Sky and Virgin finish TV deal July 13, 2010 British Sky Broadcasting and Virgin Media yesterday announced Sky has completed the acquisition of its rival’s television unit VMtv, following regulatory approval in Ireland. VMtv has now been re-named the Living TV Group. Sky has paid Virgin Media an initial £105m, with up to £55m extra to be paid after it gains UK regulatory clearance. [...]
In-form Rose can bloom on the Fife links July 13, 2010 ST ANDREWS is the finest golf course in the world. With its demanding links and a backdrop steeped in tradition, the course is looking as beautiful as ever and provides the perfect setting for this week’s Open Championship. Winning the Open at the Home of Golf is the crowning glory for any golfer, and, for [...]
Wiggins’ Tour chances rocked July 13, 2010 TEAM Sky’s Bradley Wiggins has admitted he may have to settle for a top-10 spot in the Tour de France after losing major ground on the leaders in yesterday’s ninth stage. The Englishman finished almost five minutes behind stage winner Sandy Casal and now lies more than seven minutes behind new race leader Andy Schleck. [...]
Wiggins hit by Gerrans exit July 12, 2010 CYCLING: Bradley Wiggins’ hopes of winning the Tour de France suffered a blow during yesterday’s rest day after his Team Sky team-mate Simon Gerrans withdrew from the race with a broken arm. Australian Gerrans, who had been selected to help Wiggins in the mountain stages, suffered the injury in a crash on Sunday. Wiggins struggled [...]
Avanti gets £70m in share sale July 12, 2010 Broadband provider Avanti is preparing to launch a new satellite it says will be able to provide superfast broadband to swathes of Europe and the UK without the need for expensive underground cables. It then plans to send out a second satellite in 2012 that will connect thousands of people in the Middle East and [...]
British Airways near to winning antitrust bid July 11, 2010 BRITISH Airways, American Airlines and Iberia are set to win EU antitrust clearance this week to deepen their Oneworld alliance. The news comes as BA and Iberia are on the brink of merging, and BA chief Willie Walsh has revealed he is already planning to buy up another airline within a year. The antitrust decision [...]
Desmond may bid for Five July 11, 2010 EXPRESS Newspaper owner Richard Desmond has emerged as an unlikely frontrunner in the battle to buy Channel Five. The owner of adult channel Television X has made no secret of his desire to expand his media empire but this is the first time he has been linked to the struggling terrestrial broadcaster. It is understood [...]
Enel to proceed with €4bn IPO July 11, 2010 ITALY’S biggest utility Enel plans to list a stake in its renewables unit despite difficult market conditions and a potential change to Italy’s renewable incentives scheme, Chief Executive Fulvio Conti said. Enel, with debts of €51.9bn at the end of March, aims in October to raise €3-4bn from the sale of a minority stake in [...]
Ideal Shopping Direct stakeholders mull sale July 11, 2010 THE founders of Ideal Shopping Direct are considering selling their 35 per cent stake in the home shopping channel group to cash in on a near doubling of the firm’s shares in the last year, the Sunday Times said. Paul Wright and Val Kaye could get more than £20m for their stake in the AIM-listed [...]
BT and TalkTalk to fight piracy laws July 8, 2010 BT AND TalkTalk will fight controversial new anti-piracy laws in the courts, they revealed yesterday. The internet providers say the Digital Economy Act, which was rushed through parliament earlier this year, will unfairly target their users and could hurt their businesses. The “draconian” act could force ISPs to disconnect users suspected of repeatedly downloading copyrighted [...]