Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered Labour’s first Budget in 14 years, announcing £40bn of tax rises, Central London Alliance comments
King’s shares crushed on first day trading March 26, 2014 Candy Crush maker’s shares slump 15.6 per cent in first day of New York trading KING, the British game developer behind hit mobile game Candy Crush Saga, was bloodied yesterday during its debut on the New York Stock Exchange, with nearly $1bn (£600m) wiped off its market valuation. Shares in King, which had been priced [...]
Bottom Line: King has to build a wider empire March 26, 2014 NOTHING suggests the triumph of image over substance like sending giant, candy-coloured cartoon figures to stand behind your executives for a New York Stock Exchange debut. Investors refused to be charmed by King Digital’s big-eyed mascots, and instead sent their spirits plummeting as soon as chief exec Riccardo Zacconi declared the US market open. The [...]
Inside Track: Cenkos is driving an AA float, but the handbrake is still on March 26, 2014 YOU KNOW things are getting toppy when Cenkos is hawking accelerated IPOs around the City,” a fund manager told me over lunch last week. While he said it half in jest, he had a point. The investment bank whose rainmakers pioneered the technique during their time at Collins Stewart are back in their old routine. [...]
King crushes US with $7bn float March 25, 2014 THE BRITISH firm behind hit mobile game Candy Crush Saga will make its stock market debut today, in a blockbuster flotation that values the company at more than $7bn (£4.2bn). King Digital Entertainment, which will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange this afternoon, sold 22.2m shares priced at $22.50 – the midpoint of their [...]
Cameron aims to lift more Brits out of inheritance tax March 24, 2014 TAX EXPERTS yesterday welcomed David Cameron’s ambition to lift more people out of inheritance tax if he wins the next election. The Prime Minister said he intended to “go further” with the inheritance tax threshold, set at £325,000 since 2009, to make sure most homeowners escape the levy. “Inheritance tax should only really be paid [...]
US buyout firms club together in £2bn Nets deal March 24, 2014 US BUYOUT firms Advent and Bain Capital yesterday joined forces with Danish investor ATP to snap up card payment firm Nets, the latest sign of a revival in private equity club deals. The two US firms will pool their resources with ATP to pay 17bn Danish crowns (£1.9bn) in cash for the company, which is [...]
Three tech firms surge to $260bn on grey market March 24, 2014 THREE upcoming initial public offerings (IPOs) from tech firms King Digital Entertainment, Alibaba and Just Eat are all set to beat analyst expectations with a combined valuation of over $260bn (£158bn), according to IG’s IPO grey market. King, the British games giant and creator of Candy Crush Saga, has already hit a valuation of $8.7bn, [...]
Bottom Line: Can a King make more Candy? March 24, 2014 IN 2005 Apax Partners took a $35m (£21.2m) gamble on a moderately successful but little-known British games developer called Midasplayer.com – later rebranded as King Digital Entertainment. King would go on to develop some 150 games before it finally found success in April 2012 with Candy Crush Saga. It was worth waiting for. The one [...]
Inside Track: In Barclays we trust: Retail investors rely on bank for new issues March 20, 2014 @hellierd There’s a page on the Barclays website that directs customers to the joys of investing in new issues and flotations. It is headlined: “Access investments before they become available on the market.” The trouble is that unless Barclays itself is working on one of the current crop of share issues, it is highly likely [...]
Just-Eat curries investor favour for £900m float March 17, 2014 JUST-EAT beefed up its boardroom yesterday with senior hires from BSkyB and Hammerson ahead of a float next month, adding to the swelling ranks of firms looking to list in London. The 13-year-old business, which was founded in Denmark by entrepreneur Jesper Buch, said BSkyB chief financial officer Andrew Griffith would join the firm as [...]