BAT in $452m swoop to buy Protabaco May 26, 2011 BRITISH American Tobacco (BAT) said yesterday it had agreed to buy the privately owned Productora Tabacalera de Colombia, the second largest cigarette company in Colombia, for $452m (£277m). The London-based second biggest cigarette maker in the world said the deal will elevate it to second from third place in Colombia, Latin America’s fourth largest cigarette [...]
BAT in $452m deal for Protobaco May 26, 2011 British American Tobacco said it had agreed to buy the privately owned Productora Tabacalera de Colombia, the second largest cigarette company in Colombia, for $452m (£277m). The London-based second biggest cigarette maker in the world said the deal will elevate it to second from third place in Colombia, Latin America’s fourth largest cigarette market with [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 23, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES UK BUILDERS SEE VALUE OF ORDERS COLLAPSE The value of work awarded to UK construction companies crashed during the past year, raising concerns that the impact of government spending cuts will be far worse than previously feared. The total value of new work awarded to the UK’s 50 leading construction companies fell by [...]
UK launches probe into “big four” auditors May 17, 2011 Competition authorities are to probe the stranglehold of the world’s biggest accountancy firms on British blue-chip company audits after finding evidence of anti-competitive behaviour. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said dominance of the sector by the so-called “Big Four” threw up barriers for rivals and made it hard for firms to switch auditors. The [...]
Here’s to some green shoots in M&A May 12, 2011 Now I’m not one to want to follow inadvertently in the footsteps of Shriti Vadera, who famously said she had noticed the green shoots of recovery shortly after the banking crisis had reared its head in 2009. Vadera, who was then business minister to the Brown government, was roundly criticised for calling the recovery a [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 2, 2011 Brookland Partners The investment bank has appointed Griff Winkler as a director, where he will focus on expanding the firm through identifying investment opportunities from capital providers and other JV partners. Winkler joins from Hatfield Philips, where he was vice president of the non-performing commercial real estate loan group. He also brings five years of [...]
Tesco wages war on British banks April 19, 2011 TESCO’S new chief executive yesterday set the retail giant on course for a showdown with Britain’s banks, as he made growing his financial services unit one of his top priorities. Philip Clarke, who replaced Sir Terry Leahy at the helm of Britain’s top supermarket last month, said Tesco’s bank would become a “big part” of [...]
Global growth fears weigh on FTSE April 12, 2011 Worries over global growth and Japan’s continuing nuclear crisis have combined to cause an almost 100-point plunge on the FTSE today. The FTSE 100 lost 89 points in the day’s trading to close 1.5 per cent down at 5,964.47 after the International Monetary Fund downgraded the US’ growth forecast to 2.8 per cent and the [...]
At a glance: All the crucial points in the ICB’s report April 11, 2011 THE AIMS l The focus is to make banks more stable, the UK banking system more competitive and to reduce the costs to the economy and taxpayers of any remaining bank failures. The banking sector must be returned to normal market forces. l Enhanced competition is needed between UK banks to reduce concentration and offer [...]
One size fits all Eurozone is set for total failure April 7, 2011 WHAT a horrible mess. Portugal is broke and begging for a bailout, yet Jean-Claude Trichet, the European Central Bank’s (ECB) president, chose yesterday to hike interest rates by a quarter point. It hasn’t exactly been a good week for the Eurozone, which is facing a slow-motion, ever worsening existential crisis that could end up destroying [...]