Providence slashes bid for Informa September 4, 2008 The private equity consortium is no longer prepared to pay as much for the UK firm Crumbling markets have led the private equity consortium circling Informa to slash its offer for the publisher, as another potential bidder dropped out of the race. The group led by Providence Equity Partners made an indicative offer of 506p [...]
Millionaire killed family before blaze September 3, 2008 Millionaire businessman Christopher Foster killed his wife and daughter before setting his country mansion alight and taking his own life, police said yesterday. They said were not seeking anyone else in their week-long investigation. The bodies of 50-year-old Foster and his wife were found in the charred ruins of the house on Friday, although Foster’s [...]
Inexperience is no bad thing in business and politics September 2, 2008 If anyone needed more evidence that the 21st century was going to be one where women take on new levels of prominence, Sarah Palin’s nomination as Vice Presidential candidate on John McCain’s ticket was there to bring home the point. What an odd choice you say? A heart beat away from the Presidency and no [...]
Gustav hits the coast of New Orleans September 2, 2008 The dreaded Hurricane Gustav ripped through the US Gulf coast last night, thrashing New Orleans with strong winds and heavy rain as it arrived, but sparing it the full force devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina three years ago. The National Hurricane Centre downgraded winds to a category two shortly before it hit. The Louisiana coastline [...]
Business hit by wave of receiverships September 2, 2008 Business failures in Britain are set to soar to 17,000 this year. Government statistics for the first six months of 2008 show them rising by a staggering third over last year’s total of 12,507. And some of Britain’s most well-established companies are among the earliest victims. Those going into receivership, having traded for at least [...]
Bodies of millionaire and wife are found September 1, 2008 Police investigating a fire at the home of millionaire businessman Christopher Foster have announced they are now treating it as a murder inquiry, following confirmation that the two bodies found there are those of Foster, 50, and his wife. A post-mortem examination has revealed that Jillian Foster, 49, from Osbaston House in Maesbrook, Shropshire, died [...]
Lehman Bros locked in new equity talks September 1, 2008 Lehman Brothers, the troubled Wall Street investment bank, was holding intensive talks this weekend over a much-needed injection of billions of dollars in new equity capital. Korea Development Bank (KDB), the South Korean government-backed institution, which last week appeared to have lost its appetite for Lehman, is thought to have returned to the table to [...]
Premier falls on failed well in Vietnam August 29, 2008 Shares in Premier Oil slumped 6 per cent yesterday, after the British-based oil explorer revealed that a Vietnam well it had been drilling had failed. The firm, led by chief executive Simon Lockett, said its Chim Cong well was being plugged and abandoned because “the oil flow rate achieved was marginal”. Its stock closed down [...]
UK asks NATO to get tough with Russia August 28, 2008 British Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday called on the EU and NATO to initiate “hard-headed engagement” with Russia in response to its actions in Georgia. Speaking in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, he said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had a big responsibility not to start a new Cold War. “Russia has not reconciled itself to the new [...]
O’Brien attacks INM August 28, 2008 Denis O’Brien, a major shareholder in Independent News & Media (INM), has called on the group to “urgently” review the operations of its flagship titles The Independent and Belfast Telegraph after first-half profits tumbled. While the group grew its underlying revenues by three per cent in the six months to 30 June, adjusted earnings per [...]