Mayor calls on business expertise December 8, 2008 London mayor Boris Johnson has recruited the help of 47 top-flight business leaders to offer him guidance and advice, it was announced yesterday. The International Business Advisory Council for London has been set up and will be chaired by Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of advertising group WPP. The council will advise the mayor on [...]
Dresdner sale gets interest of UK broker September 4, 2008 British broker Collins Stewart is circling Dresdner Kleinwort, after Commerzbank admitted it would shrink the investment bank as part of its €9.8bn (£7.9bn) deal for fellow German bank Dresdner. Collins Stewart, itself the subject of a takeover approach from Japanese group Nomura Holdings, is thought to be eyeing several Dresdner Kleinwort businesses, including its advisory [...]
Going short is not necessarily the answer September 2, 2008 A medium or long term approach may be wisest just now, says Katie Hope Its’ like a grim version of “when I were a lad…” working in the City at the moment. Everyone’s trying to out-do themselves in describing just how bad things have got. Going to school barefoot barely makes the grade in terms [...]
Atticus sees £2.7bn losses as downturn hits it hard September 2, 2008 Atticus, the high-profile New York hedge fund involved in the failed Barclays bid for ABN-Amro, has lost more than $5bn (£2.8bn) this year after its funds were battered by steep falls in financial stocks. The activist fund saw assets under management fall to around $14bn at the end of July, down from $20m last year [...]
TNS rebuffs WPP despite GfK walk out August 28, 2008 Market research company Taylor Nelson Sofre said it would continue to fight WPP’s hostile bid even after its preferred bidder GfK walked away from a takeover deal yesterday because it could not raise enough cash. German GfK had been trying to raise financing with private equity groups and wealth investors to launch a rival takeover [...]
China’s PBC builds stake in Prudential August 26, 2008 Prudential has poured cold water on suggestions that it should spin off its Asian arm into a separate company, as it emerged that the People’s Bank of China has built up a one per cent stake in the UK’s second-largest insurer. Chief executive Mark Tucker has fought an ongoing battle on two fronts to convince [...]
Indian tech giant snaps up UK’s Axon August 26, 2008 Indian software services giant Infosys yesterday said it had agreed to buy the London-listed IT consultancy Axon in a deal worth £407.1m – the largest ever takeover of a technology firm by an Indian player. Infosys, India’s second largest software services firm, offered 600p a share for Axon, a premium of 33 per cent on [...]
Rights issue to fall flat at troubled B&B August 15, 2008 Bradford & Bingley’s attempt to raise cash could see a take up as low as 8 per cent Bradford and Bingley faces a meagre take-up of its rights issue when it closes at 11am today, with shareholder support expected to be minimal. Shares in the troubled mortgage lender have skirted the 55p issue price for [...]
Barclays looks to grow despite loss August 8, 2008 Barclays executives sounded a note of caution yesterday, as the bank posted a 33 per cent decline in pre-tax profits to £2.75bn and took £2.45bn in impairment charges and credit provisions. Pre-tax profits fell 33 per cent from £4.1bn to £2.75bn, while income remained at £11.8bn and the dividend was stable at 11.5p. Chief executive [...]
Banking tragedy fails to lift market players August 4, 2008 You could say the UK banks reporting season is turning into a comedy of errors but perhaps a Shakespearean tragedy would be more apt. It was an awful first act for the sector last week but the drama will reach its crescendo this week as we await downbeat numbers from HSBC, Barclays and RBS. The [...]