Slump in UK buyout deals July 8, 2009 THE FIRST half of 2009 was one of the worst periods in recent history for UK mergers & acquisitions (M&A) because the debt needed to fund the deals has dried up, according to research from Mergermarket. The number of completed deals in the UK was down 66.4 per cent on the same period last year, [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 8, 2009 Collins StewartThe investment banking group has appointed Simon Whittley as an intermediary sales manager to its wealth management division. Whittley will be responsible for increasing referral business from law firms, accountants, independent financial advisers and trust companies. He previously worked at Credit Suisse Private Bank, Arbuthnot Latham Investment Management and Close Wealth Management. HSBCAndrew Keen has [...]
Women team up to beat the recession July 8, 2009 MORE women work in the City than they used to, but it’s still hard to get on. Only 13 women hold executive directorships on the board of FTSE 100 companies (that’s 3.6 per cent) and there are just 110 woman non-executive directors, 14.5 per cent of the total. During the recession, the situation for women has [...]
SPORT IN BRIEF July 8, 2009 Poulter ignores Scottish jinxGOLF: England’s Ian Poulter says he won’t be listening to any “wives’ tales” when he tees off for the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond today. No player has ever won this event and gone on to take the Open Championship the following week, but Poulter, currently at a career high No16 [...]
Glaxo tops the table as the market hopes to feel better July 8, 2009 THE FTSE 100 ended down by 1.1 per cent yesterday, hitting its lowest closing level in more than two months, as weakness in banks, oil producers and miners offset minor resistance in some defensives. The index closed down 46.77 points at 4140.23, its third day of losses. Banks were under pressure on the economic outlook [...]
CITY MOVES Who’s switching jobs July 7, 2009 Palamon Capital PartnersThe mid-market private equity firm has appointed Dr Richard Wolman to its now 13-strong board of advisers. Wolman is a consultant in human resource development with a particular focus on investment firms, trading houses and management consultancies. Since 2008, he has been working with Palamon on internal development strategies and assisting its investment [...]
Commodity currencies on the turn July 7, 2009 OVER the past fortnight, risk aversion has returned with a vengeance as a string of data – including US unemployment figures and a downward revision to UK first quarter GDP – disappointed the markets. Foreign exchange markets have reacted predictably with both the US dollar and the Japanese yen strengthening markedly against the commodity currencies. [...]
Miners give support as they rise to recoup their losses July 7, 2009 MINERS were the saviour of the FTSE 100 yesterday, offsetting falling oil stocks and disappointing UK industrial output data to keep the index flat, or just 7.91 points lower, at 4,187. Data showed that UK manufacturing output unexpectedly shrank in May, falling 0.5 per cent on the month, making it less likely the economy returned [...]
Rio Tinto sale helps pay off its Alcan debt July 6, 2009 MINING giant Rio Tinto boosted its cash position yesterday, selling its Americas food packaging company to US group Bemis $1.2bn (£740m). Rio said that $200m of the sale proceeds may be in the form of Bemis shares.Rio, which last week raised $15.2bn through a massively discounted rights issue, is looking to slash the debt it [...]
JJB Sports shares dive on cash call July 6, 2009 JJB SPORTS yesterday suffered a 25 per cent plunge in its share price to 23p after investors were rattled by a confirmation of a £50m rights issue and a controversial row involving executive chairman Sir David Jones. The ailing sportswear chain yesterday said it is looking to raise working capital in a placing and open [...]