Former BP boss Lord Browne to chair Huawei UK February 16, 2015 Huawei, the world’s second-largest telecom equipment maker, yesterday appointed a trio of directors to its UK subsidiary’s board, including former BP chief executive Lord Browne as chairman. Lord Browne will become the first independent chairman of the Chinese company’s UK arm. Dame Helen Alexander, chair of marketing firm UBM and former UKTI head Sir Andrew [...]
Virgin Media plans billion-pound broadband investment in “£8bn boost” to UK economy February 13, 2015 Virgin Media has unveiled major plans to invest in its broadband network which it says will benefit the UK economy by £8bn. The £3bn of investment will also create 6,000 jobs over the next five years, 1,000 of which will be apprenticeships, the Liberty Global-owned company has said. Virgin will increase by a third the number [...]
Red Devils hit by Champions League absence February 12, 2015 MANCHESTER United has found itself deeper in the red as its failure to qualify for the Champions League has seen debts spiral and revenues plunge. The UK’s biggest football club came seventh last season as David Moyes took over the role of manager from Sir Alex Ferguson who had managed the team since 1986, delivering [...]
BT taps market for £1bn to get EE February 12, 2015 BT RAISED around £1bn through a share placing with institutional investors yesterday to help fund its £12.5bn takeover of mobile phone operator EE. The shares, equivalent to about three per cent of BT’s outstanding issuance, were priced at 455p, slightly below yesterday’s opening price of 458.7p. BT said the placing is not conditional on the [...]
Premier League TV deal: An economics professor on why lowering ticket prices and redistributing the wealth could backfire February 12, 2015 With £5.14bn heading the Premier League’s way thanks to Sky and BT’s record domestic TV rights deal, public pressure is being placed on the organisation to share the wealth and relinquish the financial burden on match-going fans. The Football Supporters’ Federation has called upon the league to implement a £20 limit on away [...]
BT begins placement of £1bn of shares to fund EE acquisition February 12, 2015 BT is selling £1bn worth of shares to fund its £12.5bn deal for mobile network EE. The new shares will be listed through an accelerated bookbuilding process to fund part of the cash element of the deal, the telecoms giant confirmed this morning. The bookbuilding for the sale of 5p ordinary shares to institutional investors, [...]
Shares in Sky drop after huge TV bill emerges February 11, 2015 SKY SAW its stock open four per cent down in trading yesterday after agreeing to fork out £4.1bn for the right to show live Premier League football between 2016 and 2019. The British media giant won five out of the seven TV packages up for sale, but had to stump up 83 per cent more [...]
Premier League comes under further fire for TV rights auction February 11, 2015 The auction process used by the Premier League to sell TV rights to Sky and BT for a whopping £5.1bn came under criticism yesterday for the second time in a matter of days. The deal was reached under a blind auction, with an unknown number of rounds and bidders. Virgin Media chief executive Tom Mockridge [...]
Energy, oil and Sky’s football bill hurt FTSE – London Report February 11, 2015 THE UK and Gas index fell 0.6 per cent after crude dropped 2.3 per cent on expectations of persistent oversupply, a stronger dollar and a report showing US crude stockpiles at a record high yesterday. Meanwhile the main index was dragged lower by energy company movements as well as the fallout from Sky bidding for [...]
Manchester United made favourites to break transfer record following record Premier League TV deal February 11, 2015 A bookmakers has made Manchester United the favourite to become the first club to pay a player more than £500,000 a week. Following the Premier League’s record-breaking domestic TV rights deal negotiated with BT and Sky, bookmakers Paddy Power has issued odds on which club will be first to break the salary milestone [...]