BBC TO QUIT ICONIC WHITE CITY CAMPUS AND CUT 2,000 JOBS October 6, 2011 THE BBC will quit its west-end White City campus and become “significantly smaller” in response to deep spending cuts imposed on the publicly funded broadcaster. It set out the changes in response to a 20 per cent cut to its annual £3.5bn budget imposed by the government a year ago. Around 2,000 jobs will be [...]
Blackstone arm buys loans firm October 6, 2011 GSO Capital Partners, the global credit platform of US private equity giant Blackstone, has bought European leveraged loan manager Harbourmaster Capital for an undisclosed sum. Harbourmaster manages and advises on €8bn (£6.96bn) of assets, lifting GSO’s loan platform to €11.5bn of assets under management. The deal will help GSO to achieve its sought-after European growth and [...]
Del Monte and BarCap settle October 6, 2011 DEL Monte and its financial adviser Barclays Capital yesterday agreed to pay $89.4m (£57.9m) to settle a lawsuit that claimed they had not acted in investors’ best interests in the food company’s $4bn buy-out last year. Investors claimed that Barclays, which advised Del Monte on its sale to a private equity group led by KKR, [...]
BANKING’S TOP TEAMS SEEK NEW PASTURES October 6, 2011 THE EXODUS of senior banking talent continues – and with it, some interesting tales emerge. Take Merrill Lynch’s broking star Simon Fraser, who has informed his clients Man, Meggitt and Capital One Shopping Centres he is leaving them at the end of the year for pastures new. Quite literally, in this case, as Fraser owns [...]
Axis-Shield bows to new bid from US peer Alere October 6, 2011 MEDICAL diagnostics firm Axis-Shield said it had agreed to be bought by larger peer Alere after the US company modestly sweetened its offer to £235m, ending a three-month battle for the maker of Afinion devices. Axis-Shield’s shares, which have gained about 34 per cent in value since Alere first pitched the offer to the board [...]
NO SLY PRACTICES AT MIRROR, SAYS BAILEY October 6, 2011 A probe of the Trinity Mirror newsrooms ordered by chief executive Sly Bailey has concluded there is no evidence of widespread phone hacking at the company, recommending only small tweaks to the firm’s practices. The results of the probe come amid fresh allegations that the firm’s People title routinely hacked into voicemails, made by a [...]
Brewin sees assets grow amid turmoil October 6, 2011 STOCKBROKER Brewin Dolphin grew its assets in the year to the end of September as investor patterns changed amid market fears. Funds under management grew 3.4 per cent as investors poured money into Brewin’s discretionary range of products, ahead of tougher market conditions in the fourth quarter. Brewin now runs £24bn on behalf of private [...]
MEET THE ADVISERS October 6, 2011 LAWRENCE GUTHRIE HAWKPOINT PARTNERS HAWKPOINT Partners is advising Arbuthnot on the Secure Trust Bank flotation process, fielding a team led by Lawrence Guthrie, managing director in its financial services team. Guthrie has previously advised extended warranties specialist Domestic and General Group on its sale to Advent International for £542m, and helped the Manchester-based Davenham Group [...]
Arbuthnot to float its Secure Trust Bank arm October 6, 2011 ARBUTHNOT Banking is to float its Secure Trust Bank division on London’s junior Aim stock market, as part of plans to develop its business and compete with the UK’s major lenders. Arbuthnot expects Secure Trust Bank’s flotation to take place by the end of the month. It will place new and existing shares in Secure Trust [...]
Cuts loom at F&C as Grisay steps down October 6, 2011 ACTIVIST investor Edward Bramson is expected to slash costs at F&C Asset Management after the departure of the chief executive, his rival, cemented his control of the group. Bramson, who won a bitter boardroom battle to lead the board of F&C in February, was yesterday named executive chairman after chief executive Alain Grisay decided to [...]
