BarCap set to gain broking mandate at 3i March 8, 2011 BARCLAYS Bank’s fast growing equities business BarCap was last night said to be close to winning an important new broking appointment at the international private equity group 3i. 3i has been conducting a regular review of its brokers, which are currently Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JP?Morgan. The group, whose chief executive is Michael [...]
Meet the hottest of HOT HATCHES March 1, 2011 DESPITE the fact that Citroën has been doing rather well these past several years in the World Rally Championship, it’s taken until now for the French manufacturer to create a road car with WRC credentials. Citroën has created its new 204bhp 1.6-litre DS3 Racing model to be an extremely sporty rival to cars including Mini’s [...]
CAR TALK March 1, 2011 Vauxhall’s new Zephyr Officially it’s only a concept, but make no mistake: most of what you see here is Vauxhall’s new Zephyr. The rakish exterior design of this Zafira Tourer Concept has been inspired by high-speed train design and is conceived to be a “lounge-on-wheels”. Ambient mood lighting, a panoramic windscreen and flexible seating for [...]
Nasdaq could muscle in on NYSE-DB deal February 23, 2011 US stock exchange Nasdaq is mulling a bid for NYSE Euronext, sources said yesterday, in a move that has the potential to scupper NYSE’s $9.5bn (£5.9bn) planned merger with Deutsche Boerse. Nasdaq, which is valued at $5.7bn, is thought to be looking at muscling in on the NYSE deal to avoid becoming a takeover target [...]
M&A by energy firms at highest levels on record February 22, 2011 DEALS between energy and power firms have helped to boost the volume of mergers and acquisitions to $93.7bn (£57.9bn), the highest level since records began. Activity, boosted by several large deals, lifted deal volume by 40 per cent compared to the first few months of last year. The figure was helped by three of the [...]
BHP’s shale gas deal gets a thumbs up from the market February 22, 2011 BHP Billiton’s share price rose yesterday after details of its $4.75bn (£2.94bn) purchase of US gas firm Chesapeake’s assets and $5bn buy-back filtered through the market. BHP, which announced the plans to the London market yesterday, said it would take over Chesapeake’s shale gas reserves in the Fayetteville field in Arkansas to gain an exposure [...]
Late rally fails to push FTSE up to 6,000 February 22, 2011 The FTSE rallied valiantly this afternoon on the back of strong US consumer confidence data, after incurring a morning of losses from concern over the ongoing Libya crisis. Banks and commodities suffered from concerns that crude oil prices would spike and knock the global recovery, and the FTSE 100 closed down 0.3 per cent at [...]
BHP in $5bn US gas deal February 21, 2011 BHP BILLITON yesterday agreed to buy US shale gas assets from Chesapeake Energy Corporation for $4.75bn cash, in its first acquisition since a series of failed major deals. BHP said the deal, expected to close in the first half of the year, would give it the second largest position in one of the largest gas [...]
Inside Track February 21, 2011 IT’S been a good few days for some of the world’s investment banks, with merger mania hitting the stock exchanges, the final consummation of the drugs merger between Sanofi-Aventis and US biotech firm Genzyme and then yesterday’s £1.3bn spirits bid from the drinks group Diageo. It’s not quite an unrestrained takeover environment but it certainly [...]
Australian cyclone hits Rio production February 21, 2011 GLOBAL miner Rio Tinto said yesterday it expects cyclones affecting its coastal operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara region to affect shipped tonnage figures for the first quarter of this year. Rio Tinto said it had maintained operations at 14 mines in the region but Cyclone Carlos has caused frequent interruptions at its Dampier and Cape [...]