RLM Finsbury is top PR firm for European M&A activity in 2012 July 11, 2012 COMMUNICATIONS firm RLM Finsbury has topped the league table of PR advisers by deal value, according to research released yesterday. Data provider Mergermarket says the company worked on European M&A deals worth $95.6bn (£61.4bn) in the first half of 2012, more than any other PR agency. In total the firm, which is part of Sir [...]
Uncertainty over global economy and corporates sees FTSE end flat July 11, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index ended flat in low volume yesterday, with investors uncertain about the future path for equities due to concerns over global growth and corporate earnings. The FTSE 100 was up 0.41 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 5,664.48, having swung in a 50 point arc during the session, on volume of less [...]
Xstrata sets 7 September for Glencore merger vote July 11, 2012 Miner Xstrata said 7 September was the new date for a shareholder vote on its planned $26bn takeover by Glencore, after changes to retention deals for executives forced it to push back a meeting initially planned for this week. The delay will give commodities trader Glencore, Xstrata’s largest shareholder, weeks more to hammer out a [...]
FTSE pegged back by miners July 9, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged down in early trading today as disappointing jobs data out of the US on Friday continued to cast a shadow over global markets. The 80,000 increase in payrolls in June was slightly below market expectations for an increase of about 90,000 and was not enough to reduce the unemployment rate, which [...]
Xstrata delays merger meeting July 5, 2012 Mining group Xstrata yesterday called off a shareholder meeting on 12 July intended to approve its £56.5bn merger with Glencore, in order to give the firms more time to smooth relations with irate shareholders. Qatar, which holds an 11 per cent stake in Xstrata, has in recent weeks been pushing management for 3.25 new shares [...]
FTSE creeps up as investors await BoE decision July 5, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged up in early trading as investors awaited the Bank of England’s next move on interest rates and quantitative easing to be announced at midday. Investors were also watching the unravelling Libor (the London Interbank Offered Rate) scandal with ratings agency Moody’s today threatening to downgrade Barclays over the damage to its [...]
FTSE edges down as Libor crisis deepens July 4, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged down with trading subdued as the US was closed for business because of a public holiday. Investors remained glued to the crisis in the banking sector with former Barclays chief Bob Diamond, who quit over the bank’s rate fixing scandal, prepared to be grilled by MPs today. Meanwhile Britain’s service sector [...]
KNIGHT VINKE TURNS UP HEAT ON GLENCORE July 3, 2012 Activist fund Knight Vinke, a top-20 shareholder in miner Xstrata, yesterday backed a surprise call from fellow investor Qatar for better terms in a takeover offer from commodities trader Glencore, led by Ivan Glasenberg (pictured).Knight Vinke yesterday said the deal does not represent fair value for Xstrata on current terms and also objected to the [...]
Why rivals are banking on Diamond’s downfall July 2, 2012 Whenever a banking scandal breaks in the City, be it rogue trade allegations at UBS, a massive trading loss at JP Morgan or the current Libor interest rates scandal, the first concern is for the reputation of the industry as a whole. But, investment bankers being possibly the most competitive bunch on the universe, the [...]
Cotton lawsuit hits Louis Dreyfus July 2, 2012 COMMODITY trading giant Louis Dreyfus has been sued by a former senior trader at rival Glencore, who alleges that Dreyfus illegally cornered the cotton market last year as prices tumbled from record highs. The trader, Mark Allen, accused Dreyfus of violating antitrust law by artificially inflating prices of Intercontinental Exchange cotton futures contracts expiring in [...]