Bunzl acquires two businesses in buying spree December 19, 2012 DISTRIBUTION firm Bunzl continued to blaze the acquisition trail yesterday, buying two businesses in Canada and Australia, as it said trading was in line with expectations. The FTSE 100 firm announced yesterday that it was to acquire Canadian glove distributor McCordick Glove & Safety and Australian medical supplier Atlas Health Care in a deal thought [...]
CLS given nod for Vauxhall December 19, 2012 PROPERTY developer CLS Holdings has been given the green light for its £500m Vauxhall Square scheme in Nine Elms. The 1.5m square foot mixed-use scheme will include 520 new homes, 410 of which will be in two 50-storey towers and 110 affordable properties. The scheme forms part of the regeneration of the Nine Elms area [...]
GSK settles a nasal lawsuit December 19, 2012 DRUGMAKER GlaxoSmithKline has reached a $150m preliminary settlement with US drug wholesalers who claimed the company improperly delayed entry to the market of generic alternatives to its nasal spray Flonase, court documents show. The settlement was reached with, among others, AmerisourceBergen , Cardinal Health and McKesson, who maintained that Glaxo had abused the citizen’s petition [...]
£40bn airport hub plan unveiled December 19, 2012 PLANS for a £40bn four-runway airport on sandbanks off the east coast of Kent were unveiled yesterday by maritime engineers at Beckett Rankine. Goodwin Sands is being proposed as the “the most sustainable solution” to expand airport capacity in the south east. The proposal would need to fend off competition from Heathrow and the Thames [...]
Sportingbet’s trading ticks up ahead of sale December 19, 2012 ONLINE bookie Sportingbet said yesterday that trading has been back on track in recent weeks, following a disappointing set of first-quarter results that preceded William Hill and GVC Holdings cutting their offer for the company. In a trading update before yesterday’s annual meeting, Sportingbet said the group had “seen a return to more normal levels [...]
WPP sells Madison Avenue office December 19, 2012 ■ After 86 years under one owner, ad giant WPP has sold 285 Madison Avenue building in New York for $189m (£116m). The property has housed WPP subsidiary Young & Rubicam (Y&R) since 1926. Y&R is one of the last advertising firms still on Madison Avenue, which typified the industry in the 20th century.
Penguin agrees ebook price deal December 19, 2012 ■ Penguin is the latest book publisher to agree a settlement with US authorities over alleged ebook price fixing. The firm, owned by Pearson, was accused of colluding with Apple and other major publishers. The decision means the likes of Amazon can now discount ebooks.
BAT buys out e-cigarettes firm December 19, 2012 ■ British American Tobacco (BAT) has made further strides in the e-cigarette market, buying Manchester-based CN Creative. The cost was not disclosed, but is believed to be in the tens of millions of pounds. BAT’s Kingsley Wheaton said that the firm is looking to provide safer alternatives to cigarettes.
Sunset+Vine scores BT contract December 19, 2012 ■ BT yesterday awarded a deal to produce its forthcoming sports channel to broadcaster Sunset+Vine, which produced Channel 4’s Paralympic coverage. Sunset+Vine will handle BT’s sports coverage, including Premier League football, from next season.
On his naughty list? Revenge of Secret Santa December 19, 2012 A DISTURBING Christmas survey from NPW, the supplier of impulse purchase products to high street stores such as John Lewis and Paperchase. The firm’s Christmas elves told The Capitalist that not only do a third of us now enter into office present-giving via a mystery Father Christmas, but 32 per cent of chief executives use [...]