BT Sport in exclusive NBA rights win causing another blow to Sky November 28, 2013 BT SCORED another blow to Sky Sports yesterday with the announcement that it signed an exclusive rights deal for the broadcast of top NBA games in the UK and Ireland. The deal will see up to 200 of the games broadcast during the season on BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN, with seven [...]
Letters to the editor – 29/11 – A new Germany, UK savings crisis, Best of Twitter November 28, 2013 A new Germany [Re: Germany’s new coalition will make little change to Merkel’s euro policies, yesterday] The coalition may not cause an explicit change in Germany policy towards Europe, but the consequences of the SPD’s influence on internal economic policy may nevertheless have far-reaching consequences. A national minimum wage and higher pension contribution burdens for [...]
Xbox One: know your console November 27, 2013 Everything you need to know about the long-awaited sequel to the Xbox 360 LIVE TV TV and video signals from set top boxes such as Sky, Freeview and Virgin can be fed through the console so you don’t have to switch inputs between gaming and watching TV. But British users have experienced compatibility problems, complaining [...]
UK food giant ABF is mulling Tilda takeover November 26, 2013 ASSOCIATED British Foods (ABF) was reported yesterday to be mulling a bid to take over rice producer Tilda for £250m. The British food giant, which already owns Primark and Twinings, is said to be interested in the popular rice brand, according to Sky News. The Thakrar family, which owns Tilda, are contemplating a sale, and [...]
RBS managers to take reins of £1.1bn fund November 26, 2013 INVESTMENT managers at RBS are planning to take control of the bank’s Special Opportunities Fund with the aim of returning the unit to growth, it emerged yesterday. The unit, 13.5 per cent owned by the bank, has been administered by the lender since it was created but has been in its non-core portfolio since 2008. [...]
Best of the Brokers for 27 November 2013 November 26, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com HALFORDS UBS has a “buy” recommendation on the bike and car parts retailer and has raised its price target to 530p from 435p. The broker said that Halfords is beginning to improve its specialist credentials but the majority of the turnaround plan is [...]
RBS to spin off stake in third-party investment arm November 26, 2013 In a continued effort to consolidate its non-core businesses, RBS is in talks to spin off one of its last-remaining investment arms, reports Sky News' City editor Mark Kleinman. The RBS Special Opportunities Fund (SOF) could be handed over to the lender's management team, with a deal finalised by the end of the year. The [...]
Government confirms student loan sell-off November 25, 2013 The UK government has confirmed the sale of large part of its student loans portfolio to Erudio Student Loans. The sale relates to students who took out fixed term loans between 1990 and 1998. Such loans are the last of their kind still in public ownership. The move is step towards selling all of the [...]
Government to announce sale of unpaid student loans portfolio worth £900m November 24, 2013 THE government is expected to announce a deal this morning to sell off a portfolio of student loans worth £900m. The loans will be offloaded to an unnamed private debt collection agency, Sky News reported last night, saying they would be sold for tens of millions of pounds – “a fraction of the debts’ face [...]
The unlikely bedfellows driving a cab revolution November 24, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks taxis with Russell Hall and Ron Zeghibe, two of the founders behind Hailo IN 1639, a licence was granted to the Corporation of Coachmen, allowing its members to compete with the then-dominant licensed sedan chairs. Today, there are over 23,000 licensed taxi drivers in London. They’ve become a British institution – described [...]