Retail investors to be courted in biggest Nordic flotation in years February 18, 2014 ISS, the Danish outsourcing group, intends to attract retail investors to its stock market flotation in Copenhagen, the biggest Nordic flotation in 14 years. “There’s potential to have strong demand,” chief executive Jeff Gravenhorst said yesterday. “The percentage that goes to the retail investor will depend on their appetite.” ISS, which is part-owned by Sweden’s [...]
Candy Crush maker King’s $500m IPO on its way February 18, 2014 The developer of addictive puzzle solving games, King, has confirmed that it's going to market. The company has filed for a $500m initial public offering. It boats 324m monthly unique users, and offers a portfolio of over 180 games. King hopes to list ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticket symbol [...]
Man Utd chief: If success-starved Liverpool can still sell shirts we don’t need to worry February 12, 2014 Mirth might be in short supply among Manchester United fans this season but that did not stop executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward making an apparent joke at Liverpool’s expense while announcing financials today. Woodward delivered the pointed quip during an investor conference call while rebutting fears that United’s dreadful recent on-field performance would affect their famous [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 05 February 2014 February 4, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Deutsche aims to regain lost ground Deutsche Bank has appointed a new New York-based co-head of fixed income trading as the lender adds senior staff and billions in capital to its US business to regain lost ground in the largest investment banking market in the world. Rich Herman has been elevated to the [...]
US stocks pare losses as steady data calms bears February 4, 2014 US STOCKS bounced back yesterday, following Monday’s sell-off and the bigger slump that hit Asian markets, buoyed by better data on the health of American industry. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) assessment of January factory conditions in New York came in slightly stronger than expected, and although factory orders fell 1.5 per cent from [...]
Bottom Line: Just-Eat.com whets the LSE’s appetite January 20, 2014 THE HIRING of advisers by Just-Eat sounds like good news for Joanna Shields. In a surprise announcement at the end of last week, the former Facebook exec said she is becoming a non-executive director at London Stock Exchange Group, which is hungry for tech listings. She is stepping down as the chief executive of Tech [...]
Suntory time for Jim Beam as Japanese taste for whisky grows January 13, 2014 What with Amec's £1.9bn move for Foster Wheeler and Goldcorp's $2.6bn offer for rival Osisko, today was already shaping up to be the biggest merger Monday in some time. But Japanese investment firm Suntory Holdings just blew everyone out of the water by making a $16bn (£9.74bn) bid for Beam – the NYSE-listed maker of Jim [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 10 January 2014 January 9, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Taxman hardens stance on disputes The UK taxman has toughened its stance on disputes with big business in response to public pressure over alleged “sweetheart” deals, companies say. Three-quarters of such groups surveyed by Clifford Chance, a law firm, said HM Revenue & Customs had “generally become more aggressive in recent years”. Santander [...]
Deal-makers are hoping that UK M&A returns to form January 6, 2014 AS WE head into the New Year the City will be cautiously optimistic about likely activity in the corporate finance markets in 2014. Last year saw a major revival in the new issues or initial public offering (IPO) market, which had been virtually dead in 2012. UK IPO revenue totals were 274 per cent up [...]
Standard Chartered would do better being more upfront December 16, 2013 BEFORE and during the financial crisis, which rocked so many banks to their foundations, Standard Chartered could seemingly do nothing wrong. While their rivals dodged in and around write-downs, rescue rights issues and increased impairment charges, the stock of both chief executive Peter Sands and his ebullient finance director Richard Meddings rose sky-high. So highly [...]