [...]
SEE YOU IN McCOURT September 8, 2009 MCDONALD’S yesterday lost an eight year legal battle to prevent a Malaysian restaurant calling itself McCurry. The Kuala Lumpur eatery, which sells biryani rice and fish head curry, won the case on the grounds that there was no evidence to show it was trying to pass itself off as part of the McDonald’s empire. McCurry [...]
Jaegar boss Tillman lands Aquascutum September 8, 2009 LUXURY trench coat brand Aquascutum yesterday returned to British ownership after fashion entrepreneur Harold Tillman and Jaegar chief executive Belinda Earl announced a deal to buy the firm. Tillman, famed for his turnaround of upmarket high street store Jaegar, has said he plans to expand Aquascutum in overseas markets. Tillman said: “There are markets where [...]
Banks to need capital, says Ackermann September 8, 2009 DEUTSCHE Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann issued a cautious assessment of recovery in the banking sector yesterday, saying that lenders might still need more capital. Speaking at the “Banking in Transition” conference in Frankfurt, Ackermann said some banks would need to raise new capital and predicted that the real estate market would go through further [...]
Mattioli Woods enjoys jump in pre-tax profit September 8, 2009 SPECIALIST pensions consultancy Mattioli Woods yesterday reported pre-tax profits up 11.3 per cent for the year to the end of May. The Aim-listed firm saw profit before tax jump from £3.71m last year to £4.13m, on the back of a 22.6 per cent rise in revenue from £10.83m to £13.28m. The company is also proposing [...]
The dragon that says the financial services industry is losing its fire September 8, 2009 THERE are over 20 photos of James Caan on the walls of his Mayfair office, excluding the three caricatures. One shows him alongside former President George W Bush and Colin Powell while there is also the obligatory snap of him accepting an honorary degree. Another has him pictured with his co-stars in BBC 2’s Dragons’ [...]
Tax lawyers defend off-shore regimes September 8, 2009 IFEAR you will have no choice but to consider new taxes, perhaps payroll and property taxes such as in the British Virgin Islands,” wrote Chris Bryant, the junior foreign office minister, to the Cayman Islands government this month. It was a withering response to a request made by the British overseas territory to Westminster for [...]
CITY CAN BE THE CRUNCH CASE CAPITAL September 8, 2009 ANTHONY MATONPARTNER AT HAUSFELD & CO LLP SINCE the credit crunch started in the US in 2007, the subsequent banking crisis has spread across the globe. The UK’s legal profession may have suffered as a consequence, but we have also been presented with a golden opportunity to position London as the international venue of choice [...]
Doing a Fuld might make you happy, but not always popular September 8, 2009 YESZOE STRIMPEL I WAS recently trying to coordinate a weekend out with my parents, who were visiting from the States. I put a lot of plans into the mix – I tried to be a bit flashy, to show them what I could do. Yet despite my best efforts, the whole sequence of events got [...]
