BT’s Tech Mahindra stake eyed October 5, 2010 Private equity firms including Apax Partners and Providence Equity have shown interest in buying BT Group’s stake in Tech Mahindra that is likely to be valued at $830m (£522m). BT has restarted discussions to sell its holding in Tech Mahindra following the restatement of financial numbers by the Indian IT services firm’s unit Mahindra Satyam. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 3, 2010 LEGAL & GENERAL Legal & General has confronted the UK life industry’s strategic challenges, transforming both its product range and cash flow, according to UBS. The broker maintains a “buy” recommendation and says that the fruits of this are now evident and the company has answered the existential questions that still vex some peers. TATE [...]
SUPERFAST BROADBAND HITS THE BEACH September 30, 2010 BT chief executive Ian Livingston (right) yesterday launched a major fibre broadband network in Cornwall as part of the firm’s goal of providing superfast internet to 66 per cent of the UK by 2015. BT worked with the local authority and Brussels to fund the roll out to some of the more remote parts of [...]
Pension funds back FRC code September 23, 2010 A RAFT of UK pension funds have come out in support of the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC’s) new Stewardship Code. Eleven pension funds, collectively valued at £180bn, have banded together to back the new code, set out by the FRC in July. In a letter sent to the financial watchdog, the pension funds said they [...]
World’s 500 biggest firms guilty of carbon footprints September 19, 2010 THE WORLD’S 500 largest companies are responsible for more than 10 per cent of global emissions, new research by the Carbon Disclosure Project has found. Figures show that the world’s largest businesses contribute 11 per cent of global emissions. Roughly 65 per cent of these companies have implemented carbon emission reduction targets but a meagre [...]
BT accused of creating two tier internet September 14, 2010 A NEW BT service that will allow it to charge ISPs higher prices for better quality services has led to accusations it is creating a “two tiered internet”. BT’s Content Connect effectively creates an online space separate from the regular internet which ISPs can stream video without sapping bandwidth from regular users. The telecoms giant [...]
COMPANY OF THE YEAR | The Shortlist September 12, 2010 IT has been another tough year for business. The sovereign debt crisis rocked already shaky market confidence, while uncertainty has kept consumers from splashing out. It is in hard times that reputations are made, though, and over the past year the best have bounced back. Both retailers on our list have, in their different ways, [...]
Pace secures loans to snap up 2Wire September 1, 2010 PACE, the world’s largest set-top box maker, has agreed loans of $450m (£291.1m) to fund its acquisition of US broadband technology firm 2Wire. A $300m term loan and $150m of revolving credit were underwritten by HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland. An existing £35m credit line with RBS was cancelled. The acquisition, which Pace hopes [...]
Canvas called poison pill for internet TV August 31, 2010 OFCOM has received a third competition complaint about BBC-backed video-on-demand service Project Canvas. Regional broadcaster Six TV joins Virgin and Sky in claiming the joint venture will unfairly dominate the online TV market. Virgin lodged an official complaint earlier this year and now Six TV has branded the venture a “poison pill” for the local [...]
The drawbacks of defined contribution pensions August 31, 2010 IT HAS been a rocky couple of years for pension funds. Some high profile defined benefit plans, such as those of BT and British Airways, have suffered badly since the on-set of the financial crisis. But the problems that have hit defined contribution (DC) plans have not made the same waves in the media. The [...]