Founders of Setanta plan last ditch bid June 9, 2009 SETANTA founders Leonard Ryan and Michael O’Rourke are understood to be locked in talks to table a last-ditch bid that could see them buy out the ailing firm’s other investors, which include Doughty Hanson, Balderton Capital and Goldman Sachs. It is also thought that Setanta has recently offered stakes of up to 30 per cent [...]
Wednesday looks for 20m June 2, 2009 SHEFFIELD Wednesday’s chairman Lee Strafford has just appointed US banking advisers to help him flush out a £20m investment for the Championship football club. Strafford, who co-founded PlusNet before selling it to BT in 2007 for £67m, has just returned from the US where he and Wednesday chief executive Nick Parker met a number of [...]
Hermes plans hedgie overhaul May 31, 2009 Hermes, the asset management giant which runs the BT pension fund, has demanded a more transparency and fairer fee structures in the hedge fund industry. Following a tide of calls for the sector to demystify as the credit crunch has rumbled on, the pension manager said it wants to set up a committee to push [...]
REWARDS FOR FAILURE AT BT May 27, 2009 PRESSURE was mounting on BT yesterday, after the struggling telecoms giant revealed that the former head of its loss-making Global Services division (BTGS) received a pay packet totalling £2.85m in 2008. Ahead of the company’s annual general meeting in July, shareholders said Francois Barrault’s annual package – which included a £1.59m termination pay off – [...]
Shed Media appoints Rabbatts as non-executive chairwoman May 27, 2009 TELEVISION production company Shed Media has appointed Heather Rabbatts as its non-executive chairwoman. The former Channel 4 head of education will join the Shed Media board on 10 June, replacing David Kogan. Rabbatts is also a non-executive director of the Royal Opera House, UK Film Council and Crossrail, and was previously a non-executive director of [...]
Pension threat to firms must be eased, says CBI May 25, 2009 THE government must lengthen the period over which it assesses the health of company pension schemes, according to the CBI. The employers’ organisation is today pushing for “urgent action” to extend the rule forcing the Pensions Regulator to investigate firms’ funding plans where deficit repayments will take more than ten years to 15 years. It [...]
Uncertainty over dividend payments could see defensive shares back on top May 25, 2009 MARKS & Spencer was hit by shareholder anger last week after it confirmed a widely flagged decision to slash its dividend payout to shareholders by one third. It saw its shares dive to the bottom of the FTSE 100, wiping 8 per cent off the share price in just one day. The price has continued [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 21, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESCORUS CHIEF SCRAMBLES TO RESCUE FACTORY DEALCorus chief Kirby Adamsm who took over at the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker last month, faces both the worst fall in steel demand for 60 years and a battle to salvage an agreement to sell the group’s Teesside plant to Marcegaglia. It has emerged that Marcegaglia is having second thoughts [...]
Shell and Next hit by angry shareholders May 19, 2009 SHELL and Next’s Annual General Meetings (AGMs) set the stage for a summer of discontent yesterday, as shareholders voiced concern over their companies’ remuneration policies. Almost 60 per cent of investors at oil giant Shell voted against the company’s executive pay scheme, while a disgruntled 17 per cent at Next came out against the firm. [...]
BT bosses face no bonuses if they fail to meet standard performance targets May 17, 2009 TELECOMS firm BT will claw back executives’ bonuses, it emerged yesterday, should they fail to meet performance targets. The news comes after BT announced a crisis in its corporate services arm, more job losses and cut its final dividend last week. BT’s annual report, due to be published on 27 May will outline the details [...]