Osborne: the Rock will be re-privatised June 15, 2011 Mansion House CHANCELLOR George Osborne last night announced that Northern Rock – the first casualty of the financial crisis – will be re-privatised. Treasury sources said they hoped the auction, which is expected to raise around £1bn for the exchequer, would be completed before the end of the year. The chancellor, who made the announcement in [...]
Moulton snaps up office supplies from DS Smith as part of £200m disposal July 6, 2011 VENTURE capitalist John Moulton is splashing out £40m on parts of DS Smith’s stationery and office supplies business after the firm sold the rest to Spanish firm Unipapel. Moulton’s Better Capital said its purchase of the UK and Irish business will go through once Unipapel buys up the other parts of DS Smith’s Spicers arm [...]
Moulton snaps up office supplies from DS Smith as part of £200m disposal July 6, 2011 VENTURE capitalist John Moulton is splashing out £40m on parts of DS Smith’s stationery and office supplies business after the firm sold the rest to Spanish firm Unipapel. Moulton’s Better Capital said its purchase of the UK and Irish business will go through once Unipapel buys up the other parts of DS Smith’s Spicers arm [...]
Virgin Money seeks £2bn to buy branches May 22, 2011 FLEDGLING bank Virgin Money has kicked off a £2bn fundraising exercise to stockpile the war chest it requires to buy the branches being put up for sale by Lloyds and Northern Rock. Sir Richard Branson’s financial services firm is in talks with potential investors over the provision of finance for a bid. Both Lloyds and [...]
20 of the world’s largest donors December 21, 2011 1 BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION US The William H Gates Foundation was created in 1994 to work to improve global health. Created with an original stock gift of $94m (£60.5m), the foundation merged with the Gates Learning Foundation in 2000 to create the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The largest philanthropic organisation in the [...]
Bank reveals weak lending on mortgages May 4, 2011 SLUGGISH mortgage lending and stuttering house prices continue to haunt the UK’s housing market, a series of data releases showed yesterday. Mortgage lending grew by just £400m in March, the Bank of England revealed – below increases of £1bn and £1.7bn in the two previous months, and an average jump of £800m over the last [...]
OIL PULLBACK BRIGHTENS A GLOOMY VISTA June 20, 2011 THE equity market sell-off which began in May has seen most major global stock indices break below significant technical support levels. The S&P 500 and Russell 2,000 are now both trading near their 200-day moving averages (MA). For the S&P, this comes in at 1,260, with a break below here suggesting a test of 1,246 [...]
Nationwide grows despite tough market May 25, 2011 NATIONWIDE Building Society gained market share and grew underlying profits by almost a third in the past year despite ongoing housing market stagnation, it said yesterday. Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building society, turned a £276m underlying profit in the year to April, up from £212m in April 2010, against a backdrop of low growth in [...]
Luxe cellars up property appeal May 26, 2011 DRAMATIC avant garde designs, subterranean mood-lit spaces, luxurious tasting areas: Wine cellars have long way from the creaking descent to a basement wine rack. And, as the market for wine collecting continues to expand, properties that boast stunning examples are in pole position, say London agents. “I think with top tier properties it’s becoming more [...]
US sues Deutsche Bank for more than $1bn for mortgage fraud May 3, 2011 GERMAN lender Deutsche Bank is to be sued by the United States for more than $1bn (£605m) over alleged mortgage fraud. The Frankfurt-based bank is accused of “years of reckless lending practices” by the US Justice Department. It is also accused of defrauding the federal government by repeatedly lying to obtain insurance guarantees on mortgage [...]