WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 26, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BANKS BACK SWITCH TO RENMINBI FOR TRADE A number of the world’s biggest banks have launched international roadshows promoting the use of the renminbi to corporate customers instead of the dollar for trade deals with China. HSBC and Standard Chartered are offering discounted transaction fees and other financial incentives to companies that choose [...]
Banks and miners suffer after MPC’s Weale warns of fresh dip August 24, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed lower yesterday after weak US existing home sales data cast further doubt on the economic recovery story, with UK banks, miners and energy stocks bearing the brunt of the sell-off. The FTSE 100 ended down 78.89 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 5,155.95, its lowest close since 20 July, having [...]
POTASH IN TALKS TO BLOCK BHP BID August 23, 2010 CANADIAN fertiliser producer PotashCorp is courting a range of potential “white knight” partners in a determined attempt to see off a $40bn (£25.5bn) hostile bid from mining giant BHP Billiton, the company confirmed yesterday. The world’s largest potash producer said it had been approached by and had initiated contact with a number of third parties, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 23, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES COMPANIES NOW TURN TO PRIVATE PLACEMENTS FOR FUNDING Private placement deals – whereby companies tap investors directly for loans – are on track for one of their strongest years, highlighting the extent to which companies are seeking to diversify their funding sources away from banks. Companies tapped the market for $27.4bn in the [...]
PotashCorp hunts for a white knight August 23, 2010 THIS is shaping up to be a classic takeover wrangle. First came the unsolicited bid – at $39.6bn (£25.5bn), BHP Billiton’s offer is a 20 per cent premium to PotashCorp’s undisturbed share price – which was immediately knocked back. Then came the anguished rhetoric from PotashCorp about the “grossly inadequate” level of BHP’s approach. The [...]
TRADERS SEX UP THE DULL WORLD OF FOREX August 23, 2010 THE THINGS that bored traders get up to when they get a minute, eh? The Capitalist chances upon an, err, enterprising website set up by a pair of forex traders, who claim to have cracked the conundrum of how to dispense a barrage of information to their peers while simultaneously holding their interest – by [...]
China’s ZTE wins Hungary deal August 23, 2010 China’s ZTE Corp has won a major contract to roll out a 4G mobile network in Hungary in a coup for the Chinese telecoms industry. The deal with Telenor, valued at €200m (£163m), represents a thawing of the mistrust surrounding Chinese technology firms. As early as this month ZTE saw the Indian government block purchase [...]
Savvy traders should bet on a golden autumn August 22, 2010 THE old City adage of selling in May and not returning until St Leger’s Day in early September typically refers to the equity markets, which suffer from low volumes and choppy trading during the summer months. But the saying is equally applicable to the gold market, which also demonstrates a clear seasonality and experiences a [...]
KNOC launches £1.7bn hostile bid for Dana August 20, 2010 State-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) has made a hostile $2.6bn (£1.7bn) cash bid for Dana Petroleum, reflecting South Korea’s growing urgency to boost oil reserves. Seoul gave KNOC a $6.5bn warchest this year to compete with energy-hungry Asian state firms aiming to secure future supplies for their growing economies. Chinese and other firms have [...]
Rio Tinto boss hopes to forge stronger ties with state-owned firms in China August 19, 2010 GLOBAL miner Rio Tinto hopes to see further cooperation with China’s state-owned firms after its tie-up with Chinese aluminium giant Chalco, Rio Tinto’s boss yesterday. Tom Albanese, chief executive, also said the company was willing to help China seek mineral resources at home and abroad. “The partnership with Chalco opens the potential for further cooperation [...]