Leeds United owner targets £1bn valuation as club returns to Premier League September 11, 2020 Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani has revealed he wants the football club to be worth as much as £1bn within the next five years and is also willing to sell a minority stake to the right party. The club were promoted to the Premier League last season, but despite having yet to kick a ball [...]
Italy’s Serie A clubs vote to review private equity bids September 9, 2020 Clubs in Italy’s Serie A football league have voted for an in-depth review of bids by private equity firms for a stake in a new vehicle that will handle broadcast rights. The clubs voted unanimously to carry out further reviews on two bids led by CVC and Bain Capital, which value a 10 per cent [...]
David Beckham’s e-sports team Guild to float in London September 9, 2020 David Beckham’s e-sports company is to list on the London Stock Exchange this autumn, raising £20m at a valuation of £50m. If successful, Guild Esports would become the first company of its kind to float in London. Former England captain Beckham is an original shareholder of the group, which was founded in September and launched [...]
Exclusive: Sky to open first retail stores as it takes on high street rivals August 28, 2020 Sky is set to open its first ever brick-and-mortar retail stores in the UK as the broadcaster and telecoms giant defies faltering footfall to turn up the heat on its rivals. The media group is poised to open its first outlets in the coming months, providing a physical point of sale for its mobile, TV [...]
Gambling, alcohol and tobacco brands target children in age-restricted ads August 26, 2020 Children have been targeted by almost 160 gambling, alcohol and tobacco adverts which break advertising rules, according to the regulator. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it had found 159 adverts on 34 websites and five Youtube accounts aimed at children. Companies placing age-restricted ads online are required, under the Advertising Code, to target their [...]
CVC and Advent team up in €1.3bn bid for Italy’s Serie A August 26, 2020 Private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Advent International have reportedly joined forces in a €1.3bn (£1.17bn) offer for a minority stake in Italy’s Serie A football league. Last month Lega Serie A, the governing body of the league, placed a cap of 15 per cent on any potential private equity investment. CVC and Advent [...]
Matt Hancock officially scraps Public Health England August 18, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock has officially axed Public Health England (PHE) and announced the formation of the National Institute for Health Protection. The new institute will be formed through a merger for NHS Test and Trace, the Joint Biosecurity Centre and parts of PHE, and will have a mission of “protecting people form external threats [...]
UK needs 10m tests a week, says Premier League’s coronavirus adviser August 17, 2020 The company behind the Premier League’s coronavirus testing efforts has backed calls for the government to introduce a UK-wide testing scheme by the end of the year. Avi Lasarow, chief executive of testing firm Prenetics, has called on the government to swap its half-price restaurant scheme for a universal testing service across the UK. He [...]
Domino’s reinstates dividend as pizza chain hails ‘resilient’ lockdown sales August 11, 2020 Pizza chain Domino’s reinstated its dividend payment as it hailed “resilient” trading during the UK coronavirus lockdown. The figures UK like-for-like sales were up 4.8 per cent and Ireland like-for-like sales increased 3.6 per cent during the first half of the year. However underlying earnings before interest and taxes fell to £51.4m pounds for the [...]
HMRC triples number of tax probes into footballers August 10, 2020 The UK’s tax authority has tripled the number of investigations into professional footballers in the year to March as a part of a wider tax avoidance crackdown. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) opened 246 probes into professional footballers in the year to March 2020, which was an increase from 87 in the previous year. The [...]