Sigma agrees to £188m takeover by private equity firm PineBridge June 11, 2021 Sigma has agreed to be bought by a subsidiary of real estate private equity specialist PineBridge Benson Elliott for £188.4m in cash. The London-listed developer said its board and Six Bidco, the entity through which PineBridge will make the acquisition, have agreed an offer of 202.1 pence per share, a 36 per cent premium to [...]
‘Nothing is negotiable’: France threatens to veto any changes to Brexit deal June 11, 2021 French President Emmanuel Macron warned Boris Johnson late last night that “nothing is negotiable” when it comes to making any changes to the UK-EU Brexit deal on Northern Ireland. As Macron prepared to leave for the G7 summit in Cornwall, the French leader told reporters at the Elysee palace: “I think this is not serious, [...]
So much for the pandemic exodus: Home sellers’ confidence grows while WFH drives suburb popularity June 9, 2021 London has brushed off fears its population plan to leave en-masse, however home working has influenced where workers would like to live in the capital. Much has been made of the ‘London exodus’; the idea being that professionals who are no longer obligated to sit at a desk for five days per week would rather [...]
UK has ‘no alternative’ to deepening economic ties with China, says minister June 9, 2021 The UK has “no alternative” but to enhance its economic relationship with China in spite of its many human rights abuses, according to a trade minister. Graham Stuart told a House of Lords committee today that “China offers more opportunity to the UK economy than any other market” and that a more comprehensive economic relationship [...]
London house prices: Home buyers increasingly face a sellers’ market June 9, 2021 London’s property market witnessed a 19.4 per cent decrease in the number of sellers willing to drop their asking prices, according to new data shared with City A.M. this morning. The uplift in sellers’ confidence, researched by Chestertons, echoes Halifax’s latest House Price Index for May, which revealed that the average property price in London [...]
UK housing market is ‘on fire’ and will widen wealth gap, says BoE’s Haldane June 8, 2021 The UK housing market is “on fire”, and as a result is likely to hit those without property especially hard, Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England, has said. The housing market has been fuelled by a combination of government incentives for buyers, like the stamp duty holiday, more demand from households with [...]
Inflation might be the only cure for our bubbly housing market June 8, 2021 House prices in the UK (and many other parts of the world) are soaring, squeezing affordability yet further. Rising inflation looks like the most obvious candidate to prick this bubble. House prices in the UK rose by 10.9% in the year to May. That’s the most rapid growth seen in almost seven years, according to [...]
Domestic M&A retreats in first quarter after dealmaking wave at the end of 2020 June 8, 2021 Domestic UK M&A fell in the first quarter of 2021 after a flurry of dealmaking towards the end of 2020. During the first quarter, domestic M&A – where UK companies acquire other UK companies – was worth £3.8bn, a decrease of £5.3bn from the previous quarter last year, according to figures published by the Office [...]
London won’t see exodus – but property growth rates may slow, says Onthemarket June 8, 2021 Property growth rates in the capital could slow in the medium-term, as pandemic-led lifestyle changes like wanting a garden or office space are likely to continue. House prices in the UK have on average grown by £22,000 in the last 12 months, according to the latest figures from Halifax, however prices in London have lagged [...]
Wall Street flat but FTSE ticks up as investors await inflation data June 7, 2021 Wall Street’s main indexes were muted this afternoon as investors stayed on the fence ahead of key inflation data this week, while tech stocks shrugged off a G7 agreement on a new global corporate tax minimum. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 dipped 0.46 and 0.26 per cent respectively by early evening trading. [...]