Harry Potter and the publishers of fury June 23, 2011 JK ROWLING yesterday delivered a warning shot to the publishing industry that it must adapt to the rapidly-changing online world or risk becoming marginalised. The Harry Potter author revealed she will offer her record-breaking children’s books for download through her own website, circumventing the need to visit digital bookshops like those owned by the likes [...]
Home Retail Group looks to bid for Habitat stores June 23, 2011 HOME Retail Group, the owner of the Argos and Homebase retail chains, is in talks to buy Habitat. The luxury furnishings company is now owned by restructuring specialist Hilco. It has 71 stores worldwide, including 35 in the UK, 26 in France, five in Spain and five in Germany, employing 2,100 staff. It is understood [...]
Capital & Counties submit Earls Court housing plans June 22, 2011 CAPITAL & COUNTIES Properties submitted plans yesterday for the £8bn redevelopment of Earls Court site in West London. EC Properties, a subsidiary of CapCo, presented planning applications to Hammersmith and Fulham council to demolish the 77-acre site in West Kensington – which includes the Earls Court Exhibition Centre – and replace it with 7,500 new [...]
PROPERTY FIRM OF THE YEAR | THE SHORTLIST DAY 4 June 22, 2011 The property sector has experienced mixed fortunes this year. While work on record-breaking skyscrapers has really picked up the pace, other projects have been left unfinished or even empty once completed. London has continued to enjoy the best conditions for investing and developing real estate – with nominees British Land, Land Securities and Heron among [...]
Banks drop but FTSE treads water ahead of Fed decision June 22, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index closed marginally lower yesterday, as weakness in banks offset gains in defensive stocks with investors jostling positions ahead of a US interest rate decision. London’s blue chip index bobbed around but closed down 2.32 points at 5,772.99, as cautious investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s assessment of the economy and any plans [...]
Chelsea Barracks £3bn plan approved June 21, 2011 NEW plans for the redevelopment of Chelsea Barracks in central London were given the go-ahead yesterday by Westminster council, two years after the Prince of Wales intervened over the original plans for the site. The outline of the masterplan for the scheme, which will cost around £3bn, will see the 13-acre property that used to [...]
Leadenhall Triangle sale completed June 21, 2011 HENDERSON Global Investors has completed the purchase of the Leadenhall Triangle site for around £190m, the fund manager announced yesterday. The Triangle, which encompasses five sites in the City including Leadenhall Street and Fenchurch Street, was sold following interest from 11 potential bidders. The plot’s previous owners, who were clients of Investream, hired debt-servicing specialist [...]
HKEx: a global IPO hot-spot June 21, 2011 THE Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) is Asia’s third largest exchange in terms of market capitalisation, after Tokyo and Shanghai. It was first established in 1891, although informal exchanges were taking place in Hong Kong for some thirty years previous to that date. Nowadays, the exchange has become well-known for attracting big international companies – [...]
A HAVEN OF FREE TRADE SHOWS THE WAY TO CHINA’S OPENING MARKETS June 21, 2011 HEAD OF PRODUCT, BARCLAYS STOCKBROKERS THIS week takes us to Asia-Pacific; to Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. All three offer investors access to China but none more so than Hong Kong. FRAGRANT HARBOUR Hong Kong is Asia’s second largest exchange by market capitalisation and was formed in 1980 by a merger between the Far East [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 20, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES ASTRAZENECA TO OFFLOAD SWEDISH DIVISION AstraZeneca is in final talks to sell Astra Tech, the Swedish healthcare and dental business, to Dentsply International in a deal that could value the group at about $1.8bn (£1.1bn). The US dental equipment maker has outbid other potential buyers, including private equity group EQT Partners and medical [...]