Citigroup to advise Kazakhstan May 8, 2011 Citigroup has been named lead adviser to the Kazakhstan government for its People’s IPO programme, which will allow Kazakhstani people to invest in state-owned companies, as well as raise country’s profile as an investment hub. UBS, JSC Visor Capital and JSC KazKom Securities will also advise the government. PwC has been chosen as its accountant [...]
London to get wedding gift worth £107m April 25, 2011 DETRACTORS say the Royal Wedding could cost the UK economy up to £30bn. But a new survey from PwC claims that the nuptials will also have an economic upside. Visitors to the capital determined to share in the carnival atmosphere will be splashing out an estimated £107m while they celebrate. Around 560,000 people will flock [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 19, 2011 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Freshfields has appointed corporate partner Julian Long as head of its London corporate practice for a three-year term. Long, who succeeds Mark Rawlinson, newly elected as London managing partner, is an M&A specialist who also runs the law firm’s consumer and healthcare sector group. He recently advised on Petrochina’s venture with Ineos [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 19, 2011 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Freshfields has appointed corporate partner Julian Long as head of its London corporate practice for a three-year term. Long, who succeeds Mark Rawlinson, newly elected as London managing partner, is an M&A specialist who also runs the law firm’s consumer and healthcare sector group. He recently advised on Petrochina’s venture with Ineos [...]
Computer games industry calls for tax relief to halt exodus of talent from UK July 11, 2011 BRITAIN’S computer games industry has called for a tax break to prevent the so-called brain drain that has seen 20 per cent of UK companies lose staff to jobs overseas in the last 12 months. TIGA, the trade association representing the UK video games industry, yesterday warned that large-scale emigration of skilled and experienced staff [...]
EU banks carry vast non-core loans April 13, 2011 European banks are carrying over €1.3 trillion (£1.15 trillion) in non core loans, according to new information published by PwC today. These loan portfolios consist of both performing and non performing loans (NPLs), which PwC says the banks will spend the next 10 years either running off or selling. NPLs in the UK topped €175bn [...]
There could be baa-bad news for retailers afoot June 6, 2011 DE-BLEAT-ING sheep numbers across the globe could have traders flocking into short positions on retail stocks later this year. Wool hit a 23-year high last week. Clothing retailers were decrying the increase yesterday, speculating on how long they can absorb the cost. The UK managing director of Hugo Boss Bernd Hake said that they would [...]
MALMAISON TAKES NO PRISONERS AS BANKER COUPLE TURN JAIL BAIT June 16, 2011 EVEN if you have never stayed at Oxford’s Malmaison hotel, you may know the former jail from its TV appearances in Porridge, Inspector Morse and The Italian Job. The boutique hotel – which until 1996 was known as Her Majesty’s Prison Oxford – is now a home from home for the bankers of Britain, who [...]
Fed up at work? Don’t slow down, gear up for an entrepreneurial adventure June 15, 2011 OVER 60 per cent of people confess to not being engaged by their work, and 30 per cent of employees feel their strengths would be better suited to another career, according to a Towers Perrin/Gallup poll. A lot of people clearly want to work elsewhere. But for all the talk of “transferable skills,” moving into [...]
Shearings for sale for £40m April 17, 2011 The coach holiday company Shearings has been put up for sale by 3i for an estimated £40m, according to reports yesterday. 3i, the London-listed private equity company which bought the firm from Bridgepoint Capital, last year appointed advisers from Deloitte to find a buyer for the company. But after a deal with a trade buyer [...]