UKAR shortlists buyers for £5.5bn taxpayer-owned mortgage loans February 13, 2018 Mortgage loans worth £5.5bn taken on by the UK taxpayer during the financial crisis are closer to being bought as a shortlist of fund managers closes in. Potential buyers include Pacific Management (Pimco), investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, hedge fund Och-Ziff, and M&G Prudential, according to Sky News. The list of bidders is understood to [...]
Sky and BT Sport pay £4.46bn to share Premier League TV rights for 160 games between 2019/20 and 2021/22 February 13, 2018 After years of extraordinary revenue growth, the Premier League has sold its latest package of live TV games to Sky and BT Sport for a reduced per-match rate. The two media giants will pay a combined £4.46bn to televise 160 matches per season, between 2019/20 and 2021/22. Three years ago, Sky and BT Sport paid [...]
Digital Innovators: Q&A with BenevolentAI founder and chairman Ken Mulvany February 13, 2018 BenevolentAI is a tech company which applies AI to accelerate scientific discovery. Last year BenevolentAI was identified as one of 50 of the freshest and most inspiring digital companies using technology and innovation to shake up their sectors in our Digital Innovators Power List. Following a public vote and after careful consideration by supporting partners [...]
Deloitte brought in to watch over Interserve for the UK government February 12, 2018 Deloitte has been drafted in by the government to watch over outsourcer Interserve, which holds a contract to manage a defence training base on Salisbury Plain. Interserve, which employs 80,000 people, issued a profit warning in September, sending its share price down by 50 per cent. The company has been monitored by the government ever [...]
Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox pledges Sky News’ independence as media giant seeks to keep takeover alive February 12, 2018 Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has said it would keep Sky News independent, as it seeks to smooth the way for its takeover to go ahead. The media giant this afternoon committed to running Sky News for at least five years and would establish a fully independent board for the channel. Fox has been trying [...]
The Treasury has held secret meetings with the US Department of Justice to speed up a hefty RBS fine February 10, 2018 The UK Treasury has held a secret meeting with US officials to chivvy along a several-billion pound fine for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Sky News has reported. The fine, which has been estimated by some analysts to be worth more than £5m, would draw a line under the bank’s pre-bailout misconduct relating to the [...]
Troubled outsourcer Capita drafts in Carillion adviser Lazard to advise on financing options February 10, 2018 Outsourcing giant Capita, collector of TV licence fees and a major government contractor, has drafted in the adviser which served construction company Carillion in the months before its collapse. Capita, which issued a major profit warning last week wiping almost £1bn off its market value, has hired investment bank Lazard to advise on its financing [...]
Sotheby’s unveils brilliant 100-carat white diamond worth over $30m February 8, 2018 The world’s rarest and most valuable white diamond is going on display at Sotheby’s in London today. The 102.34 carat white diamond is thought to be worth considerably more than the previous auction records for similar pieces which have reached as much as $30m. The reason for its sky-high value is that this piece is [...]
London house prices set to fall again this year as buyers struggle to save for a deposit February 8, 2018 London house prices look set to fall again this year as would-be homeowners struggle to save for a deposit. Chartered surveys expect house prices to fall in London over the next 12 months, according to a survey released this morning by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). Last year, Nationwide recorded a 0.5 per [...]
Making a meal of it: EAT could close portion of 100-strong portfolio as competition bites February 6, 2018 High street sandwich shop EAT has become the latest food chain to consider closing a raft of stores. The 100-strong chain is looking at restructuring ts portfolio, with a possible company voluntary arrangement (CVA) on the table, according to Sky News. It follows the likes of Byron and Jamie’s Italian, which have both been forced [...]