Fat lady sings as Sky Songs plays last tune December 7, 2010 BSKYB has closed its iTunes rival Sky Songs after it failed to attract enough subscribers. One industry source told City A.M. the service could have had fewer than 10,000 subscribers. Sky Songs offered users unlimited streaming, plus download-to-own tracks and albums from £6.49 a month. A Sky spokesman said: “Although we are extremely proud of [...]
Seymour in US deal talks December 6, 2010 LONDON broker Seymour Pierce may be finalising a £40m takeover deal that will see it merge with at least one other US company, reports suggested yesterday. Seymour Pierce’s executive chairman, Keith Harris, is reportedly in discussions with Gerova Financial Group, a US reinsurance firm, to engineer a reverse takeover-type transaction with a third company, Ticonderoga [...]
Troubled De La Rue rejects French bid December 5, 2010 BANKNOTE printer De La Rue has been the subject of a rejected takeover bid from French rival Oberthur Technologies, it emerged yesterday. The troubled currency printer received an all cash secret takeover bid from privately-owned Oberthur a few weeks ago, which reportedly values De La Rue at about £750m. The deal was rejected on the [...]
News Corp tries to woo EU over Sky December 2, 2010 NEWS Corp has submitted a series of proposals to the EU in a bid to ease concerns over its proposed takeover of BSkyB. It is understood Rupert Murdoch’s firm is willing to be bound by strict competition rules to avoid gaining an unfair advantage over rivals. However, company sources downplayed speculation Murdoch could sell key [...]
Mouchel calls in Deloitte as austerity bites December 2, 2010 MOUCHEL yesterday confirmed Deloitte has been drafted in to examine how far the firm’s future income could drop, sparking fears it could follow Connaught and Rok into administration. The engineering consulting and design group has been rocked by swingeing cuts in government spending, resulting in the haemorrhaging of contract income. Deloitte was called in by [...]
The man adding colour and style to the City December 2, 2010 IT’S at this time of year that lots of us are reminded just what a frightful drag shopping can be. But of course, it doesn’t have to be – you just have to find the right shop. Take the new premises of men’s clothes and accessories brand Simon Carter on Bow Lane in the City [...]
A family theatre bonanza December 2, 2010 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, NATIONAL THEATRE A new version of the fairytale classic by Lucy Kirkwood, incorporating music, magic and puppets. The director is Katie Mitchell, who was behind last year’s enthralling Cat in a Hat. Until 4 Jan. Tickets from £10 from www.nationaltheatre.org.uk MY DAD’S A BIRDMAN, THE YOUNG VIC David Almond has adapted [...]
United can give the Tangerines red faces December 2, 2010 BLACKPOOL vs MANCHESTER UNITED TOMORROW, 5.30PM, ESPN AFTER a hugely impressive demolition of Blackburn at Old Trafford on Saturday, Manchester United fell back down to earth on Tuesday night when West Ham unceremoniously dumped them out of the Carling Cup. Sir Alex Ferguson fielded a heavily weakened side, but he will not have been happy [...]
BSkyB to launch an Arabic news station November 29, 2010 SATELLITE broadcaster BSkyB has teamed up with the owner of Manchester City football club to set up an Arabic news channel based in Abu Dhabi. The channel will be Sky’s first foreign-language news venture, putting it in direct competition in the Middle East with BBC Arabic, Al-Arabiya and state-funded Al-Jazeera. Man City owner Sheik Mansour [...]
Tie-up between BA and Iberia to face the vote November 28, 2010 INVESTORS in British Airways and Spain’s Iberia are due to vote today on a £5.6bn merger to create a new giant of the skies. Shareholders are due to vote in London and Madrid on whether to approve the tie-up to create a holding company known as International Airlines Group (IAG). It would mark another step [...]