Government in bid to stop a tax exodus February 22, 2010 THE government yesterday moved to reassure multinational firms that there will be no surprise tax changes if Labour wins the next general election, amid growing fears of an exodus of blue-chip firms. Chancellor Alistair Darling told an audience of chief executives – including GSK boss Andrew Witty, WPP chief Martin Sorrell and the LSE’s Xavier [...]
Severe weather and the recession put a dampener on Axa UK earnings February 18, 2010 FREAK storms and floods in 2009 sent Axa’s UK year-end earnings tumbling by 18 per cent. The firm’s underlying earnings decreased to £235m, from £288m in 2008. Commercial losses within its general insurance business totalled £157m. Axa’s UK Property and Casualty arm was the worst hit, but reported strong revenue growth in personal motor and [...]
BC Partners buys Spotless February 16, 2010 UK-BASED private equity group BC Partners yesterday bought Spotless, the French maker of laundry and cleaner products, in a deal valuing the company at €600m (£523.2m). BC Partners is buying the 65 per cent stake owned by Axa Private Equity with the balance being held by management and other minority investors. Axa bought Spotless for [...]
Resolution says deals to come before 2012 February 11, 2010 INSURANCE bid vehicle Resolution insisted its acquisition plans were on track yesterday despite a 16 per cent slide in its share price since the start of the year. Chief executive John Tiner said the team was “very confident indeed” it would make two more significant deals by 2012 after its £1.8bn takeover of life company [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 3, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES AXA PUTS SPOTLESS UP FOR SALE Spotless, the French maker of laundry and cleaning products, could become the latest “pass-the-parcel” deal between private equity groups, after Axa Private Equity put it up for sale with a €600m-€700m price tag. A recent recovery in debt markets has encouraged private equity groups to become more [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 27, 2010 Aviva The insurance giant said yesterday Patrick Regan, its incoming chief financial officer and executive director, will step up to his new role on 22 February. Regan was previously group chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Willis Group, and has also held finance roles in the past at the likes of RSA and [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 12, 2010 KBC Peel Hunt The mid and small cap corporate broking firm has made three senior hires. Stuart Duncan joins Peel Hunt’s equity research team from The Royal Bank of Scotland. Mark McGuinness, previously co-head of sales trading at Numis Securities, joins as a director in the sales trading team. Duncan and McGuinness join Andrew Chapman [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 20, 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers The accountancy firm has appointed Martin Caddick to lead its risk and business continuity management services team. Caddick joins from insurance broking and risk advisory firm Marsh, where he developed a successful business continuity practice and worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies in the UK and overseas. He also previously held director roles at [...]
NAB prepares to kick start consolidation December 17, 2009 NATIONAL Australian Bank (NAB) chief executive Cameron Clyne yesterday admitted it has received approaches about using its Clydesdale and Yorkshire operations to lead a banking consolidation drive in Britain. Speaking to shareholders at the institution’s annual meeting Clyne said: “We have been approached by a number of players in the UK market to see how we [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 14, 2009 Edison Investment Research Céline Saikali has joined the research firm as an account director, tasked with re-launching its investor access offering and focusing on European opportunities. Saikali previously worked at financial PR agency Redleaf Communications as an account director and head of the transaction team. Prior to that, she was at Dresdner Kleinwort, covering emerging [...]