BT takes on BSkyB in the battle for pay-TV with ESPN purchase February 25, 2013 BT has agreed to buy ESPN’s UK and Ireland television business as it bids to loosen BSkyB’s grip on the pay-TV sports market with the launch of its own channels. The deal, which includes the ESPN and ESPN America channels, will see BT take on ESPN’s live sports rights package in Britain and Ireland, including [...]
Doping claims add sub-plot to court drama February 21, 2013 BLADE Runner Oscar Pistorius faced accusations of doping yesterday, as day two of his bail hearing for suspected murder took an unexpected twist. Police said they found two boxes of the male hormone testosterone and syringes at the pioneering track superstar’s Pretoria home. But the South African’s defence lawyer Barry Roux rubbished the claim, saying [...]
Osborne hit by £1.2bn shortfall from 4G auction February 21, 2013 THE TREASURY will bank far less than expected from an auction of 4G spectrum, with bidding leaving a black hole of more than £1bn in George Osborne’s accounts. After weeks of secret bidding, the UK’s four mobile operators, along with BT, will spend £2.34bn on airwaves to deliver the next generation of mobile services, far [...]
FTSE funds help raise £1bn for infrastructure February 18, 2013 A HOST of FTSE 100 retirement funds yesterday revealed they had raised £1bn to plough into the UK’s creak- ing infrastructure as inf luential investor Edmund Truell called on government to do more to boost building investment. Pension schemes run by BAE Systems, BT, Lloyds TSB and British Airways are among ten schemes launching a [...]
BT executive Liv Garfield joins Tesco board February 13, 2013 OLIVIA Garfield, chief executive of BT’s Openreach, is to join the board of Tesco as a non-executive director, the supermarket giant announced yesterday. Garfield has been with BT since 2002 and head of its superfast broadband division since 2011. Tesco said she will bring “valuable experience of new and emerging technologies” when she joins the [...]
City Moves for 13 February 2013 | Who’s switching jobs February 12, 2013 RBS The bank has announced the appointment of Jonathan Barrow as regional director for the east of England in its corporate and institutional banking coverage team. Barrow joined RBS 17 years ago, and has worked in various regional corporate locations in the UK, as well as at RBS’s New York office. Smith and Williamson The [...]
What the other papers say this morning February 6, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Buyout firms seek £10bn EE bid Buyout firms have accelerated talks with lenders to secure funding for possible £10bn bids for EE, the UK’s largest mobile phone operator, in what would be the biggest private equity-backed acquisition in Europe since the financial crisis. The efforts have picked up in intensity in the past [...]
Four-play isn’t enough: Virgin should make this deal February 5, 2013 JOHN Malone’s bid makes good sense for Virgin Media. Born of the pioneering consolidation of UK cable and mobile firms to build Britain’s first quadruple-play media firm (providing broadband internet, fixed-line telephone, mobile telephone and television services), the resulting company has acknowledged it remains vulnerable to a larger-scale consolidation by its rivals. Joining a global [...]
ARM tops FTSE 100 February 5, 2013 The leading share index shrugged off its losses yesterday to jump 0.5 per cent in early deals, helped by strong corporate earnings updates. Chip maker ARM Holdings topped the FTSE 100 leader board in early deals, rising almost 4.5 per cent. This morning it posted a better-than-expected 16 per cent rise in fourth-quarter pre-tax profit. [...]
BT tops FTSE 100 February 1, 2013 The benchmark index rose back through the 6,300 barrier this morning, boosted by strong gains from telecoms firm BT. BT rose almost 3.8 per cent in early deals, on the back of a seven per cent jump in pre-tax profit over the three months to December thanks to strong demand for its fibre optic broadband. [...]