Budget focus should not be on banker bashing June 20, 2010 Tomorrow George Osborne will deliver one of the most important Budget announcements in recent memory as he outlines plans to deal with the harsh financial realities facing our nation. The chancellor has already taken steps to trim the structural deficit but there is more to do if we are to maintain our reputation for fiscal [...]
Jupiter prepares for first day of trading June 20, 2010 CITY investors will be closely watching Jupiter Fund Management’s debut on the London Stock Exchange today, after its shares rose from 165p to 190p in unofficial dealing. Rival asset manager Gartmore has disappointed since its initial public offering (IPO) in December. Its share price has almost halved from 217p to 117.7p amid fears over internal [...]
Heron may buy Tower 42 June 20, 2010 GERALD Ronson, the property tycoon currently building the Heron Tower, was named as a surprise bidder for Tower 42 in reports over the weekend. The tower, the tallest completed building in the City at 600ft, was put up for sale by owners BlackRock and Hermes in April. A spokesperson for Heron International, Ronson’s private property [...]
Resolution eyes £800m in Axa June 20, 2010 Clive Cowdery’s insurance consolidation vehicle, Resolution, is hoping to free up around £800m from the inherited estate of Axa’s UK business if its £2.8bn takeover goes ahead. Axa had previously sought permission from the Financial Services Authority to expatriate excess funds from the group’s with-profits life assurance portfolios over the next two years, and Resolution [...]
Troubled retailer bounces back June 20, 2010 USC, the chain of youth fashion outlets owned by Scottish private equity magnate Sir Tom Hunter, has returned to profit after going through a pre-pack administration in 2008. Accounts filed at Companies House show the clothing house delivered pre-tax profits of £1.3m for the year to January 2010 on revenues of £69m, compared with a loss [...]
Brit waits for higher Apollo bid June 20, 2010 Shareholders in Brit Insurance, the Lloyd’s of London company, are waiting to see if US private equity player Apollo will raise its £770m buyout bid this week. Brit Insurance’s largest investors have dismissed Apollo’s offer of £10 per share as speculative, suggesting they want at least £11 per share.
TPG BAGS REPUBLIC FOR £300M June 20, 2010 TPG Capital, the US private equity giant behind the controversial “quick flip” of Debenhams in 2006, has moved down the market capitalisation scale to buy youth fashion retailer Republic for £300m. TPG aims to double the number of Republic outlets in the UK and Ireland from 103 to more than 200. The transaction marks a 4.7 [...]
Ocado to report a healthy sales drive June 20, 2010 THE online grocer, Ocado, aims to make its stock market debut by the middle of next month and is expected to make a formal announcement next week. The company has achieved soaring sales but has yet to make a pretax profit. Ocado hopes to achieve a valuation of £1bn and has appointed JPMorgan Cazenove, UBS [...]
Telstra agrees to £6.5bn Australian internet upgrade June 20, 2010 INTERNET group Telstra has agreed an A$11bn (£6.5bn) deal with the Australian government to roll out a national broadband network, after nearly a year of negotiations. The company, which was part-owned by the State until 2006, will replace its copper and cable internet network with a fibre-optic service and lease it back to the Australian [...]
Ocado June 20, 2010 THE former Goldman bankers behind Ocado certainly have chutzpah. Trying to reach a £1bn valuation in a flotation is a tall order for pretty much any firm in these times; to do so without having turned a single penny of profit is nothing short of brazen. Ocado’s product is top-drawer in many respects, there’s no [...]
