To Bonaparte, with love from China January 2, 2012 THE rich and international do not tire of Paris. Though it was hardly lacking in ultra-luxe period hotels before, the city evidently needed more. And so last year saw the opening of two major hotels, The Mandarin Oriental and the Shangri-La, signifying not only Paris’s ever-ascendant position on the global luxury circuit, but an overt [...]
TAXPAYERS PETITION FOR PRIVATISATION OF THATCHER’S FUNERAL December 22, 2011 WHICH investment bank will underwrite the ticket sales at Margaret Thatcher’s privatised funeral? The Capitalist only asks because, as of last night, more than 14,000 people had signed up to the e-petition posted by Scott Morgan declaring that the Iron Lady’s state funeral should be funded and managed by the private sector. After all, Baroness [...]
Broker Daniel Stewart sinks in the first half December 22, 2011 DANIEL Stewart Securities, one of a clutch of small brokers operating in the City, has posted a first-half loss after the European sovereign debt crisis led to the deals market drying up. The AIM-listed firm made a pre-tax loss of £605,952 for the six months to 30 September, compared to a profit of £190,572 for [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 15, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CVC STRUGGLES WITH TERRIBLE RESULTS IN ASIA When CVC raised a $4.12bn Asian buy-out fund in 2008, Marc St John, its head of investor relations, referred to the private equity group’s record in the region when he said investors “like what they see”. A few years and a financial crisis later, investors are [...]
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL UK December 14, 2011 It’s that time of year when the high streets switch on the festive lights and, despite the economic gloom, the shops become busier with Christmas shoppers out in force. Queuing to pay at a cash till here in Oxford yesterday lunchtime, I was reminded of Beauty Munthali, one of our supervisors in the southern region [...]
Hendry hedge fund soars as China slows December 12, 2011 HEDGE fund boss Hugh Hendry (pictured below) has bucked the gloom afflicting rivals and recorded stellar gains on his “China short” fund. The charismatic Glaswegian told City A.M. the fund had returned 52 per cent so far this year. The performance contrasts with a loss of 4.37 per cent for the average global hedge fund, [...]
FTSE tumbles as doubts over Eurozone deal take their toll December 12, 2011 Britain’s FTSE 100 fell in light volume yesterday, with investors selling riskier banking and mining assets as analysts concluded that the lack of detail in a European deal on fiscal union left question marks over its long-term plausibility. London’s blue-chips fell 101.35 points, or 1.8 per cent, to 5,427.86, erasing Friday’s 0.8 per cent rise, [...]
BNP hires finance chief from Fortis December 8, 2011 BNP PARIBAS yesterday named Lars Machenil, an executive with the bank’s Fortis unit, as its new finance chief and said he would take up the position in March. Machenil, an 11-year veteran of Fortis, will succeed Philippe Bordenave, who last week was named group chief operating officer. The appointment is the latest piece of an [...]
Electra mulls asset raid amid banking shake-up December 6, 2011 PRIVATE equity house Electra is considering a raid on bank assets as lenders deleverage amid the Eurozone crisis and tougher regulatory demands. Electra will look healthy businesses, as well as those with a “bad balance sheet”, chief investment officer Alex Fortescue told City A.M. The buyout group is not interested in full-scale turnaround deals, however. [...]
Shops, sun and spice: Marrakech is the perfect winter weekend getaway December 5, 2011 HAVING spent a bit of time in Morocco before, I was bracing myself. Six years ago, on a lone voyage on a rusty old ship from Algeciras in Spain to Tangier, I was accosted by three tipsy artifact sellers on board, before getting my camera pinched on arrival at the dusty old port. Further into [...]