L&G to battle buyout group for Cofunds November 13, 2011 LEGAL & General and private equity house Bridgepoint are set to battle it out for control of investor supermarket Cofunds. The insurer, which is the largest shareholder with a 25 per cent stake, has expressed its interest to Cofunds and Mark Gregory, the executive director of savings at L&G, recently approached Cofunds chairman Charlie Eppinger [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 27, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES ANADARKO SOUNDS OUT BRAZILIAN BUYERS Anadarko Petroleum has asked advisers to sound out potential buyers for a collection of its Brazilian oil assets in a deal that could be worth up to $5bn, in the latest attempt by oil and gas explorers in the region to attract investment. The US independent oil and [...]
Google set to launch mobile payments May 25, 2011 GOOGLE will today unveil its first “mobile wallet” technology that turns your phone into a touch-payment system. Google’s VP of commerce and payments Stephanie Tilenius said: “We’re making a big bet on it as a company. There is a lot of potential there.” It is understood the service, known as Near Field Communication (NFC), will [...]
Porridge boost for Pret sales March 29, 2011 Coffee and sandwich chain Pret a Manger said sales of hot food such as porridge were helping it to thrive in a tough consumer environment as it posted a 37 per cent rise in 2010 core earnings. The chain, majority owned by private equity firm Bridgepoint, said yesterday it planned to open more than 30 [...]
Porridge helps Pret a Manger stay hot March 29, 2011 Sandwich chain Pret a Manger has said sales of hot food such as porridge were helping it to thrive in tough consumer environment as it posted a 37 per cent rise in its 2010 core earnings. The chain, majority owned by private equity firm Bridgepoint , said it planned to open more than 30 shops [...]
Stuart Rose joins board of MMN March 28, 2011 FORMER M&S boss Stuart Rose has joined the board of mobile payments firm Mobile Money Network (MMN) as non-executive chairman. MMN is a joint venture between mobile payments company Monitise and Carphone Warehouse owner Best Buy Europe. The firm also announced former Standard Chartered boss Lord Davies of Abersoch will join Carphone Warehouse founder Charles [...]
TALENT FOR BUSINESS IS INSTINCTIVE December 16, 2010 PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT, LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL We ALL remember the kid who sold sweets to his friends in the school playground (though my sons tell me it’s now more likely to be mobile phones). Although it’s difficult to generalise, entrepreneurs do seem to share some traits. Harvard Business School professor W. A. Sahlman defined entrepreneurship [...]
Eat takes its third bite at the market as it is put up for sale October 10, 2010 SANDWICH shop chain Eat has been put on the market for the third time by its owners. The company, which has 100 stores and is planning to double that in the next two to four years, is expected to fetch more than £100m as interest from private equity groups mounts. The firm is being advised [...]
Visa pushes new mobile phone payment systems September 19, 2010 VISA will roll out a network that will allow its customers to pay for goods using their mobile phones in time for the 2012 Olympics. The world’s biggest payment processing firm hopes the new technology will allow it to corner the small transactions market, which is still dominated by cash purchases. The firm believes the [...]
Bridgepoint to buy jeweller August 1, 2010 Private equity firm Bridgepoint is in advanced talks to buy French jeweller Histoire d’Or from Silverfleet Capital. It is also understood to be interested in rival jewellery retailer Marc Orian – owned by Qualium – with a merger between the two targets the likely result. The combined retailers would have more than 300 stores and [...]