Index Ventures eyes up London for £325m fund June 10, 2014 INDEX Ventures, which invested in the recently floated Just Eat and King, will today unveil its seventh early stage fund as the venture capital firm increasingly looks to London for startups with an ambition to become global leaders in their fields. While the new £325m fund would be spread over investments across Europe, the US [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 30 June 2014 June 30, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Value of M&A hits $1.7 trillion Deal frenzy, animal spirits, merger mania – call it what you like, it is back. The value of global mergers and acquisitions hit $1.75tn in the first six months of the year, a 75 per cent rise on the same period last year and the highest since [...]
AA gets third boss in a year amid ongoing upheaval at motor icon August 28, 2014 FORMER car park boss Bob Mackenzie yesterday became the latest in a string of corporate executives to try their hand at running motoring icon AA. Mackenzie, who will break City convention and combine the role of chairman and chief executive at the group, follows in the footsteps of outgoing boss Chris Jansen, who left yesterday, [...]
UK finance body lands co-operation deal with colossal Chinese bank June 17, 2014 The government has been keen to promote business ties with China since at least the beginning of the current coalition – today’s visit by Premier Li Keqiang has been no exception. TheCityUK today signed a memorandum of understanding with a massive Chinese government bank, with a little help from the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office [...]
BP’s deal to supply natural gas to China will open doors, says CEO June 19, 2014 BP today announced a deal with China National Oil Corporation to supply up to 1.5m tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) over a 20-year period starting from 2019. The agreement between the two countries was signed in London, with BP's Group Chief Executive Bob Dudley commenting that he hoped the deal would open other doors [...]
London’s King of Mining Ian Hannam forced to pay £450K fine July 22, 2014 City heavyweight Ian Hannam must pay his £450,000 fine for insider dealing by 7 August, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ruled yesterday. Former JP Morgan rainmaker’s fall from grace sent shockwaves through the square mile when he was accused of wrongly disclosing confidential information to Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil minister, relating to client oil firm Heritage in 2008. [...]
City Moves for 09 June 2014 | Who’s switching jobs June 9, 2014 Allen & Overy The law firm has hired Maria Darby-Walker as global head of communications. For the past nine years, Darby-Walker has acted as an independent communications consultant, and was most recently interim head of internal and external relations at the Financial Conduct Authority. KPMG The professional services firm has announced the appointment of Julie [...]
Why taking on Islamic State in Syria is a recipe for unmitigated disaster September 28, 2014 For all that he is supposed to be a master communicator – and despite the oceans of ink spilled on the subject – I must confess I have no idea what exactly President Obama is trying to do against the Islamic State (IS). The White House talks of degrading and ultimately destroying the militants by [...]
Reckitt to float pharmaceutials arm in London July 28, 2014 Reckitt Benckiser, the owner of Nurofen painkillers and Dettol cleaning products, is to spin-off its pharmaceuticals business as it focuses on growing its core consumer brands. The FTSE 100 company said yesterday that a demerger of its RBP unit would take place over the next 12 months with a separate listing on the London Stock [...]
City Matters: Delaying a decision on airports threatens London’s role on the global stage December 15, 2013 IT HAS not been a good week for airports, airlines or passengers. Not only did an air traffic control glitch lead to hundreds of flights across the country being cancelled, but thick fog also later caused significant delays and disruption in the South East. As the industry deals with the backlog, it seems somehow fitting [...]