October saw second highest ever month for ‘mega deals’ November 2, 2020 October was a bumper month for mergers and acquisition activity, with the second-highest monthly tally of “mega deals” on record. Nineteen mega deals – worth $5bn or more – were announced last month, a monthly tally exceeded only once, in May 2007, according to data from Refinitiv. Since 1 January, 93 mega deals have been [...]
Travel may be banned once more, but the City of London continues to look outwards November 2, 2020 Overseas travel is set to be heavily curtailed once again over the coming weeks. But despite this restriction, international trade will remain a vital driver for the global economy as it emerges from the shadow of the pandemic. In particular, the green revolution and transition to digital offer huge investment opportunities worldwide as we look [...]
CBI deputy: A no-deal Brexit on top of coronavirus is ‘very, very worrying’ November 2, 2020 For a while in the summer it looked as though the CBI’s annual conference – a highlight of the business calendar which kicks off today – could be celebrating an economy on its way back to health. But a surge in coronavirus restrictions and new lockdowns across the country mean it is likely to be [...]
US election: Trumpism won the argument on US economic policy October 31, 2020 Donald Trump swept to victory in the 2016 election promising an economic nationalist policy platform that would rejuvenate American industry and restore the country’s disenfranchised working class. Some of this platform included trade protectionism – which he followed through with by starting a trade war with China and by slapping tariffs on EU countries – [...]
Sainsbury’s mulls sale of banking division October 31, 2020 The new Sainsbury’s boss is reportedly planning a sale of the supermarket’s banking arm as the impact of near-zero interest rates hit. The supermarket launched the bank in 1997 and now boasts more than 2m customers across a range of products including mortgages, home insurance and credit cards. But medium-sized banks are facing pressure as [...]
The Hollywood of Europe: How the Canary Islands are being reinvented as a film hub October 31, 2020 In the opening scenes of action-thriller Jason Bourne, the film’s forgetful hero, played by Matt Damon, strides through violent protests on the streets of Athens. He meets his spy partner in the iconic Syntagma Square, before being chased through a sea of blue and white flags by a menacing CIA hit squad. But for eagle-eyed [...]
Brexit talks: Germany ‘concerned’ over lack of progress given reliance on City October 30, 2020 A senior German government official said he was “deeply concerned” by the lack of progress in post-Brexit trade talks between the UK and EU, given the reliance of Germany companies on funding from the City. “German corporates, for all that I can tell, rely massively on wholesale financing offered from the City of London, so [...]
Negative rates explained: should UK investors prepare? October 30, 2020 The UK’s banks received a letter from the Bank of England (BoE) this week which has brought negative interest rates back into the headlines. The letter, published here, asked banks how ready they would be if the Bank of England base rate – which currently sits at 0.10% – moved into negative territory. The letter, signed [...]
Screenshot: Will Tim Davie win the generation game? October 30, 2020 A weekly column from City A.M. bringing you all the biggest stories and trends in technology, media and telecoms This week: ** Media Moment of the Week: A sorry soy saga ** Tim Davie and the BBC’s tug of war ** The tech titans’ tumultuous year Media Moment of the Week This week it’s another [...]
Amazon quarterly sales near $100bn amid online shopping boom October 29, 2020 Amazon has continued its bumper year of trading, posting quarterly sales of nearly $100bn (£77.4bn) as the pandemic sparked a surge in demand for online shopping. The ecommerce giant said net sales had increased 37 per cent year on year to hit $96.1bn in the three months to the end of September. Net profit hit [...]