WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 8, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES ARCELORMITTAL ATTEMPTS TO EASE DEBT BURDENArcelorMittal has started talks with its banks about making conditions for re-paying its $26bn (£16.2bn) of debt less onerous, in a bid to reduce financial pressure on the company as the global downturn continues. The world’s biggest steelmaker has taken this step as an insurance policy against its [...]
Europan Union fines E.on and GDF Suez 1bn for collusion July 8, 2009 UTILITY giants E.On and Gaz De France (GDF) Suez were fined a total of almost £1bn by the European Commission’s competition regulators yesterday, who said the pair had divided up gas markets and deprived customers of price competition. Germany’s E.On and France’s GDF Suez were fined €553m (£477m) each, after it emerged that they had [...]
Arsenal keep Usmanov at arm’s length by rejecting proposal for rights issue July 8, 2009 ARSENAL’S second largest shareholder Alisher Usmanov last night responded frostily after the Premier League club rejected his proposal of a rights issue. Gunners chief executive Ivan Gazidis said yesterday that the board had discussed the fund-raising exercise but concluded it would not greatly improve their financial position. Usmanov, who owns a 25 per cent stake [...]
Chinese BAIC joins bid for GM Europe July 7, 2009 CHINA’S Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) yesterday offered to invest €660m (£570m) in GM Europe in return for a 51 per cent stake. The state-owned Chinese group’s offer is likely to involve plans to expand operations inside China, the world’s largest car market. The deal would need €2.64bn of state-guaranteed loans. BAIC would also look [...]
Zhirkov seals 18m switch to Chelsea July 7, 2009 CHELSEA’S newest recruit Yuri Zhirkov has admitted that accepting a switch to Stamford Bridge was an easy decision. The versatile Russia international, 25, who can play anywhere down the left flank, signed a three-year contract yesterday after sealing his £18m move from CSKA Moscow. Zhirkov said he could not have rejected the dream transfer, having [...]
PEPSICO LOOKS FOR RUSSIAN FIZZ July 6, 2009 PepsiCo pledged yesterday to invest $1bn (£616m) in Russia over three years. It said it was confident in the Russian market, which is still growing despite the financial crisis. Russia is critical for PepsiCo, which is looking to boost profits as recession and changing consumer habits limit sales growth in the US.
Goldman man in theft case July 6, 2009 A FORMER Goldman Sachs computer programmer is facing trial over claims that he stole secret trading codes from the firm and published them on a German website. Sergey Aleynikov, 39, was arrested last week and yesterday saw his bail set at $750,000 (£461,000) over charges of “theft of trade secrets”. Authorities have not yet confirmed [...]
The property boss who can see the light at the end of the tunnel July 5, 2009 The airy offices of Knight Frank chairman Nick Thomlinson are as good a place as any to survey the wreckage of the property market over the last two years. So it can only be good news that the head of the UK’s largest privately-owned property business shows no sign of panic as he holds court [...]
Ancelotti to seek assurances from Terry amid City interest July 5, 2009 JOHN TERRY will be forced to prove his commitment to the Chelsea cause in a series of crisis talks with manager Carlo Ancelotti. The England captain has been the subject of sustained interest from big-spending Manchester City, who had bids of £25m and £30m rejected by the west London club last week. But with an [...]
Renault executive exits Avtovaz July 2, 2009 Russian carmaker Avtovaz, which makes Lada cars and is 25 per cent owned by Renault, replaced the most senior French executive on its management board with a Russian as part of a crisis plan that could see other managers appointed by the French carmaker leave. Renault confirmed that Igor Komarov, Avtovaz’s executive vice-president in charge [...]