Property trusts and merchants group clinch trio of acquisitions October 1, 2014 MCKAY Securities, LondonMetric Property and Grafton Group each added to their respective portfolios yesterday in a clutch of deals. McKay Securities, the only real estate investment trust specialising entirely in the south east and London office and industrial markets, announced the off-market freehold acquisition of The Planets in Woking for £8.75m. The property is adjacent [...]
City Moves for 2 October 2014 | Who’s switching jobs October 1, 2014 Gibson Dunn & Crutcher The law firm has announced two appointments to its London office. Charlie Geffen (pictured) joins as a partner and chair of its London corporate practice from Ashurst, where he was senior partner. Mark Sperotto also joins as a partner from Ashurst. EY Phil Dunne has been appointed partner to lead the [...]
Spie eyes float haul of €1.2bn September 29, 2014 FRENCH energy firm Spie yesterday said it aimed to raise as much as €1.2bn in its forthcoming stock market debut to value it at €2.75bn. Spie’s co-owner Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, which floated B&M Retail in London earlier this year, is hoping to sell €694m of existing stock alongside co-owner Ardian. A further €525m will [...]
Zalando shares priced at €21.50 valuing German online retailer at €4.9bn September 29, 2014 German online retailer Zalando has announced the pricing of its shares at the upper end of expectations- €21.50 (£16.79)- kicking off a bumper week for the German technology market. The six-year-old startup will make its market debut on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on 1 October, floating 11.3 per cent of the business to raise €605m [...]
Young entrepreneurs are holding their nerve while their parents fear failure September 28, 2014 One piece of data that can strike fear into the minds of government officials is the level of company formations. It may not sound like a stomach-turner, but a surge of new businesses could offer reassurance when politicians are rightly keen to see unemployment continue to fall. Right now, there’s cause for jumpiness. While the [...]
RAC float skids off the road as GIC buys stake September 25, 2014 PLANS for a £2bn float of RAC skidded off the road yesterday after Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC agreed to buy a major stake in the firm from private equity owner Carlyle Group. The sudden turnaround will see GIC become joint majority shareholder of RAC together with Carlyle, and also means city heavyweight and CBI [...]
Business hub London creates property boom September 25, 2014 PROPERTY FIRM of the year As London prices continue to rise, defying fears that the bubble is about to burst, property companies have seen a period of huge growth. Our shortlist, which was very tough to choose, includes companies such as the Berkeley Group and Workspace, which have seen their profits soar in the past [...]
When terrorists steal your name: The sorry plight of the brands called Isis September 24, 2014 Is there no such thing as bad publicity? If your brand carries the same name as an extremist terrorist outfit you might feel differently. Since emerging earlier this year, the militant group Isis has changed its name twice – it is now also known as Islamic State (IS) and Isil (Islamic State of Syria [...]
Brands with the name ISIS: To change, or not to change? September 24, 2014 If a group of Islamic extremists decides to adopt the same name as your company or brand, it puts you in a tricky situation. No matter what your brand might be or what the services or products it offers are, there is bound to be some negative effect. A number of brands called ISIS [...]
Why “ego appeal” has made office space in London’s skyscrapers the fourth-most expensive in the world September 24, 2014 If you want to rent an office in one of the City's trendy skyscrapers, it's going to cost you. At an average of $2,400 (£1,467) per sq ft, London's high-rise office space is the fourth-most expensive in the world, according to a report published today – just behind Hong Kong, Tokyo and Manhattan. According to [...]