Kentz’s shares soar on rejected takeover offers August 19, 2013 SHARES in Kentz leapt as much as 25 per cent yesterday, after the FTSE 250-listed engineering firm rejected two indicative takeover bids on the grounds that they undervalued the company. Kentz’s larger London-listed peer Amec made an approach on 5 August valuing the company at 565p to 580p per share, valuing the firm at around [...]
20 Finsbury circus sold to Japanese firm October 17, 2012 THE CITY of London Corporation said yesterday it has sold 20 Finsbury Circus to NTT Urban Development, the property arm of Japanese telecoms firm Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation for £42.5m. The building is let to Deutsche Bank until 2015.
Christmas is the ideal time to revive the City’s tradition of charitable giving December 9, 2012 FEAR that the UK could slip into a triple-dip recession heightened last week, as the services sector posted an unexpected slowdown. Yet remarkably, over half of us are still giving to good causes, despite the challenging economic outlook. This encouragingly high proportion of the population, includes many in the Square Mile. Contrary to myth, City [...]
Bank separation back on agenda December 20, 2012 PROMINENT City groups reacted furiously to plans for full separation of banks today, arguing the proposals add a fresh round of uncertainty to the sector, hurting lending and growth. And plans for a tougher leverage ratio were also attacked, as it could push up the cost of mortgage borrowing and put the UK’s banks at [...]
We need to put the past behind us and get the special relationship right December 2, 2012 ONLY a few months ago, talk of a special relationship between the US and the UK would have provoked some quizzical looks among many in the City. A number of British banks – Standard Chartered, HSBC and Barclays among them – had faced a summer of discontent as they were subject to accusations of wrongdoing [...]
The government achieved the best deal possible on Eurozone banking union December 16, 2012 POLITICIANS are the first to be blamed when things go wrong, so it is important that they also receive credit when they get something right. Last week’s developments on the European banking union are a case in point. Under the circumstances, the UK government secured the best deal possible at the summit in Brussels. The [...]
Dragon’s cloud computing firm lists with Soros among investors May 24, 2013 A CLOUD computing company founded by a star of TV show Dragon’s Den will become the latest technology firm to tap London’s markets for funding this morning. Outsourcery, which counts the newest Dragon Piers Linney as its co-chief executive, will float on Aim, London’s junior market, this morning with a valuation of £35m. The company, [...]
The new lord mayor’s message: Social and financial returns go hand in hand November 11, 2012 IN THE 35 years since I first started working in the Square Mile, I have seen many things change. But one constant over this period is that the success of our financial services industry continues to be dependent on the concept of service. In other words, the City must serve society rather than the other [...]
The City needs partners to strengthen its place in Europe’s single market November 25, 2012 UNCERTAINTY over the future of Europe, and to an extent Britain’s role within it, continues to dominate the agenda, even as the latest summit in Brussels wraps up. Clearly there are strong views on both sides of this debate in the Square Mile. But – regardless of whether you are a eurosceptic, europhile or something [...]
The City is successfully adapting to a new role among its global competitors November 18, 2012 IN the past month, post-Olympics euphoria has been replaced by a more sober atmosphere. Downgraded growth forecasts and increased inflation expectations paint a decidedly mixed picture of the state of the economy. And to add to the woes, last week the Centre for Economics and Business Research claimed that the number of financial services jobs [...]