When it makes sense for the Top Dog to pitch July 18, 2011 FEW need reminding how treacherous current conditions in Europe’s equity markets are. Russia’s Valinor recently became the 25th pulled listing in Europe, Middle East and Africa so far this year and a 15 per cent downwards repricing of the Spanish bank Bankia yesterday underlined the fragility of investor appetite for new issues. So it is [...]
Beazley move for Hardy rejected October 18, 2010 Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley said smaller peer Hardy Underwriting had rejected a takeover approach made earlier this month but that it still hoped to clinch a deal. Dublin-based Beazley said that on 6 October it had proposed paying 300 pence per share in cash for Hardy, valuing the company at about £155m. The approach, [...]
Brit Insurance accepts £888m offer from Apollo and CVC October 26, 2010 Brit Insurance has accepted a formal offer from buyout firms Apollo Management and CVC Capital Partners after recommending an approach which values Brit at up to £888m. Lloyd’s of London insurers, which offer cover against large-scale risks such as natural disasters, have emerged as potential takeover targets because cyclically low insurance prices have weighed heavily [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 14, 2011 Lloyds TSB Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance has appointed Gary Lapthorn as marketing and external affairs director. In his new role, Lapthorn will lead the asset-based finance division’s marketing team to help businesses access appropriate finance. Lapthorn, who has been at Lloyds Banking Group for a number of years, joins from the bank’s commercial division, where [...]
Banks in retreat after Portugal downgrade July 6, 2011 The FTSE 100 lost ground on opening today after Moody’s cut Portugal’s credit rating to “junk” sending banking shares down. As the Eurozone crisis deepened investors abandoned risky equities as banks’ exposure to the crisis in the eurozone came under the spotlight. The euro fell sharply after the Moody’s four-notch downgrade to Ba2, with the [...]
Banks in retreat after Portugal downgrade July 6, 2011 The FTSE 100 lost ground on opening today after Moody’s cut Portugal’s credit rating to “junk” sending banking shares down. As the Eurozone crisis deepened investors abandoned risky equities as banks’ exposure to the crisis in the eurozone came under the spotlight. The euro fell sharply after the Moody’s four-notch downgrade to Ba2, with the [...]
FTSE up but investors jittery over Greek crisis June 27, 2011 The FTSE 100 was up this morning but investors remained wary ahead of yet another chapter in the Greek financial crisis. Greek MPs are due to debate a fresh package of austerity measures later. The euro slipped as confidence in the eurozone continued to be sapped by Greece’s debt pile. Meanwhile France’s Christine Lagarde was [...]
Lloyds of London hits record profit March 24, 2010 THE Lloyd’s of London insurance market said its profit more than doubled last year to a new record thanks to a quiet hurricane season and lucrative investments. Pre-tax profit was £3.87bn – up from £1.9bnin 2008, when the market was forced to pay out massive sums after communities and businesses were torn apart by hurricanes [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD BROADGATE BE LISTED? June 6, 2011 MALCOLM PICKERING | LEADENHALL CORP “No, for a building to be listed it needs to have architectural history. We are in a period of change and renewal so it is good to build a modernised building.” PAUL BENNIE | BENNIE MACLEAN “No. The building is not iconic and it is not an architectural landmark. Broadgate [...]
LEGAL FIRM BROADENS RECRUITING HORIZONS August 1, 2011 CITY INTERNSHIPS are notoriously hard to come by. But not for regular readers of The Capitalist such as Ratidzo Chinyuku, who wrote to Taylor Wessing partner Martin Winter asking for a work placement after reading about his charity work in her homeland of Zimbabwe in this column on 12 April. Following her successful appeal, the [...]