Lebedev buys Independent for £1 March 25, 2010 THE Independent and Independent on Sunday newspapers have been sold to Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev. Oligarch Lebedev, owner of the Evening Standard, bought the loss-making papers from Irish company Independent News & Media (INM) for £1. As part of the deal, INM agreed to pay Lebedev’s Independent Print Limited (IPL) £9.25m over the next ten [...]
Harry’s magic takes Spurs to Wembley March 24, 2010 TOTTENHAM V/S FULHAM HARRY REDKNAPP weaved his magic to earn Tottenham a trip to Wembley for a third straight season. The Spurs chief looked dejected after a disappointing opening half saw Fulham take a deserved lead through Bobby Zamora. But he responded by introducing David Bentley, who in turn levelled the scores with a curling [...]
TWO?MBA?ENTREPRENEURS March 24, 2010 OLGA NEFEDOVA Having worked as a senior drilling engineer for oilfield services giant Schlumberger for four years, and then for Mitsubishi Steel Trading, Olga Nefedova took a full-time MBA at Warwick Business School in 2008-2009. She now combines a customer services manager role at Schlumberger with running an online gallery selling Russian art, the Kohgan [...]
Ancelotti: Chelsea won’t sack me March 23, 2010 CHELSEA manager Carlo Ancelotti is convinced he will still be in charge next season, irrespective of whether the team’s Premier League and FA Cup challenges flourish or flounder. It cannot have escaped the self-confessed fan of statistics, however, that Roman Abramovich has dispensed with coaches with better records than his. Ancelotti takes his side to [...]
OUT OF OFFICE March 22, 2010 THE WHITE GUARD Following the success at the National Theatre of last year’s tales of communist Russia, Burnt by the Sun and Tom Stoppard’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, comes Mikhail Bulgakov’s The White Guard. A lesser-known work by the Master and Marguerita author, adapted by Andrew Upton, it’s a story of the madness of [...]
OFT paves way for Indie sale March 17, 2010 THE Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has paved the way for ex-KGB man Alexander Lebedev to buy the Independent, after ruling it would not launch an investigation over competition issues. Lebedev recently bought a 75 per cent stake in the London Evening Standard. The OFT had until 26 April to decide whether to investigate but [...]
Profits back in fashion for Zara owner March 17, 2010 THE owner of the Zara fashion chain yesterday reported a five per cent rise in profits, fuelled by hundreds of store openings last year. Inditex’s net profit hit £1.17bn in the year to 31 January. The company opened 343 new stores last year which helped to drive sales. The Spanish firm – which sees 70 [...]
FOREX FLASH March 16, 2010 ROUBLE COULD STRENGTHEN 20 PER CENT The Russian rouble could strengthen by as much as 18 to 20 per cent over the next three years, the Russian deputy economy minister Andrei Klepach said yesterday. Klepach warned that this appreciation would hurt manufacturers and limit economic growth. He added: “We are not ready to move to [...]
Hedge funds investing in big-time divorce March 16, 2010 AMONG all the people who lost money in the downturn, one of the most colourful cases was that of Scot Young, businessman friend of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky and owner of the Ivy restaurant, Richard Caring. When his wife filed for divorce last year it emerged that Young’s £400m fortune had apparently vanished, with Young [...]
Airlines hit by record slump in passengers March 15, 2010 AIRLINES saw the biggest drop in passenger numbers since World War Two last year, as the global recession wreaked havoc on the fortunes of the industry. According to figures published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), 218m passengers passed through UK airports in 2009 – plunging 7.3 per cent on volumes recorded in 2008. The [...]