Uber China raises $1.2bn led by Baidu while local rival Didi Kuaidi bags $3bn September 7, 2015 China is the new battleground for Uber – and now it has landed billions to fund a fight against a rival which calls the country home turf. Speaking to Chinese media, Uber boss Travis Kalanick confirmed UberChina has bagged at least $1.2bn (£787m) in its latest round of funding, with the investment led by one of [...]
Sports Direct shareholder Royal London Asset Management to vote against Mike Ashley at AGM September 7, 2015 Mike Ashley is no stranger to investor unease, but he could be heading towards a bigger upset at this week's AGM. Following guidance issued by shareholder group Pirc, now Sports Direct shareholder Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) has said it will vote against Ashley's reinstatement on the board this year. Ashley Hamilton Claxton, [...]
Prime central London house price growth at its lowest in five years thanks to China and stamp duty September 7, 2015 Prices of homes in some of London's most exclusive areas grew at their lowest in more than five years in August, new figures have suggested. The Prime Central London Sales Index, by upmarket estate agent Knight Frank, has found annual house price growth dropped to 1.7 per cent in August, the lowest rate since November [...]
Blackrock backs Chinese real estate September 7, 2015 Blackrock, the world's largest asset manager, has turned its attention to Chinese real estate, intending to make the most of softening markets over there. The company announced it is ready to increase its portfolio exposure, focusing on affluent, high-end mass-market shopping malls and premium grade offices in China's biggest cities. John Saunders, head of Asia-Pacific [...]
City A.M.’s 10th Anniversary: Celebrating 10 years of events that shaped a decade September 6, 2015 A crunch, a crash, a coalition… When City A.M. hit the streets in 2005 no one could have predicted what was in store for the Square Mile and the broader UK – and global – economy. Here we revisit a selection of the moments that defined the last 10 years, and remember how they were [...]
China’s real crisis: It may never become a rich country September 6, 2015 I thought I smelled a rat. As I have often told my European colleagues – fond as they are of conspiracy theories about American foreign policy – they have the wrong Shakespeare play in mind: America is more Hamlet than Macbeth. By that I mean that, whereas outsiders to the policy world often assume great [...]
China’s stock market turmoil is near its end, says head of central bank September 6, 2015 Chinese stock markets have almost recovered from their fall into correction, according to Zhou Xiachuan, governor of China's central bank. During the G20 meeting of finance ministers this weekend, he said the stock market correction resulting from turbulence in recent weeks was “largely in place”, after the government took steps to stabilise the economy. [...]
London property focus on North Greenwich: Affordable homes by the riverside September 4, 2015 Fancy a night out in North Greenwich? No, not that one with the market, the chapels, the observatory and the ship. The other one with the O2 Arena and… not much else. It’s a hard sell, truth be told, so imagine how much harder it must be to convince someone to live there. Once a [...]
Skills gap is bigger threat than Brexit: Talent shortages to hit UK economic growth, warn finance chiefs September 4, 2015 Top UK finance chiefs are more unnerved by their lack of access to talented labour than they are by the threat of Britain leaving the EU, the Bank of England hiking borrowing costs or even the abrupt slowdown in China that has sent shockwaves throughout global financial markets. Fear over dwindling access to skilled [...]
The UK’s skills shortage is getting worse: It’s time for a shake up in the classroom and the boardroom September 3, 2015 There’s an elephant in the boardroom. According to a survey of the finance directors of many of the UK’s largest companies, it casts a greater shadow than China or Brexit or the hacking horrors of cyber attacks. It’s the new number one at the top of Britain's risk registers – the difficulty of recruiting [...]