Boohoo buys Debenhams brand and website for £55m – but stores set to close January 25, 2021 Online retail giant Boohoo has announced it will buy Debenhams’ brand and website for £55m, but will not rescue the high street chain’s stores or jobs. The deal – announced this morning – means Debenhams’ remaining 118 department stores will close down and could result in up to 12,000 job losses. Boohoo said the acquisition [...]
Dr Martens to announce cornerstone investors in £3.5bn London listing January 24, 2021 Iconic footwear brand Dr Martens will launch a £3.5bn London listing tomorrow, with the retailer’s top management set to pocket multimillion-pound payouts. Dr Martens is expected to announce tomorrow that it has secured cornerstone investors when it publishes the prospectus for a share sale ahead of the initial public offering (IPO) next month, The Sunday [...]
London Stock Exchange mulls £300m Covid rescue fund January 23, 2021 The London Stock Exchange is plotting a £300m listed investment vehicle aimed at offering much-needed support to companies hit hard by the pandemic. David Schwimmer, LSE chief executive, has led talks with top City figures and Treasury figures about establishing an investment trust that would list on the index. It is understood the vehicle, dubbed [...]
Retail therapy: How has the Covid-19 pandemic changed the way we shop? January 22, 2021 The lifestyle changes from Covid-19 were reflected in where people chose to spend their hard-earned cash in 2020, with local shops, fitness platforms and recipe boxes feeling the benefit of a year in the coronavirus pandemic.
Has Covid-19 changed the conversation around sustainable investing? January 22, 2021 Sustainable investing is not just about a company’s financial success, but how it achieves that success. The importance of considering all stakeholders is intrinsic to the approach. Those stakeholders range from employees to shareholders to wider society. The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on how companies treat their employees, protect their customers, and help [...]
Lloyd’s lures Aviva’s MD for new chief of markets role January 22, 2021 Lloyd’s said this morning it has created a new chief of markets role which will oversee performance and distribution at the insurance giant. Patrick Tiernan has been hired for the position once he has seen out his current stint as managing director at Aviva, where he was previously chief financial officer. Tiernan has 24 years [...]
Wall Street slides as ‘Biden bounce’ runs out of steam January 22, 2021 Wall Street fell today as global markets stepped back from the highs they reached on the back of Joe Biden’s new economic stimulus proposal. After once again hitting record highs earlier this week, Wall Street’s main markets once again showed that they were not immune to the malaise felt around the world. The S&P 500, [...]
Vaccine hopes fail to inject consumer confidence during lockdown January 21, 2021 The nation’s largest ever vaccination programme failed to buoy UK consumer confidence during the latest national lockdown, a new survey has shown, as widespread gloom about current Covid restrictions prevailed into the New Year. The closely-watched consumer confidence index from researcher GfK fell two points to minus 28 in January after a slight uptick over [...]
Exclusive: ‘Banks should deliver the same experience as Amazon and Netflix’, says Ezbob CEO January 21, 2021 After a year that was hugely disrupted by Covid-19 and the entire economy and its workforce moved online, City A.M. sat down with Tomer Guriel, CEO of Mayfair-based Ezbob, which provides digital lending software to some of the biggest banks and financial institutions in the City. A vaccine is being rolled out, so the City [...]
IG Group set to buy US broker Tastytrade in $1bn deal January 21, 2021 IG Group is set to buy US online trader Tastytrade in a $1bn cash and shares deal as it continues to dip its toes in the US market. It marks the London-listed firm’s biggest ever acquisition with Tastytrade shareholders set to receive $300m in cash and 61m IG shares valued at $700m. The acquisition will [...]