Mick the miner raises $3.75bn for new deals March 31, 2014 THE FORMER boss of mining giant Xstrata is back on the acquisition trial after raising up to $3.75bn (£2.25bn) from five institutional investors. Mick Davis, dubbed Mick the Miner for his successful mining exploits, has raised the money through his X2 Resources company vehicle, which will use the money to invest in various metal and [...]
London Assembly warns of the forgotten green impact of HS2 February 24, 2014 THE PLANS to build the first leg of the High Speed 2 railway ignore many effects on Londoners’ health and well-being, the London Assembly said yesterday. Extra noise, lost green space and air pollution kicked off with a decade of construction work should be included in the government’s cost-benefit sums, it added. The Assembly was [...]
Digital natives are having tech children and creating a tidal wave of disruption | City A.M. February 3, 2014 THE NEXT time you are puzzled by an app on your smartphone, the chances are that your three year-old will have the answer. An astonishing 57 per cent of children aged three to five can operate at least one mobile app, up from 19 per cent in 2012. The third anniversary of the Digital Diaries [...]
Digital natives are having tech children and creating a tidal wave of disruption February 2, 2014 THE NEXT time you are puzzled by an app on your smartphone, the chances are that your three year-old will have the answer. An astonishing 57 per cent of children aged three to five can operate at least one mobile app, up from 19 per cent in 2012. The third anniversary of the Digital Diaries [...]
Ignore the pessimists, equities are going up. Here’s why January 24, 2014 Peter Garnry of Saxo Bank is very optimistic when it comes to the future. Innovation is making things better for humanity, and Garnry thinks it's also makes things better for investors, because it pushes up the equity-risk premium "significantly". The chart below shows the S&P 500 performance (excluding dividends) since 1927. Performance is on a [...]
Highest court throws out legal challenge to High Speed Two January 22, 2014 CAMPAIGNERS against High Speed Two have lost their final legal appeal in the UK after two years of fighting the rail project in the courts – though one group pledged to appeal to the European authorities. Transport minister Baroness Kramer said the unanimous decision in the Supreme Court yesterday “fully vindicated” the government’s work on [...]
Army veteran tapping into the global gaming market January 12, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks Grand Theft Auto and going East with Paul Sulyok, founder of commerce platform Green Man Gaming COMPUTER games have come a long way since Spacewar! was created in 1962. Last year, Grand Theft Auto V took $2.2bn (£1.33bn) within its first week after launch – a feat even Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters would [...]
Disruptive technology isn’t a miracle: We can harness its future power now | City A.M. December 20, 2013 THE ASTONISHING rise of firms like Twitter (founded just seven years ago, yet now expected to float for $10bn), is often seen as a grand romantic narrative – an exciting story, difficult to predict. But transformation, disruption, and change should be easier to forecast. The only weapon we need is the deceptively simple power of [...]
The queen of Motown December 10, 2013 GENERAL Motors named Mary Barra as its next chief executive yesterday, making her the first woman to hold the top job in the firm’s 105-year history and one of the most powerful female figures in global business. Barra is currently a senior vice president at GM, responsible for global product development. She will replace current [...]
City Moves for 09 December 2013 | Who’s switching jobs December 8, 2013 Lombard The asset finance provider has announced the hire of Lee Simms as head of agriculture. He joined Lombard 10 years ago, and has since held various roles in sales and strategy. JP Morgan Private Bank Faraj Saghri has been named head of the private bank for the UK and Nordics. He has worked at [...]