Kesa looks at Comet sell-off May 15, 2011 KESA Electricals has held meetings with activist shareholder Knight Vinke to discuss selling or restructuring its struggling high street retailer Comet, several sources confirmed yesterday. Kesa, which was spun out of the Kingfisher retail group in 2003, could also end up de-listing from the FTSE 250 to leave it solely listed in France, its main [...]
Outlook for electrical retailers is bleak May 15, 2011 AU revoir Britain, vive la France – that seems to be the prevailing view at Kesa, where management has asked bankers to put Comet, the underperforming British chain, on the block. That will allow Kesa to concentrate on the more profitable French business Darty, or so the theory goes. There is no doubt that Knight [...]
Here’s to some green shoots in M&A May 12, 2011 Now I’m not one to want to follow inadvertently in the footsteps of Shriti Vadera, who famously said she had noticed the green shoots of recovery shortly after the banking crisis had reared its head in 2009. Vadera, who was then business minister to the Brown government, was roundly criticised for calling the recovery a [...]
Kesa cuts as Comet struggles May 11, 2011 Electricals retailer Kesa yesterday posted a further plunge in sales at its loss-making Comet unit in the UK and said it would accelerate change at the chain in an attempt to revive its fortunes. Kesa, the subject of private equity bid speculation amid stake-building by activist investor Knight, said it would meet market expectations for [...]
CAR TALK May 10, 2011 VAUXHALL’S INSIGNIA VXR IS UNLEASHED Vauxhall has introduced a package to de-restrict the Insignia VXR so that it’s capable of 170mph. Called the ‘Unlimited’ option the package removes the ‘regular’ Insignia VXR’s 155mph restrictor and costs just £250. Available for the hatch, saloon and sports tourer versions it means the Insignia VXR Unlimited’s turbocharged, 321bhp, [...]
Barclays next to drop case May 8, 2011 BARCLAYS is to follow Lloyds in abandoning an industry-wide appeal against a high court ruling that will cost banks billions. The decision will leave other banks with little choice but to drop the case against the FSA on payment protection insurance (PPI). But City A.M. has learned that despite the likelihood of the banks giving [...]
Vincent Tchenguiz selling in St Tropez May 8, 2011 VINCENT Tchenguiz has put his luxury French villa on the market for €30m (£25m) – after spending one night there in five years of ownership. The elder brother of the Iranian-born business partnership has appointed the estate agents Knight Frank to sell the property, Villa Symphonie, in St Tropez A spokesman for Tchenguiz insisted he [...]
SIR HENRY COOPER: 1934-2011 May 2, 2011 BRITISH boxing great Sir Henry Cooper, or Our ‘Enry as he was affectionately known, would have turned 77 today. Following his passing on Sunday, we look back at the defining moments in the career of the Westminster-born heavyweight. His finest hour came in 1963 when he became the first man to knock down Muhammad Ali, [...]
OFFICE SPACE FALLS TO PRE-LEHMAN LEVELS April 26, 2011 AVAILABILITY of office space in central London has fallen to 16.7m square feet, its lowest level since September 2008, according to research by real estate and property service firm Knight Frank.” This is a a quarter-on-quarter fall of nine per cent and a fall of 18 per cent over the last 12 months, leaving a [...]
Knight Frank agents form firm April 18, 2011 Three former Knight Frank agents and an ex-surveyor for the property firm have set up their own company, Companies House documents show. Agents Nigel Gillingham, Tracey Pollard and Woody Bruce, alongside surveyor Rupert Bentley Smith, are listed as the sole directors of Bruce Gillingham Pollard. The agents left Knight Frank last month and have already [...]