Oligarchs crush BP’s £10bn dream April 13, 2011 BP’S gamble on Russian oil seemed in tatters last night, paving the way for an explosive BP shareholder meeting today. BP had hoped to wow investors with the final version of its £10bn share swap with the government-run Rosneft at today’s meeting, after signing the deal in January. But Rosneft last night said it would [...]
Euroset float hits a bout of nervousness April 13, 2011 NERVOUSNESS in London’s IPO market spread yesterday as it emerged that the Russian mobile phone retailer Euroset was considering scaling back its flotation plans. The group originally aimed to raise up to $1.3bn (£799m) from investors through a combination of new shares and stock sold principally by Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut, who owns 50.1 per [...]
Sale could be the key for Russian oligarch April 13, 2011 RUSSIAN billionaire Alexander Mamut’s plans to cash in part of his stake in Euroset could be a lynchpin for his future investment plans. The Moscow financier, best known in Britain as the owner of blogging site Livejournal.com, is said to be plotting a takeover bid for high street bookshop chain Waterstone’s. Yet if his plans [...]
Choc & Awe April 13, 2011 TIME was when an Easter egg was a bottom-rung milk chocolate concoction picked up at the corner shop, that kids could hunt for in the garden before being made sick by it. But now that we’re a nation of foodies – and more to the point, a nation increasingly rich in the kind of imaginative [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 12, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CITY INVESTOR CHIEFS BACK BANKING REVAMP City fund managers have broadly welcomed the reform drive sweeping Britain’s banking sector, in spite of vocal criticism from some institutions. “There is a largely silent majority of investors who believe that structural reform and tougher capital requirements are a good idea,” said James Alexander, head of [...]
BP faces US shareholder revolt at AGM April 12, 2011 CALPERS the biggest US public pension fund, and its Florida equivalent have said they will vote against management ahead of BP’s annual general meeting tomorrow, over anger at the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Calpers and the Florida State Board of Administration, which between them own almost 83m shares, or 0.4 per cent of BP’s [...]
Helicopter company is latest Russian to seek London float April 12, 2011 STATE controlled JSC Russian Helicopters yesterday confirmed its intention to raise $500m (£308m) in a joint flotation in London and Moscow. The offering is expected to consist of the sale of existing shares, primarily by the firm’s major shareholder Oboronprom, as well as up to $250m of primary shares in the form of Global Depository [...]
MEET THE ADVISERS April 12, 2011 BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH BANK of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) is joint global coordinator and joint bookrunner on the IPO of Russian Helicopters, alongside BNP Paribas and VTB Capital. Leading the team is Riccardo Orcel, BofAML head of CEEMEA corporate & investment banking. Riccardo is the brother of Andrea Orcel, BoAML’s head of emerging [...]
Global growth fears weigh on FTSE April 12, 2011 Worries over global growth and Japan’s continuing nuclear crisis have combined to cause an almost 100-point plunge on the FTSE today. The FTSE 100 lost 89 points in the day’s trading to close 1.5 per cent down at 5,964.47 after the International Monetary Fund downgraded the US’ growth forecast to 2.8 per cent and the [...]
BP deal in doubt as Rosneft chair leaves April 12, 2011 BP’s $16bn (£9.8bn) share swap deal with Rosneft looks shaky following the departure of the Russian oil giant’s chairman, Igor Sechin. Sechin, also deputy prime minister of Russia, has followed orders from Russian president Dmitry Medvedev that ministers should resign from their positions leading state-owned companies to separate business and politics. BP is also under [...]