England can capitalise on Springbok injuries November 25, 2010 ENGLAND vs SOUTH AFRICA TOMORROW, 2.30PM, SKY SPORTS ENGLAND have a final autumn Test to show the southern hemisphere sides that they can be real contenders for the 2011 World Cup. Martin Johnson set his team the target of winning three of their four matches and, judging by the selection, he will take no prisoners [...]
Villa can keep unbeaten home record in tact November 25, 2010 ASTON VILLA vs ARSENAL TOMORROW, 12.45PM, SKY SPORTS FOLLOWING another away defeat at Blackburn last weekend, Aston Villa find themselves in 13th place in the table and just three points above the relegation places. In fairness, that doesn’t tell the whole story as they really should have beaten Manchester United and Fulham, but ended up [...]
Blackstone makes offers for two petrol station companies November 24, 2010 PRIVATE equity firm Blackstone has tabled bids for the UK petrol businesses of Total and Murphy Oil Corporation, it was reported yesterday, after the firm’s attempts to buy power producer Dynergy were blocked by shareholders. Blackstone is in talks to buy the forecourt operations of French energy group Total and Murphy subsidiary Murco Petroleum, according [...]
Private equity bidders circle Terra Firma’s Odeon cinema chain November 24, 2010 Terra Firma, the private equity owner of record group EMI, is understood to have received a number of approaches for its Odeon cinema chain. One approach is said to have come from private equity group BC Partners, which lost out to Doughty Hanson in the recent bid battle for cinema group Vue Entertainment. Canada’s Omers [...]
The world’s largest goldminer sees blue skies ahead as demand soars November 24, 2010 Aaron Regent, the chief executive of the world’s biggest goldminer Barrick Gold, straightens his tie and smiles – it’s a good time to be in the gold business. Regent, a 44-year-old with a middle distance runner’s build, is sitting in a meeting room in the recently refurbished Savoy Hotel, and can be forgiven for feeling [...]
Things looking up for England down under November 23, 2010 AUSTRALIA v/s ENGLAND THE ASHES SERIES MIDNIGHT TONIGHT, SKY SPORTS 1 RITUAL humiliation. For so many years an England touring party in Australia suffered nothing else. The visit down under would be awaited with hope and expectation – hope of little and expectation of even less – as they were routinely outclassed by the rampant [...]
Sky Germany is accused of hiking figures November 23, 2010 SKY Deutschland, the German pay-TV firm which is 49.9 per cent owned by News Corp, faces censure after being accused of overstating its subscriber numbers and earnings. German media watchdog BaFin says the firm added 600,000 to its 3.6m subscribers in its official reports in 2007 and 2008. The broadcaster has already been caught inflating [...]
Church opposes Sky sale November 22, 2010 THE Church of England became embroiled in the row over News Corporation’s bid to take full control of BSkyB yesterday. The Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester and former member of the House of Lords Select Committee on communications, said if the bid were successful News Corp would “dominate both the television and newspaper [...]
Bid ban may hit Sky News November 22, 2010 SKY News could suffer if the takeover of its owner BSkyB by News Corp is blocked, according to independent directors at the broadcaster. In a submission to media watchdog Ofcom, directors at Sky warned future investment in the news channel could be jeopardised if the takeover is vetoed. They argue that blocking the £7.8bn bid [...]
Glimpse the Big Five in Zambia’s beautiful (and quiet) savannah November 21, 2010 WE’RE sitting in the back of an open-topped jeep, manoeuvering our way over some rough terrain. The sherbet pink sun set around half an hour ago and already it is dark, the night sky inky black. Fannuel, our guide, has spotted something. He veers off the track and gingerly pulls up to the crest of [...]