WS Atkins wins £65m road deal November 28, 2011 Design and engineering firm WS Atkins said it has won a contract worth over £65m to improve Doha’s roads and drainage systems, as Qatar steps up infrastructure improvements ahead of the 2022 soccer World Cup. Atkins, which helped design the London 2012 Olympic site and operates across Britain, Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle [...]
ITE expands in Ukraine November 28, 2011 Exhibitions group ITE has snapped up a raft of small Ukrainian exhibitions with the acquisition of Autoexpo, it said yesterday. ITE’s chief executive officer Russell Taylor said: “The addition of this portfolio of exhibitions to ITE’s Ukrainian business is consistent with our strategy of building market leading positions in core markets and sectors.”
Charter chair vents ire over Schroders November 28, 2011 THE CHAIRMAN of Charter International, the engineering group that roused its shareholders’ anger during a £1.5bn takeover battle in August, has hit out at fund manager Richard Buxton for criticising the deal. Lars Emilson (right) attacked Buxton, head of UK equities at Schroders, for his outspoken views on the sale process. Charter rebuffed two offers from [...]
Richard Desmond’s office block in the Docklands sold for £12m November 28, 2011 THE HOME of part of Richard Desmond’s media empire has been sold by Standard Life for £12.2m. Standard Life Investment Property Income Trust has sold the Northern & Shell Tower, an office block in the Docklands, to a private buyer. Desmond’s rental contract will run until 2022 as planned at the previously agreed £909,000 a [...]
Death bonds blasted over losses danger November 28, 2011 RETAIL investors were warned in the strongest terms not to invest in highly risky “death bonds” by the finance watchdog yesterday, in a bid to stop a repeat of the Keydata collapse in 2009 in which 30,000 investors lost £450m. The Financial Services Authority branded the so-called death bonds, otherwise known as traded life policy [...]
Patsystems gets £29m offer November 28, 2011 SHARES in Patsystems, a supplier of derivatives trading technology, jumped almost 30 per cent yesterday after its biggest shareholder came forward with a bid valuing it at £29m. Patsystems admitted it had been hit hard by the shock collapse of US broking group MF Global, its biggest customer, in October. But it welcomed the 14p [...]
New Healthcare Locums probe to include auditors November 28, 2011 THE AUDITORS of troubled medical recruiter Healthcare Locums are to be investigated by regulators for their role in the accounting scandal that nearly destroyed the company. The Accounting and Actuarial Disciplinary Board (AADB) said it had launched an investigation “into the conduct of certain members” of the English, Welsh and Scottish chartered accountancy institutes and [...]
DEATH BONDS November 28, 2011 Q.WHAT ARE DEATH BONDS? A.Also known as traded life policy investments, death bonds are securitised portfolios of life insurance policies usually issued in countries such as the US and been sold ahead of the policyholder dying. An investor can pay a policyholder a lump sum and agree to keep paying the premiums on the policy [...]
Two Resolution chiefs cut work week by 40pc November 28, 2011 FINANCIAL sector takeover specialist Resolution said the chief executive and finance director of its British insurance consolidation vehicle are to cut their working week by 40 per cent as the group focuses its efforts on new projects outside the UK. Chief executive John Tiner and finance chief Jim Newman, who are also shareholders in the [...]
Top London property set for Chinese takeaway in new Cordea Savills fund November 28, 2011 IN RECENT years it has been seen as the preserve of affluent Britons, Arab sheiks and Russian oligarchs. Now, however, more top London property could be snapped up by Far Eastern investors, including perhaps the Chinese Communist Party. Cordea Savills, the fund management arm of consultancy Savills, has launched a £150m fund that will buy [...]
