Law giants hit by M&A drought July 5, 2010 ■ Linklaters’ revenues down by 8.8 per cent ■ Allen & Overy’s revenues contract by 4 per cent ■ Clifford Chance is set to reveal a 5 per cent sales drop THE UK’s largest law firms have suffered a blow from a two-year M&A drought that has forced them to look beyond Britain’s shores for [...]
BP in rush to sell off assets July 4, 2010 A RAFT of Chinese and Middle Eastern bidders are looking at taking up a stake in BP as the oil major attempts to find investors ahead of a possible hostile takeover by a rival oil company. It is understood that a number of sovereign wealth funds, including the Kuwait Investment Office and oil companies have [...]
Browne joins government as super-boss June 30, 2010 FORMER BP chief executive Lord Browne was confirmed as the coalition government’s “super-director” yesterday in a controversial move that puts him at the heart of Whitehall. The peer accepted the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives’ invitation to take the unpaid post of “lead non-executive director” in the Cabinet Office. He will be tasked with injecting private [...]
Google makes compromise in China battle but could still lose its licence June 29, 2010 Internet giant Google said it plans to stop automatically redirecting users of its Google.cn site to its Hong Kong page, in a bid to secure renewal of the company’s Chinese operating licence. Chief legal officer David Drummond said in a blog posting that Google would soon stop all redirecting to Google.com.hk. Google shut its Chinese [...]
IT’S PRISKY BUSINESS OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE June 28, 2010 THE Capitalist caught up with minister of state for business Mark Prisk yesterday during his afternoon of cold-calling potential customers for small business DIY Kyoto. The minister dropped in to the small Bethnal Green-based firm, which sells energy monitors for the home, as part of a project to learn about the current environment for small [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 24, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES FEARS FORCE IMMIGRATION CAP RETHINK Senior Conservative ministers are forcing a rethink on the party’s flagship immigration policy to make it more business-friendly after warning that a rigid cap on migrants could damage the British economy. Theresa May, home secretary, will next week launch a consultation on the migration plan, with a promise [...]
Cowdery buys Axa’s UK arm in £2.8bn deal June 24, 2010 RESOLUTION will reshuffle the leadership of its insurance consolidation project after agreeing to pay £2.8bn for the British life and pensions businesses of French group Axa yesterday. Axa’s UK arm will be merged with Resolution’s existing holding, Friends Provident, to create Friends Life. Trevor Matthews will stay as chief executive but David Hynam, Graham Harvey [...]
Credit Suisse rejigs its top management June 24, 2010 CREDIT SUISSE has named Eric Varvel as its investment bank chief executive as part of an overhaul of the bank’s executive board. Varvel, who was serving as the unit’s acting chief executive, will officially step into the role next week. He assumed the role last September when it emerged that the investment unit’s chief Paul [...]
Oracle revenues jump as Sun unit boosts profits June 24, 2010 ORACLE posted quarterly profit that exceeded Wall Street projections yesterday, as its recently acquired Sun Microsystems hardware division added to earnings. The company said Sun added more than $400m (£268m) to Oracle’s operating profit, excluding items. Oracle posted profit, excluding items, of 60 cents per share, for its fiscal fourth quarter ended 31 May, handily [...]
BAT shuffles top staff as chief exec Paul Adams retires June 24, 2010 BRITISH American Tobacco said its chief executive Paul Adams will retire next February, to be replaced by chief operating officer Nicandro Durante. The world’s second biggest cigarette-maker said yesterday 53-year-old Durante, who has worked for the company for 29 years, will take over as chief executive designate in September. A number of other staff shuffles [...]