THE LONDON REPORT June 24, 2009 MINERS and banks were buoyed by better US durable goods data yesterday, offsetting weaker food retailers and producers and driving the FTSE 100 up by 1.2 per cent, or 49.96 points, to close at 4,279.98. The index has gained more than 23 per cent since hitting a six-year low in March, but is still down [...]
City pair on Sainsbury’s shopping list June 21, 2009 THE race is on at J Sainsbury to choose a successor to replace Sir Philip Hampton as chairman before the retailer’s July annual meeting. The £5.6bn supermarket giant is understood to have shortlisted Burberry chairman John Peace and Thomson Reuters deputy chairman Niall FitzGerald. The search for the £396,000 a year post has been carried [...]
RICH TASTES June 14, 2009 GU, the upmarket chocolate dessert maker, is set to become even richer after receiving several approaches for the business. Founder James Averdieck founded the group in 2003 with just £100,000. The business is now valued at £50m. Private equity groups including Darwin are said to be interested, as well as trade giant Unilever.
Sweet lift for Finsbury on takeover talk June 1, 2009 CAKE maker Finsbury Foods yesterday confirmed it had received a preliminary bid approach, stirring investors and its share price. But the firm said that talks were in the very early stages and said there was “considerable doubt that an offer will be forthcoming from this party”. The group, which owns the rights to Weight Watchers’ [...]
Henderson Global names new head of 150m property fund May 26, 2009 HENDERSON Global Investors has named Cameron Fraser as head of its £150m institutional UK property fund, replacing Ludo MacKenzie who is jumping ship to become a partner at rival property fund Melford Capital Partners. Fraser is joining from CBRE Investors, where he was manager of the Unilever account and oversaw the growth of its fund [...]
Week of gains set back by S&P UK outlook downgrade May 21, 2009 A CUT in the UK’s ratings outlook from agency Standard & Poor’s weighed on the FTSE 100 yesterday, with weakness in heavyweight oils, miners and banks contributing to a 2.8 per cent slide by close of play. The index ended 122.94 points lower at 4,345.47, its biggest daily fall since 27 March, having closed 13.84 [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 19, 2009 GorkanaThe PR and journalist portal has hired former Unilever board director Ralph Kugler as chairman as it ramps up its growth plans. Kugler spent over 28 years with Unilever, including as regional president of the firm’s businesses in Europe and Latin America, and chief executive of its Thai and Malaysian units. He is also currently [...]
Third day of red as miners and banks lose their appeal May 13, 2009 THE FTSE 100 dropped 2.1 per cent yesterday, succumbing to disappointing US retail sales figures, profit-taking in the banking sector and mining stocks weighed down by weak commodity prices. The index retreated for the third day in a row, closing at 4,331.37, or 94.17 points down. “Despite the change of tone, markets have more room [...]
Unilever sells off US detergents business July 29, 2008 Shares in Unilever climbed after the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant announced it had finally sold its North American detergents business – after almost a year of struggling to find a buyer. Private equity firm Vestar Capital Partners snapped up the business, which includes brands such as Snuggle, Wisk and Surf, for $1.45bn (£727m). Unilever has [...]
Unilever in hunt to find new leader July 28, 2008 Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant, has recruited a global headhunting firm to search for a successor to chief executive Patrick Cescau. Headhunters Egon Zehnder – which Unilever has used before – have been engaged to seek a replacement from both inside and outside the company. Unilever declined to comment. Cescau, who turns 60 next [...]