Tesco unveils £3.7bn merger with Budgens and Londis owner Booker January 27, 2017 Supermarket Tesco has reached a deal to merge with wholesaler Booker, owner of Budgens and Londis, with both firms stating an ambition to create the UK's leading food company. The groups will combine in a share and cash deal worth £3.7bn, after discussing a combination for almost a year. They said today that there are [...]
Behind the deal: These are the bankers and advisers working on the £3.7bn Tesco-Booker tie-up January 27, 2017 Tesco’s £3.7bn deal for wholesaler Booker is an early boost for the UK’s 2017 M&A market, following a rather subdued 2016. Below are details of the bankers and advisers behind the deal. Tesco advisers It’s increasingly difficult to find a big UK deal without a boutique investment bank at its centre. And this £3.7bn merger proved [...]
Here’s what analysts are saying about the Tesco-Booker merger January 27, 2017 Tesco's share price has jumped seven per cent at the open after announcing a £3.7bn merger with wholesaler Booker Group. Booker Group's share price jumped 14 per cent. Read more: French Connection boss signals two non-executive directors will step down Analysts are calling the merger between the two food giant a "game changer". However, the [...]
French Connection boss signals two non-executive directors will step down January 26, 2017 The boss of French Connection has signalled two non-executive directors will be stepping down from the board after an intervention by a group of activist investors. Three investors wrote to French Connection's chief executive and chairman Stephen Marks last Thursday to demand non-executive directors Dean Murray and Claire Kent leave the board after presiding over "a tremendous decline [...]
Weaker retail sales suggest the UK’s consumer spending engine could stall January 26, 2017 Retail sales fell in January in the UK, surprising analysts and adding to suspicions the consumer spending engine driving Britain’s growth may be about to sputter. Almost a third of retailers surveyed report a decline in sales volumes in January, according to the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) distributive trades survey. While the decline comes [...]
GSK chief says top bosses should not get knighthoods January 25, 2017 The boss of pharmaceutical giant GSK – who has himself been knighted – has said that businesspeople should not be rewarded with knighthoods. Sir Philip Hampton told MPs that because top bosses were rewarded with their pay, they should not be in line for honours as well. His comments come after MPs made a symbolic vote to [...]
Banks need to make Brexit job decions in the first half of 2017, says Citi’s European chief January 24, 2017 Citigroup’s European boss has said his bank, and others, will make decisions on Brexit-motivated job moves in the first half of this year. James Cowles, Citi's chief executive for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said his firm’s issue is with its broker-dealer business, which is currently headquartered in the UK. “We come into this actually from [...]
Alibaba reports bumper revenues as Singles’ Day sales steal hearts January 24, 2017 China's biggest e-commerce company Alibaba had a bumper 2016 with a better-than-expected 54 percent rise in third-quarter revenue. The figures Alibaba's revenue hit 53.25bn yuan (£6.16bn) for the three months ended 31 December, compared with analysts' average estimate of 50.10bn yuan. The tech giant's e-commerce business boomed 45 per cent, up from the 41 per cent jump in the previous [...]
Analysts react to Dixons Carphone’s Christmas trading update January 24, 2017 Electronics retailer Dixons Carphone has reported its fifth year of Christmas sales growth, but market reaction was muted, with the company's share price falling more than three per cent in morning trading. Alistair Davies, analyst at Investec, said it was likely that Dixons Carphone had increased market share and improved its margins. There were availability issues around [...]
Shares in Fever-Tree are sparkling as City analysts say the company has more room to grow January 24, 2017 Shares in posh tonic maker Fever-Tree shot up more than seven per cent in morning trading as the company's chief executive Tim Warrillow told City A.M. the brand is still “very early on” in its growth. The figures In a trading update the brand said its full-year like-for-like sales were expected to rise 75 per cent from the previous year, [...]