Barclays rallies shareholders to vote down Ed Bramson’s ‘destructive and destabilising’ board bid March 19, 2019 Barclays has issued a plea to shareholders to reject Ed Bramson’s bid for a seat on the board, warning his presence would be “destabilising and destructive” to the bank. The bank published a comprehensive 1,500 words explanation as to why shareholders should fend off the activist investor’s advances at its AGM in May. Bramson, whose [...]
City Moves for 15 March 2019 – Who’s switching jobs at WBD, Deezer and BBC? March 14, 2019 Today's City Moves includes Womble Bond Dickinson, Deezer and the BBC. Womble Bond Dickinson Transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has appointed Audrey Koh as a partner in the firm’s London office. Specialising in white collar crime, Audrey will strengthen the firm’s key sectors of expertise, in particular financial institutions, energy and natural resources, [...]
Dublin already the big Brexit winner as financial services firms move business out of London March 11, 2019 DUBLIN looks set to be the big winner from Brexit as financial services firms move business away from London and “chip away” at the City’s influence. A study by think tank New Financial found that 269 banking and finance companies have already moved at least part of their business away from London ahead of Britain’s [...]
Apollo’s £3.3bn buyout of RPC Group melts away as plastics giant turns to ‘superior offer’ from Berry Global March 8, 2019 A US rival has hijacked the £3.3bn takeover of plastic packaging giant RPC Group by private equity firm Apollo Management. RPC accepted an offer in January by private equity firm Apollo Global Management after months of negotiations, but this has been ditched in favour of a “superior offer” by Berry Global. Read more: RPC's £3.3bn [...]
Aviva share price falls as it warns of ‘muted’ 2019 March 7, 2019 Aviva's shares were down five per cent this morning after it warned of a "muted" outlook for 2019 despite reporting rising profits for 2018 today. New boss Maurice Tulloch, appointed earlier this week, said the results showed the insurer’s “strong foundations”. The figures Profit before tax rose to £2.13bn in 2018 from £2bn in 2017 while group operating profit [...]
Three directors to leave Barclays board as bank faces threat from activist investor Ed Bramson March 6, 2019 THREE directors will leave Barclays in May, the bank said today, as it looks to fight off activist investor Ed Bramson’s bid for a seat on the board. The bank said Mike Turner, former chief executive of BAE Systems, would step down as the arrival of new chairman Nigel Higgins “presented an opportunity to review [...]
Aviva names insurance veteran as new CEO as it aims to boost shareholder returns March 4, 2019 Aviva has appointed a new chief executive five months after sacking former boss Mark Wilson, saying it had “much further to go” to enhance shareholder value. The insurer has named company veteran Maurice Tulloch as its new boss effective immediately, who will leave his position as boss of Aviva’s international business. I am honoured to [...]
Ed Bramson’s Barclays board bid suffers double blow as investment banking unit outperforms European rivals February 22, 2019 Barclays executives doubled down on efforts to scupper activist investor Ed Bramson’s bid to join the board yesterday, armed with better-than-expected results in its investment banking unit. In a further blow for Bramson, who has called for Barclays to scale back its investment bank, one of his key allies in the City, Aviva, said his [...]
A terrible year for deaths in 2018 could boost insurers’ balance sheets February 21, 2019 A grim year for deaths in 2018 could see insurers flush with cash as they release reserves earmarked for paying incomes to pensioners. According to analysts at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Capital Markets 2018, was “the worst year for deaths this millennium” with a prediction that the soon-to-be-published mortality tables used by UK insurers [...]
Berry Global gets deadline to hijack Apollo’s RPC Group takeover February 19, 2019 Berry Global, the US firm trying to hijack an agreed £3.3bn takeover of plastic packaging giant RPC Group, has been given a 13 March deadline to announce a concrete intention to make a counter offer. RPC accepted an offer in January by private equity firm Apollo Global Management after months of negotiations. But Berry, another [...]