RHJ forks out for Kleinwort Benson deal October 15, 2009 GERMANY’S Commerzbank reached agreement to sell its UK private bank Kleinwort Benson to Belgian investment firm RHJ International for £225m in cash yesterday. The sale comes after Commerzbank was told by the European Commission to sell the division as a condition of approval for the €18.2bn (£16.7bn) it has received in state aid from Berlin. [...]
Union reaches deal with Magna on the future of Vauxhall’s 5,000 jobs in UK October 13, 2009 JOB fears at the UK’s Vauxhall plants were eased yesterday, after Unite union said it had made a deal with the car brand’s new owner, Magna. The union said 600 jobs would go in the UK – far fewer than the 1,200 initially anticipated – and all through voluntary redundancies. Vauxhall, which trades as Opel [...]
Jaguar gets 500m new bank funding October 7, 2009 BELEAGUERED carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) yesterday revealed it has secured £500m of new funding, easing the pressure on the company after a dramatic slump in car sales during the recession. JLR, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, said the monies included a £175m loan from the State Bank of India and a new [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 5, 2009 KPMGThe accountancy firm has appointed Rachel Campbell as global head of people, performance and culture and a member of its global executive team. Campbell is currently head of people for the firm’s European business and has led its award-winning “Employer of Choice” strategy in the UK. Prior to that, she was an audit partner specialising [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 1, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESFORD SELLS AUSTRALIAN LOAN BOOK TO MACQUARIEFord, the US carmaker that underwent a debt-for-equity swap this year to bolster its balance sheet, has quit Australia’s retail car finance market after selling a A$1bn (US$874m) motor loan portfolio to Macquarie Group. The Australian investment bank is expanding its presence in the sector as well as [...]
GENERAL MOTORS SELLS VAUXHALL September 10, 2009 CAR giant General Motors (GM) yesterday revealed it is selling a 55 per cent stake in Vauxhall and Opel to Canadian car parts maker Magna International. The announcement ends a long bidding war for its European arm between Magna, which is backed by Russian bank Sberbank, and Belgian group RHJ International and Beijing Automotive. The [...]
Koenigsegg inks Saab deal with BAIC September 9, 2009 LUXURY sportscar maker Koenigsegg yesterday said that China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Holding (BAIC) would take a stake in the group to help finance its purchase of Saab Automobile from General Motors. Koenigsegg said in a statement that the memorandum of understanding signed with BAIC would see the Chinese firm take a minority stake in Koenigssegg [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 2, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES OCH-ZIFF SET TO EARN PERFORMANCE FEES AGAINOch-Ziff, one of the largest hedge fund managers in the world, is set to start earning performance fees again across its $21.7bn (£13.3bn) of funds. The flagship Och-Ziff master fund is up 17.6 per cent this year, meaning it has almost completely recovered from losses incurred in [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 11, 2009 Piper JaffrayThe boutique investment bank has hired Richard Kirkham, formerly a partner at Oriel Securities, as a principal of European equity sales. Kirkham was previously a director of UK small and mid-cap sales at Teather and Greenwood. He will be responsible for developing business relationships with assigned institutional accounts. BarclaycardBarclaycard has appointed David Daniel as [...]
GM drives up sales via eBay August 10, 2009 RESCUED carmaker General Motors (GM) and online auction site eBay yesterday launched a test programme in California which will let consumers negotiate directly with dealers and buy vehicles online. The car shopping website – gm.ebay.com – marks a departure from the way new vehicles have been traditionally sold in the US and comes a month [...]