Bond says no to M&S role October 1, 2009 ASDA chief executive Andy Bond yesterday ruled himself out of the running for the top job at high street retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S). Bond said: “I am not interested. I am not going to M&S. End of story.” M&S has said it will appoint a new chief executive next year, with Sir Stuart Rose [...]
ROLET BRINGS IN THE BANKING BIG HITTERS TO EYE UP M&A TARGETS September 30, 2009 MUCHOS excitement on the markets yesterday after Xavier Rolet continued in his quest to stamp his mark on the London Stock Exchange by axing its long-standing M&A advisers. Rolet has made no secret of his ambitious plans for the exchange, which he hopes to turn into a £10bn business via a number of strategic acquisitions [...]
London set for surge of IPO activity September 28, 2009 THE CITY is gearing up for a return of initial public offering (IPO) activity as a torrent of companies prepare to take the plunge into shareholder ownership, according to Thomson Reuters data. Underscoring the dramatic recovery being staged on equity markets, five IPOs – where firms listed on stock markets – are now on the [...]
Pawnbroker’sprofit surges on gold price September 28, 2009 PAWNBROKER Albemarle & Bond (A&B) yesterday announced a 50 per cent rise in its full-year pre-tax profit helped by a strong gold price, and said trading remained strong. The company also said in a separate statement that its founder, Philip Murphy, will retire from his role as non-executive director at the group’s next annual meeting. [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 27, 2009 F&CF&C has appointed Philip Martin as Head of Proposition for its UK retail business. He was formerly at Nucleus Financial Group which he co-founded in 2006.Martin has worked at the Life Association of Scotland, Ivory & Sime and Scottish Life International. He ran his own strategic marketing and product development consultancy, Abacus, before co-founding Nucleus. [...]
Cadbury and Kraft bosses woo investors September 22, 2009 THE bosses of Kraft and Cadbury are holding a series of meetings in London this week to drum up support from investors in the bid battle for the Dairy Milk maker. Cadbury chief executive Todd Stitzer and Kraft boss Irene Rosenfeld yesterday attended the Bank of America Merrill Lynch global consumer and retail conference and [...]
Belgian bank set to make loss selling off its British brokerage September 20, 2009 BELGIAN bank KBC has put its London brokerage and corporate finance house, KBC Peel Hunt, up for sale. The struggling bank has had to borrow around €7bn (£6.3bn) from the Belgian government, and is now likely to make a huge loss on its investment by selling the brokerage. KBC bought Peel Hunt in a deal [...]
The world’s biggest hotelier won’t let the downturn stop expansion September 20, 2009 At 6’3”, the chief executive of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Andrew Cosslett has broad shoulders – and with the battering the travel sector has taken over the last year it is just as well. Not surprisingly, the economic downturn has hurt the world’s largest hotel group, which boasts 630,000 rooms across more than 4,300 hotels [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 17, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES UK RAISES OPEL ‘SUBSIDY WAR’ FEARLord Mandelson called on Brussels last night to ensure that Germany’s offer of multibillion-euro subsidies to smooth the sale of General Motors’ European arm does not begin a “subsidy war”, with governments using state aid to protect jobs. The UK business secretary’s intervention in the political row over [...]
City Moves for 15 September 2009 | Who’s switching jobs September 14, 2009 White & CaseThe law firm has appointed London partner Oliver Brettle to its global executive committee. Brettle will retain his responsibilities as executive partner in the London office, which he has led for the past year. He replaces New York-based partner Dimitrios Drivas on the committee. Drivas is stepping down from the post to devote [...]