Interview: Editor-at-large of Techcrunch Mike Butcher October 20, 2014 Mike Butcher believes that London’s tech scene has the ability not only to compete with the likes of Berlin and Stockholm, but to rival Silicon Valley. As editor-at-large of technology blog Techcrunch, Butcher has seen the capital’s tech hub around the so-called Silicon Roundabout at Old Street mature into a developed community, large enough to [...]
C4X Discovery IPO: Healthcare firm set to debut £31m City listing October 20, 2014 University of Manchester spin-out C4X Discovery will this morning announce its intention to raise £11m through listing nearly 36 per cent of the business on London’s Alternative Investment Market on Thursday. The float will give the Manchester-based business, which develops technologies to improve the discovery process for small molecule drugs for diabetes and substance [...]
Shire eyes deals using $1.6bn AbbVie windfall after takeover bid falls apart October 19, 2014 UK drugmaker Shire is eyeing up a number of acquisitions as it looks set to receive a windfall of as much as $1.6bn (£994m) from AbbVie, as the US pharma giant’s $54bn takeover bid falls apart. Shire is in discussions with acquisition targets including NPS Pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceutical firm Cubist, according to The Sunday Times. [...]
EE IPO talks back on as Orange and Deutsche Telekom consider options for £12bn disposal October 16, 2014 The owners of EE, the UK’s largest mobile network company, are believed to be back in talks for either a float or sale of the business that could value it at up to £12bn. Orange and Deutsche Telekom, which each own half of EE, were considering strategic options for the business last year before deciding [...]
Entu fully booked for IPO: “We’re very profitable and we’ve got a lot of cash” – CEO Ian Blackhurst October 16, 2014 Good companies find backers even in soured markets Energy efficiency and home improvement group Entu is set to float on London’s Alternative Investment Market later this month in a rare fully subscribed debut, valuing the business at £65.6m. Entu, which emerged out of the common ownership of three holding companies HI Sales, JWD [...]
Digital services send BSkyB’s profits soaring October 16, 2014 PAY TV broadcaster BSkyB reported a solid start to its financial year yesterday as revenues, profits and subscribers rose in the first quarter, prompted by sales of add-ons such as Sky Go. Sky increased its revenue by six per cent to £1.9bn for the three months to 30 September, with adjusted profit up nearly 13 [...]
Analyst Views: What did you make of BSkyb’s first quarter financial results? October 16, 2014 STEVE LIECHTI | INVESTEC First quarter figures are good, with better profit growth than we expected and confident overall trading comment. We remain neutral/mildly negative given competitive pressures in UK pay TV and some uncertainty over how the new Sky Europe plays out, particularly in Italy. PAUL RICHARDS | NUMIS The operational highlight was the [...]
Game Digital share price rises as consoles help video games retailer return to profit October 16, 2014 Game Digital, the high street video games retailer which went public in June, yesterday reported full-year profits compared with a loss last year in its maiden results yesterday, benefiting from strong demand for new Xbox One and Playstation 4 consoles. Profits jumped to £7.3m during the year to 26 July, up from a loss of [...]
Hedgies bruised as £8bn slashed from Shire stock after AbbVie fall-out October 15, 2014 The fallout from US drug giant AbbVie’s decision late on Tuesday evening to reconsider its $54bn (£32bn) takeover of Shire yesterday wiped over £8bn off the value of the British firm, and causing hedge funds banking on a successful deal to lose millions. Shire’s stock, inflated on the expectation of a deal since June, [...]
Qualcomm snaps up CSR for £1.6bn pushing tech firm’s share price up 30pc October 15, 2014 US chipmaker Qualcomm swooped in with a successful £1.57bn offer to buy British tech firm CSR yesterday, fending off rival Microchip whose bids had been repeatedly rebuffed by CSR’s board. Qualcomm’s 900p-a-share bid represents a 56.5 per cent premium to CSR’s shares prior to the start of the offer period in August. CSR’s [...]
