Dragon adds fire to fight for Blacks Leisure stores January 5, 2012 DRAGONS’ Den star and serial entrepreneur Peter Jones has thrown his hat in the ring for the troubled outdoor goods retailer Blacks Leisure, which was put up for sale last month. Jones, who is on the panel of the BBC reality TV show, has emerged as one of the four trade bidders to have tabled [...]
MF Global UK clients set to get back cash this month – KPMG January 5, 2012 THE ADMINISTRATOR of MF Global UK plans to start returning to clients the $1.2bn (£774m) of cash and assets frozen at the collapsed broker as early as this month, in a move that will placate customers ahead of their showdown with KPMG next week. Richard Heis, KPMG’s joint special administrator of MF Global UK, said: [...]
Deadline for Blacks bids draws closer as January 3, 2012 SPORTS DIRECT, the retailer controlled by the billionaire football tycoon Mike Ashley (pictured), is understood to be one of four interested buyers expected to place a bid for the ailing outdoor retailer Blacks Leisure within the next two days. Blacks, which put itself up for sale last month after failing to secure extra funding, is [...]
Retail layoffs to soar as six chains falter January 2, 2012 MORE than 11,800 retail jobs and 870 high street shops may be lost in coming weeks after six struggling high street names were put up for sale or into administration in December. Retail analysts warned of a potential wave of consolidation in the sector and grim trading updates this month as poor Christmas trading put [...]
Analysts call for a flight to quality in 2012 stock picks January 2, 2012 EUROPEAN equities look cheap but investors should tread cautiously in 2012, paying premium prices to target high-quality stocks, analysts have said. The market sell-off in the second half of 2011 left many shares undervalued, but investors should target solid companies with a good dividend yield as the market uncertainty and volatility is expected to continue. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 22, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CALLS FOR QE TO STAVE OFF EURO DEFLATION A top European Central Bank policymaker has called for “quantitative easing” to be used to boost the eurozone economy if deflation risks emerge across the region. The comments by Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, ECB executive board member, are the strongest indication yet that the central bank [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 20, 2011 Barclays Wealth Wellian Wiranto has been appointed as Asia economist at Barclays Wealth’s Singapore office. As a member of the Barclays Wealth global investment strategy group, Wiranto will also focus on interpreting market economics for private banking clients in the region. Prior to joining Barclays Wealth, Wiranto worked at HSBC Bank in Singapore as its [...]
Black’s Leisure looks for new bidders or faces winding-up December 18, 2011 BLACK’S LEISURE faces falling into administrators’ hands and being broken up if the struggling outdoor chain fails to find a buyer this week, putting 2,000 jobs at risk. Black’s competitors Go Outdoors and Mountain Warehouse have both emerged as likely bidders for the company after Sports Direct’s billionaire founder Mike Ashley ruled out a bid [...]
New Olympus filings reveal a £700m hole December 14, 2011 FORMER Olympus chief executive Michael Woodford said he wants to recapitalise the troubled camera and equipment maker within months, after it staved off the immediate threat of being de-listed. Woodford, who is seeking investor support to be reinstated, said: “You have to look at improving the capital structure of the company. Because of the litigation [...]
La Senza on the brink as it calls in KPMG December 13, 2011 LINGERIE firm La Senza has called in restructurers from KPMG as it struggles to manage costs during the high street slump. City A.M. understands the British and European business, which is owned by private equity house Lion Capital, is considering entering administration but other options, such as a company voluntary arrangement or winning new investment, [...]