Producers of whisky look to middle classes in the BRICs June 6, 2012 WHENEVER Scottish nationalists are selling the case for independence, they peddle the myth that some clapped-out oil fields in the North Sea will bring decades of guaranteed prosperity. They would be better pinning their flimsy economic arguments on a liquid that is being exported in ever greater quantities: Scotch whisky. Diageo’s decision to invest £1bn [...]
Lloyds offloads Aussie assets in cut-price deal June 6, 2012 LLOYDS has offloaded a portfolio of Australian loans in a cut-price sale that brought in less than half of their face value. As part of the bank’s drive to cut its balance sheet down to size, Lloyds sold real estate assets valued at £809m for £388m in cash, which it will use to reduce its [...]
Barclays’ Absa buys card firm June 6, 2012 Barclays is set to snap up the private label store card portfolio of a major African retailer. Absa, based in South Africa and 55.5 per cent owned by Barclays, will pay 10bn rand (£775m) to buy the portfolio from clothing and footwear firm Edcon. The Edcon store card business operates mainly in South Africa, with [...]
Broker claims could hit $3bn June 6, 2012 MF GLOBAL Holdings could have more than $3bn (£1.94bn) in claims against its former affiliates, according to Louis Freeh, the trustee overseeing the wind-down of the collapsed broker’s parent company. Such claims would be the main source of recovery for creditors of the bankrupt MF Global parent, Freeh said in a 119-page report submitted to [...]
Deloitte adds 63 in bumper partner round June 6, 2012 BUSINESS services firm Deloitte yesterday announced its latest round of promotions, with 63 new partners taking up roles from the beginning of this month. The bumper crop of partners matches the number that were promoted last summer, and includes 32 who will become full equity partners. The majority of the promotions were made in the firm’s [...]
Investors rebel against Plus Markets sale June 6, 2012 INVESTORS in troubled exchange owner Plus Markets yesterday called for leading directors to step down after they accepted a controversial takeover bid from ICAP. One investor told City A.M. that he hasn’t “spoken to anyone who is going to vote in favour” of the bid and that he believes the board is “very, very worried”. [...]
African Barrick soars as parent firm’s CEO goes June 6, 2012 BARRICK Gold has ousted its chief executive Aaron Regent and promoted chief financial officer Jamie Sokalsky to the top job, as its founder admitted that its recent performance had been “disappointing”. Shares in Barrick’s London-listed subsidiary, African Barrick Gold, shot up 14.5 per cent yesterday on the news, but Barrick’s Toronto-listed shares slid almost five [...]
News Corp buys Disney stake in Asian sports joint venture ESS June 6, 2012 RUPERT Murdoch’s News Corp has taken full control of its Asian joint venture ESPN STAR Sports (ESS), buying out Walt Disney’s 50 per cent share to end a 16-year partnership in the region. ESS has rights to this year’s Olympics in London and also screens Formula One motor races, another of the top attractions in [...]
Chemring sells to Drew Marine June 6, 2012 British military equipment maker Chemring said it plans to sell its marine interests to Drew Marine for £32m to help it cut debt, buy back shares and fund pension liabilities. It said it no longer considers Chemring Marine, which supplies marine distress signals to the commercial and leisure markets, core to its operations.
GetTaxi hails $20m funding June 6, 2012 GetTaxi, which has developed a mobile app for calling the nearest cab, has raised $20m (£13m) before its New York launch. Len Blavatnik led the round through Access Industries, and was joined by GetTaxi’s founders, chief executive Shahar Waiser and Roy More.
