Burford Capital ditches finance chief in response to activist pressure August 15, 2019 Under-fire litigation funder Burford Capital today announced it would appoint a new chief financial officer and seek a US listing following last week’s attack from shortseller Muddy Waters. Burford said its chief finance officer Elizabeth O’Connell will be replaced by Jim Kilman, formerly vice chairman of Morgan Stanley Investment Banking, with immediate effect. O’Connell is [...]
Bayer share price surges amid report it could settle Roundup weedkiller lawsuits for $8bn August 9, 2019 Bayer’s share price rocketed by as much as 11 per cent today as a report emerged that the German giant had proposed to pay $8bn (£6.59bn) to settle 18,000 lawsuits relating to its Roundup weedkiller. Read more: Judge reduces Bayer weedkiller damages Bayer later trimmed gains back to 5.8 per cent on Germany’s Dax stock [...]
Fintech star Revolut goes live with zero-fee Nasdaq stock trading service August 1, 2019 Digital bank Revolut has today launched its commission-free stock trading service, more than a year after it was first announced. The platform will present a fresh rival to London startup Freetrade, in addition to larger services such as those run by Etoro. Read more: Metro Bank finance director quits to take role with Revolut Enabled [...]
China’s Nasdaq rival Star Market see shares surge on first day of trading July 22, 2019 Shares shot up on the launch of China’s new Nasdaq rival – the Star Market – today. Shanghai Stock Exchange’s tech-focused stock market aims to use Shanghai’s credentials as a global financial hub as a springboard to success, with 25 firms listed on it already. Read more: Google terminates Project Dragonfly, its censored Chinese search [...]
Voyager Air grounds plans for London Stock Exchange listing July 18, 2019 An aircraft leasing firm has stalled its planned initial public offering (IPO), becoming the second major company in a fortnight to put off its float in London. Voyager Air has halted its ambition to raise $200m ($160m) through an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, blaming “currently unfavourable” market conditions for the move. Read more: [...]
Budweiser blues: AB InBev scraps plans for largest IPO of 2019 July 13, 2019 The world’s largest brewer has abandoned plans for a blockbuster initial public offering (IPO). Budweiser owner AB InBev cited weak market conditions as it pulled the plug on a $9.8bn (£7.8bn) listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The float, which was billed as the world’s largest IPO of 2019, comes against a backdrop of [...]
US stock markets hit record highs as Fed chair hints at rate cuts July 10, 2019 Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Jay Powell has boosted the market’s expectations that the first interest rate cut in ten years will come this month with a gloomy testimony to a congressional committee. Read more: Fed holds interest rates but hints at future cuts In a prepared statement Powell said “trade tensions and concerns [...]
Blast off: Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic plots public listing July 9, 2019 Space may be the final frontier, but Virgin Galactic is readying itself to overcome a fresh obstacle before launching into the great unknown: a stock market listing. Sir Richard Branson’s space-tourism venture is planning to go public as part of a deal with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Read more: Fifty years on from the [...]
CBRE makes £267m swoop for London developer Telford Homes July 3, 2019 Real estate giant CBRE is set to snap up FTSE housebuilder Telford Homes as it plans to cash in on the UK’s growing build-to-rent market. The US property giant has reached an all-cash agreement to buy Telford for roughly 350p per share in cash, valuing the deal at £267m and representing an 11.1 per cent [...]
Slack surges on public debut at $25bn valuation June 21, 2019 Shares of workplace messaging app Slack soared in its first session as a publicly-traded company today, rising nearly 60 per cent to value the firm above $25bn (£19.7bn). The tech firm had used a direct listing model to go public on Wall Street, opting to not raise any additional capital after several large funding rounds [...]