Mitchells & Butlers pulls off £266m Orchid deal June 16, 2014 HARVESTER and All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers yesterday announced it has acquired rival pub operator Orchid Group for £266m in cash, in a deal that the firm expects will lead to a double digit boost to earnings. Orchid’s 173 pubs will join Mitchells & Butlers’ existing estate of 1,592 managed pubs and 52 [...]
Chinese on brink of House of Fraser bid March 31, 2014 HOUSE of Fraser is on the verge of a takeover by a Chinese conglomerate, in a landmark deal valuing the retailer at £450m. Chinese powerhouse Sanpower Group, led by 49-year-old multi-millionaire Yuan Yafei, has tabled an all-cash offer to buy out the 165-year-old British department store’s diverse patchwork of shareholders and its £160m of debts. [...]
Mike Ashley in talks to buy 33 LA Fitness sites May 14, 2014 SPORTS Direct’s billionaire owner Mike Ashley has set his sights on expanding into the health and leisure industry, with plans to buy 33 sites from LA Fitness. The health club chain confirmed yesterday that it was in talks with the Newcastle United football club owner over the 33 sites, which had been put up for [...]
Banner Homes snapped up by Cala for £200m March 24, 2014 CALA Homes has made a further push into the more affluent south of England after buying luxury housebuilder Banner Homes yesterday for around £200m. The Edinburgh-based housebuilder, which develops upmarket properties in Scotland and in the Midlands has been looking to grow its presence in the south on the back of rising demand and said [...]
Tipping point: Why there’s never been a better time to start a business in Britain June 8, 2014 WE HAVE now heard Her Majesty the Queen utter the words small business and enterprise in Parliament. Last week, she announced the first ever bill dedicated to small firms in the Queen’s Speech: the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill. This was soon followed by a release from the Office for National Statistics showing the [...]
Property firms circle Lend Lease’s £550m Bluewater stake April 28, 2014 Some of the UK property industry’s biggest players are circling Lendlease’s £550m cent stake in Bluewater shopping centre in what could become a heated battle for the prized site. British Land, Land Securities, Hammerson, Westfield, Intu and M&G Real Estate are reported to have all lodged initial expression of interest in the Kent shopping centre, [...]
Venture capitalists pour £25m into big data firm eCommera February 24, 2014 FAST growing retail technology company eCommera, which works with huge retailers like Asda and House of Fraser, has secured a further $41m (£25m) in funding from investors, it said yesterday. The company, based in London, said investors like Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP had put more cash into the company alongside backers such as West Coast [...]
Inside Track: Rothschild shows independent advisers are on a roll February 13, 2014 AT THE top of Rothschild’s impressive and relatively newly-built London headquarters, a modern building set in the 17th century St Swithin’s Lane in the heart of the City, is an auditorium which the firm’s bankers use to host what are known as kick-off meetings for the flotations they’re working on. Over the past few months, [...]
Hodgson: England kids are alright May 12, 2014 Barkley, Shaw and Sterling are ready to shine at a World Cup, says manager ENGLAND manager Roy Hodgson insists his youthful squad is ready to challenge for the World Cup and has refuted claims that some starlets have been picked solely to gain major tournament experience. Hodgson yesterday confirmed a 23-man party for next month’s [...]
City Moves for 24 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 23, 2014 Northern Trust The asset management business has made two appointments. John Elder (right) joins as a senior investment adviser for multi-manager solutions. He has previously worked at Mellon Family Office Services and Ernst & Young. Jonathan Lidster joins as a senior wealth strategist. He was formerly chief operating officer at Global Partnership Family Offices. Barclays [...]