Billionaire Mike Ashley offloads a £218m stake in Sports Direct April 7, 2014 SPORTS Direct founder Mike Ashley is to sell £218m of his majority stake in the retailer in the latest twist in a series of events that saw him snap up a stake in House of Fraser just days ago. Ashley is selling up to 25m shares in Sports Direct through an accelerated bookbuilding run by [...]
Why the NPFL is the best thing to happen to CrossFit yet April 7, 2014 CrossFit, the fitness craze that's seen rapid growth first in Santa Cruz, California, then the rest of the world, finally has some competition of its own. Right now it's sometimes difficult to follow some of the CrossFit frenetic workouts out there – usually some combination of weightlifting and gymnastics – unless you're already clued in [...]
Ashley fails to derail House of Fraser takeover April 7, 2014 HOUSE of Fraser’s sale to a Chinese conglomerate is set to go ahead, despite Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley’s efforts to scupper the deal, City A.M. understands. Chinese powerhouse Sanpower Group agreed to buy 89 per cent of the department store chain on Friday, in a deal valued at around £450m. Sportswear magnate Ashley has [...]
Playing the long game April 6, 2014 In 1997, Pokeware co-founder Maryse Liburdi was convinced her idea had potential. It took over a decade for the world to catch up. She tells Annabel Palmer why perseverance is the key to success IT WAS the nineties – a time when VCRs were present in most living rooms and pager sales were booming – [...]
Inside Track: City’s tech industry hopes are wrapped up in Just Eat April 3, 2014 JUST Eat shares got off to a very decent start in unconditional trading yesterday in a deal that has demolished some people’s reservations about the London new issues market for technology stocks. Contrary to what a number of experts said at City A.M.’s roundtable on the new issues market last June, London does seem prepared [...]
Sports Direct shareholders revolt over Ashley’s £70m bonus scheme April 2, 2014 SPORTS Direct shareholders have rejected plans to introduce a bonus scheme that would have awarded founder Mike Ashley a £70m windfall, after revolting over a similar scheme two years ago. The retail giant said yesterday that it has cancelled a general meeting that was due to take place tomorrow after the board realised there was [...]
London Report: Mortgage lending data to shine light on housing boom March 30, 2014 MORTGAGE approval data for February, due out today, are likely to highlight more growth in the heated housing market. The figures will be closely watched after the Bank of England last week warned some borrowers may be overstretching themselves in the current fast-moving market. Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for manufacturing, construction and services published [...]
Pensions freedom is at risk – from the regulators March 27, 2014 AS COMMENTATORS digest the liberal reforms to pensions announced in the Budget last week, questions are starting to arise about just how the proposals will be implemented. To be clear, we welcome the reforms; it is right that people should be empowered to make their own choices about how they access a pension fund which [...]
Interserve replaces auditor March 26, 2014 Outsourcing group Interserve has ditched Deloitte as its auditor and hired Grant Thornton in its place. FTSE 250-listed Interserve decided to end its 15-year relationship with Big Four auditor Deloitte after a competitive tender. The contract is the latest coup for Grant Thornton, which became the auditor of a FTSE 100 firm for the first [...]
The UK’s 50 biggest companies that still have all-male boards March 26, 2014 UK companies are closing in on a government target to see women in 25 per cent of FTSE 100 board positions. That's according to the 2014 Cranfield Female FTSE board report, which shows that just 48 more women are needed on the boards of Britain's top companies for the target to be met. Just two [...]