Hope of euro stimulus plan boosts shares – London Report January 21, 2015 DETAILS of the European Central Bank’s move to begin quantitative easing pushed the FTSE to a six-week high yesterday. It was also helped by a rally in energy stocks on the back of stronger oil prices. A programme by the European Central Bank for a year from March would amount to some €600bn, based on [...]
Sky and TalkTalk join the list of bidders circling Telefonica’s O2 January 20, 2015 EUROPEAN pay-TV broadcaster Sky has been named among the growing list of parties interested in bidding for Telefonica’s UK mobile network O2, which was spurned by BT before Christmas in favour of a £12.5bn bid for rival EE. Talks between Telefonica and Sky, as well as interest from UK value player TalkTalk, were first reported [...]
Sky and Talk Talk are the latest in the frame to buy O2 from Telefonica January 20, 2015 Sky and Talk Talk are the latest to join the queue of apparent bidders to snap up UK mobile business O2 from Telefonica. Talks between the Spanish telecoms firm and Sky and Talk Talk are said to be taking place, according to reports, just days after it was revealed China’s Hutchison Whampoa, the owner of [...]
China’s Hutchison Whampoa pushing ahead with £9bn O2 takeover talks January 18, 2015 Hutchison Whampoa, the owner of the UK’s fourth-largest mobile network Three, is continuing talks with Spain’s Telefonica to buy its UK network O2. Telefonica was in talks with BT to sell O2, valued at around £9bn, but the deal fell apart when BT opted for exclusive deal talks with Orange and Deutsche Telekom to buy [...]
Ofcom puts BT under pressure to cut broadband cost to rivals January 15, 2015 Ofcom yesterday warned BT that it might be forced to raise broadband prices for customers or slash what it charges rivals to use its network, under tough new tests. The proposal is designed to ensure that BT cannot price rivals such as Sky and TalkTalk out of the market. Under current rules, BT allows rivals to [...]
‘Basketball has all the attributes to be Britain’s true second sport’ January 14, 2015 The NBA’s Ben Morel tells Frank Dalleres about their plans to expand in London IF YOU are lucky enough to be among the 20,000 or so witnessing the NBA’s dazzling roadshow tonight at the O2 then you are probably either a celebrity or quick out of the blocks. Tickets for the match between the Milwaukee [...]
New Year resolutions for trading success January 5, 2015 The new year has arrived with a bit of a bang for markets: a euro selloff, further slides in the oil price, and the rouble is still getting hammered. And for UK investors, the run-up to the General Election is bound to bring with it several waves of serious uncertainty. Between now and May, says [...]
Who’s lining up in the CEO sack race? Ladbrokes’ odds on Standard Chartered’s Peter Sands January 4, 2015 There were a lot of interesting moves at the top in 2014, with chiefs taking P45s left right and centre – Harriet Green at Thomas Cook, Simon Calder at Mothercare and Tesco’s Philip Clarke to name but a few. But who will be saying sayonara in 2015? Well, sadly we don’t have a crystal ball [...]
Pensions pots to Kristofferson: Hermes Investment chief Saker Nusseibeh’s bid to make the City think differently December 21, 2014 “I do genuinely play guitar still, badly; I refuse to look at Harley Davidson stocks – because to me it’s a religion, not a motorbike company and I’m growing my beard to try and look like Kris Kristofferson,” Saker Nusseibeh, chief executive of Hermes Investment Management tells me. “Does this make me a better or [...]
Premier League auction turns heat up on Sky December 17, 2014 Sky’s reliance on Premier League football rights was highlighted again yesterday after a leading broker reiterated its “sell” rating on the company by reminding investors about the significance of the sporting contract to the company’s future. Broker Liberum Capital published fresh research identifying the auction for the Premier League’s viewing rights – which began last [...]