Markets remain volatile after ECB action August 8, 2011 The FTSE 100 initially fought back this morning as investors found new confidence in banking shares after the European Central Bank (ECB) moved to stabilize the beleaguered Spanish and Italian economies. Italian and Spanish bonds are being bought by the ECB to avoid a potentially catastrophic debt default by the two countries. Bond yields fell [...]
Cowdery tables first-round bid for 630 Lloyds branches July 17, 2011 ENTREPRENEUR Clive Cowdery, founder of insurance consolidator Resolution, has lodged a first-round bid for 630 Lloyds Banking Group branches being sold to appease competition regulators, it is understood. He is pursuing the branches through a Guernsey-based company which advises London-listed Resolution on acquisitions, rather than through Resolution. Resolution declined to comment. Cowdery, who has a [...]
FTSE buoyed by US debt deal August 1, 2011 The FTSE 100 tracked global markets upwards as investors were buoyed by the breaking of the deadlock over US debt. As President Obama announced that the Democrats and Republicans had finally reached an agreement over raising the country’s debt ceiling Asian markets responded positively. Investors piled back into riskier stocks and abandoned gold as the [...]
RICE KING’S SHARWOODS BID GOES OFF THE BOIL July 19, 2011 THE RETAIL industry has been on tenterhooks over the last month to see whether rice tycoon Moni Varma, the chairman of Veetee Food Group, would succeed in expanding his processed foods empire by buying Sharwoods from Premier Foods. However, The Capitalist can reveal that Varma’s audacious bid for the sauces manufacturer is no longer likely [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 10, 2011 Whitbread The leisure group has appointed Susan Hooper and Susan Taylor Martin (pictured) as non-executive directors. Hooper, who will join the Whitbread board on 1 September, is chief executive of Acromas Travel, where she manages the Saga, AA and Titan Hi Tours businesses. Taylor Martin, whose appointment is effective from 1 January 2012, is president, [...]
New approaches: network your way to the top in a private members’ club August 31, 2011 THE IVY, SOHO TYPICAL MEMBER: Members are usually already well connected. Duncan Bannatyne, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the BBC’s Mark Thompson have been spotted there recently. STYLE: The management are hell bent on privacy. No cameras or phones. Membership is through recommendation only. EASE OF NETWORKING: Great speaker events give you access to big-name celebrities. EIGHT [...]
RPC Group to buy rival firm Superfos December 16, 2010 PLASTIC packaging maker RPC Group said yesterday it planned to buy its Danish rival Superfos for €240m (£204.7m) in a deal likely to boost its market share and expand its operations into new countries. RPC said it would fund the acquisition through a rights issue and debt in the form of a new €130m term [...]
RPC Group to buy rival firm Superfos December 16, 2010 PLASTIC packaging maker RPC Group said yesterday it planned to buy its Danish rival Superfos for €240m (£204.7m) in a deal likely to boost its market share and expand its operations into new countries. RPC said it would fund the acquisition through a rights issue and debt in the form of a new €130m term [...]
FTSE pegged back as US debt dominates July 28, 2011 The FTSE 100 started on the back foot in early trading as the saga surrounding the US debt crisis continued to pile pressure on world markets. A glut of major corporate results revealed mixed fortunes as giants like BT, Centrica and AstraZeneca reported. With US politicians still tussling over whether to raise the country’s debt [...]
Banks lead FTSE down on close after tumultuous week August 5, 2011 Banks and commodity stocks fell sharply on Friday as the top share index extended losses into a sixth straight trading day, battered by a global debt crisis and unmoved by US jobs data easing fears of another economic recession. London’s blue chip FTSE 100 closed down 146.15 points, or 2.7 per cent at 5,246.99, as [...]