All Saints on the verge of buyout deal April 26, 2011 FASHION chain All Saints was on the verge of being sold to US private equity house Goode Partners last night, despite an audacious eleventh hour bid by British venture capital veteran Jon Moulton, the chief executive of the firm told City A.M. “I think the deal is imminent,” said Stephen Craig. “Goode will be a [...]
All Saints edges closer to sale amid administration fear April 25, 2011 HIGH street fashion retailer All Saints is set to complete a sale to US private equity house Goode Partners by the end of this week, despite fears its creditors could put it into administration. Sources close to the process said the US firm was “leading the deal” to buy all of the ordinary shares in [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 25, 2011 Gap The US retailer has announced that it will combine its international operations into one London-based division, to be led by Stephen Sunnucks, the new president, international of Gap Inc. Since joining the company five years ago, Sunnucks has guided the growth of Gap and Banana Republic in Europe. Gap has also appointed John Ermatinger, [...]
IT’S A GAS FOR CLARE AT BANKER BRIEFING April 20, 2011 HOW can money be the same as gas? It’s a good question, and one that bankers were giving serious thought yesterday at a lunchtime talk at Clifford Chance by Clare Spottiswoode, member of the Independent Commission on Banking. The former gas regulator had been briefed to update 34 high-powered bankers, including Antony Jenkins, group chief [...]
Vedanta raises stake in Cairn India as a deal inches closer April 19, 2011 OIL firm Vedanta edged closer to sealing its long-awaited purchase of Cairn’s Indian assets yesterday when it snapped up a 10.4 percent stake from Malaysian oil company Petronas for around $1.5bn (£919m). Cairn, which owns 62 per cent of Cairn India, agreed last August to sell up to 51 per cent of the firm, while [...]
The man who’s locking horns with indecisive EU regulators April 17, 2011 MENTION Brussels to any senior London-based insurer and you will always get the same reaction: anger and exasperation. With just over 18 months to go before the introduction of Solvency II, the insurance industry’s equivalent of the new Basel III banking rules, European regulators have still not produced a framework that properly reflects the business [...]
A new man to bear the Southern Cross April 12, 2011 TROUBLED healthcare group Southern Cross has appointed a new chairman, the second reshuffle within the company’s top ranks in just three weeks. Ray Miles, who was chairman of the group for three years, has been replaced by Chris Fisher (right), as the company continues its restructuring. Fisher has over 25 years experience in investment banking. [...]
Just three weeks to go to get your entries in for the City’s best awards April 12, 2011 THERE are just three weeks left to get those entries in for City A.M.’s second awards ceremony where we will be celebrating the best of London’s financial business community and its most successful individuals and firms. Anybody present at last year’s inaugural ceremony will bear testimony to the fact that the City A.M. awards have [...]
For those without family connections, professional qualifications are a lifeline April 12, 2011 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (BRAND), ACCA LAST week, Nick Clegg launched the government’s new social mobility strategy to great fanfare. With slightly more fanfare, the press and opposition skipped over the strategy and focused on Clegg’s use of unpaid interns and the parental help he’d had to start his career. Amusing headlines – not if you’re Nick [...]
Retail activity to get explicit state backing April 11, 2011 PROPOSALS by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) could deter competition and lead to the first ever explicit taxpayer subsidy of retail banks, according to industry experts. “The implicit taxpayer guarantee of banks has become far more explicit with the ICB report making clear that retail banking businesses will be protected while investment banks will [...]