CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 3, 2009 RWC PartnersThe asset manager has appointed Mike Corcell to its London office to launch a new UK long/short equity fund, expected to open in the third quarter of this year. Corcell joins RWC from SAC Investment Management, which he joined last year after a five-year stint at Threadneedle, where he launched and managed the $700m [...]
HAMMERSON BIDS ADIEU June 3, 2009 PROPERTY company Hammerson yesterday said it had sold its Les Trois Quartiers office and retail property in Paris to private equity real estate investor MGPA for €21m (£18.2m). The property was valued at €275m at 31 December 2008 and commands rents of €19.8m a year. The group has been trying to dump Les Trois Quartiers [...]
Westfield cuts service charge June 1, 2009 Shopping centre giant Westfield is offering to cut service charges at its west London mall by seven per cent in a bid to end a long-running disagreement with retailers over its decision to hike the fees just a few days after the £1.6bn centre opened its doors. The developer is now offering to cut service [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 27, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES MISYS PUTS NEW FINANCE IN PLACE FOR ALLSCRIPTSMisys, the banking and healthcare software group, has refinanced the debt package it agreed in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers last year. The $210m (£131m) three-year deal replaces a $325m package to secure the acquisition of Allscripts, the US clinical software record provider, [...]
Henderson Global names new head of 150m property fund May 26, 2009 HENDERSON Global Investors has named Cameron Fraser as head of its £150m institutional UK property fund, replacing Ludo MacKenzie who is jumping ship to become a partner at rival property fund Melford Capital Partners. Fraser is joining from CBRE Investors, where he was manager of the Unilever account and oversaw the growth of its fund [...]
US consumer confidence boosts late London trading May 26, 2009 BETTER than expected consumer confidence data out of the US gave the FTSE 100 a much-needed boost yesterday afternoon, after Asia’s sell-off – driven by concerns of heightening geopolictical tension on the Korean peninsula – infected the London markets in early trading. “Following the release of the US consumer confidence data there was an immediate [...]
Spending boost for West End’s stores May 25, 2009 HALF a million shoppers were drawn to London’s West End this bank holiday by a day of free parking and in-store entertainment. The event, which saw shoppers spend around £50m on Saturday alone, took the New West End Company six months to organise with co-operation from West End retailers, Westminster City Council and Transport for [...]
CHEQUERED FORTUNES May 19, 2009 LUXURY retailer Burberry, known for its distinctive beige plaid, warned yesterday trading will remain tough, as it revealed profit for the year fell 12.5 per cent, resulting in a £ 5.1m loss after it heavily discounted products, wrote down the value of Spanish stores and bore the cost of moving its London and New York [...]
Oil hits six month high on hopes of a US recovery May 19, 2009 OIL prices hit a six-month high yesterday, as the cost of a barrel hit $60 (£48), on hopes that the US economy was on its way to recovery. US crude rose as high as $60.05, while London Brent crude went up to $59.22, although both later dropped back. Earlier this week, oil prices were sharply [...]
Blank’s exit won’t end Lloyds’ troubles May 17, 2009 IT was always Sir Victor Blank, one of the Labour Party’s favourite businessmen, who was most likely to be Lloyds Banking Group’s sacrificial lamb. It was he, after all, who was the main driver of Lloyds TSB’s ill-fated takeover of HBOS; he first discussed the idea of the deal with Gordon Brown over drinks in [...]