Tesco completes £8bn Malaysia and Thailand business sale prompting £5bn shareholder windfall December 18, 2020 Tesco has completed the £8bn sale of its Thailand and Malaysia businesses and is gearing up to pay a £5bn special dividend to shareholders. The supermarket announced this morning that the division’s have been acquired by C.P. Retail Development Company, which is backed by Charoen Pokphand Group, CP All Public Company and Charoen Pokphand Foods. [...]
The Week in Sportbiz: Premier League toasts beIN deal; banker set to buy Lille; breakaways boosted; Australian Open delay; and Griezmann bins Huawei December 17, 2020 Christmas cheer has arrived early at the Premier League after it agreed a new $500m deal with beIN Sports. The contract, which gives beIN exclusive broadcast rights in 24 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, is effectively a three-year extension to their deal for 2019-22. It comes as a boost to the Premier [...]
Before the Bell: Coronavirus mutation unsettles the market as London faces Tier 3 December 15, 2020 European markets underwent a rather mixed session yesterday, with the FTSE100 underperforming after it was announced that London and a good part of the south east of England was being put into tier 3 restrictions at midnight tonight, due to a new strain of the coronavirus which was spreading at a faster rate. “This of [...]
London FOIL appoints Weightman’s partner as new president December 14, 2020 London FOIL has just appointed Ling Ong as their new president to lead the organisation through 2021. London FOIL is an arm of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers, concentrating on the global insurance and reinsurance markets. Ling Ong is also a partner at UK law firm, Weightmans. Ong has been appointed to replace the outgoing [...]
Chinese regulator fines Alibaba and Tencent under antitrust laws December 14, 2020 The Chinese markets regulator has fined Alibaba and Tencent for a string of deals in its latest bid to clamp down on tech companies. The State Administration for Market Regulation announced on Monday it had fined Alibaba, Tencent-backed China Literature and Shenzhen Hive Box Technology 500,000 yuan. It comes after the regulator published draft regulations [...]
Government enters funding talks with EDF over Sizewell C nuclear plant December 14, 2020 The government has today confirmed that it has entered talks with EDF over funding options for the Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk. The announcement, which came as ministers unveiled the long-awaited energy white paper, could see the government take a financial stake in the project. It comes after months of uncertainty regarding the [...]
Before the Bell: Fishing for a deal December 7, 2020 While markets in Europe underwent a fairly mixed week, the FTSE100 was notable in undergoing a significantly strong move higher to its best levels since March, driven up by a combination of optimism over the rollout of a vaccine, which begins this week, and the prospect of a possible UK/EU trade deal. US markets also [...]
The Week Ahead: Brexit, ECB rates, Rolls Royce, Ocado and Airbnb IPO December 7, 2020 City A.M. takes a look ahead at the main events shaping the markets this coming week, analysing what is to come with City insider Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK. Monday: Ted Baker When Ted Baker announced in June it was looking to raise over £100m at a discounted price of 75p [...]
UK MPs join push to support Australian wine in face of China tariffs December 1, 2020 British MPs have backed a call to support Australian wine, after China slapped 212 per cent tariffs on imports of the product. The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), which involves MPs from across the world, is calling for people to buy and drink Australian wine this month. America’s National Security Centre has also shown solidarity [...]
Tory MPs urge PM to sanction UK banks in Hong Kong for China cooperation December 1, 2020 Boris Johnson should threaten to sanction UK financial services firms operating in Hong Kong to push back against Beijing’s draconian security laws, according to a new report from top Tory backbenchers. A report from Westminster’s China Research Group, which is led by Conservative MPs Tom Tugendhat and Neil O’Brien, says the UK should sanction banks [...]