FTSE 100 property firm slams ‘opportunistic, one-sided, inadequate’ takeover offer July 8, 2026 Real estate investment trust Segro has issued a strongly-worded rebuttal of the £12.6bn takeover bid tabled by its US rival. In a scathing updated to investors, the FTSE 100 property firm branded Prologis’s offer “opportunistic, one-sided and inadequate”, after the American investment behemoth proposed combining the two companies into a mammoth investment trust last month. [...]
Takeovers aren’t the reason the London Stock Exchange is shrinking July 8, 2026 Takeovers like Schroders and Tate & Lyle grab the headlines but the far bigger problem for London is that there aren’t enough good companies arriving to replace them, says Henrik Persson There is a familiar account of London’s stock market malaise. UK listed companies are cheap and deeper-pocketed overseas buyers have noticed. Each new approach [...]
Quaise Energy Raises $134 Million in Initial Close of Series B to Build World’s First Superhot Geothermal Power Plant July 7, 2026 Prelude Ventures led the round, with participation from JERA Co., Inc., Japan's largest power generation company, and Idemitsu Kosan, one of Japan's largest integrated energy companies Series B equity is the first component of a diverse financing that includes project-level capital and debt Quaise's millimeter wave drilling system is approaching one kilometer of depth at its Central Texas field site Series B proceeds fund Project Obsidian in Central Oregon, the world’s first commercial superhot geothermal power plant
South Korea is the canary in the coalmine of the AI boom July 7, 2026 South Korea’s experiment with leveraged single-stock ETFs has shown how quickly passive investing, concentrated markets and retail speculation can feed on one another, says Helen Thomas The new frontier for the AI boom isn’t Silicon Valley but South Korea. While the country has long been home to technology giants such as Samsung Electronics, the country’s [...]
House prices rise as mortgage rates ease from Iran war highs July 7, 2026 House prices inched up in June as mortgage rates softened following a sharp spike in response to the Iran war. The average UK property price rose by 0.2 per cent in June to £299,330, compared to a 0.2 per cent fall in May, according to the Lloyds house price index. Inflationary fears and expectation of [...]
Britain set to miss net-zero car targets despite record electric vehicle sales July 6, 2026 Britain is set to miss its net-zero emission target for cars despite Electric vehicles (EVs) claiming a record share of the UK new car market in June, fuelled by billions of pounds in discounts. Battery EVs accounted for 30 per cent of all new cars registered last month – the highest monthly share of the [...]
UK investors turn to bonds as equities valuations continue to stretch July 6, 2026 UK investors piled into bonds in June, as soaring valuations in equity markets has left many investors looking to avoid heightened risk and stretched value. Bond funds attracted over £1bn of net inflows last month, making it third-strongest on record for fixed income funds, according to the latest data from Calastone. The streak came as [...]
Half time: London market lags as rivals across the Atlantic hit fresh highs July 1, 2026 London’s main stock market index ended the first half of 2026 within touching distance of a record high set earlier in the year, but remained off the pace set by its rival in New York. The FTSE 100’s positive-but-relatively-limited run for the period summed up a feeling of measured optimism. While it made overall gains, [...]
The Nichols N1A proves there’s still a market for cars that make no sense at all July 1, 2026 Steve Nichols, the Formula One designer behind McLaren’s legendary MP4/4, has finally put his name on a road car. The result is a £540,000 British supercar that seems determined to ignore almost every automotive trend of the past decade. The modern supercar is becoming a strangely sensible thing. Even Ferrari is building an electric car, [...]
Treasury confirms scrapping of Lifetime ISA but industry questions remain June 24, 2026 The government has confirmed it is replacing the hotly debated Lifetime ISA with a new product aimed solely at first time buyers, but industry figures are questioning the new framework. In a consultation published on Tuesday, the government confirmed the new product, dubbed the ‘First Time Buyer ISA’, (FTB ISA) will only be available to [...]