Santander able to bid for RBS assets November 1, 2009 Spanish bank Santander has been cleared to bid for Royal Bank of Scotland’s business-focused branches when the bank’s assets are divested under plans being drawn up. Competition rules agreed between London and Brussels will ensure that no purchase of the assets will push the buyer’s market share in the specific market past 15 per cent. [...]
Blackstone offers support as Goldman prepares to testify April 22, 2010 PRIVATE equity firm Blackstone Group stood by Goldman yesterday saying it would remain a major client of the bank and has never had reason to question its behaviour on any deal it has worked on with them, chief executive Stephen Schwarzman said. “We’ve been working with Goldman Sachs since Blackstone was founded almost 25 years [...]
CHAIRMEN FACING ANNUAL ELECTION November 30, 2009 COMPANY chairmen could face annual re-election under wide-ranging new proposals on corporate governance published today. The consultation by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), chaired by Sir Christopher Hogg, also suggested external assessments of boards’ performance every three years. The guidelines are the latest attempt to reform the Combined Code and overhaul boardroom accountability in the [...]
THE TIPSTER December 14, 2009 NEWS that British Airways’ cabin crew has voted in favour of strike action, combined with the state of the airline’s pension scheme has put further downward pressure on the airline’s share price. On a technical level, shares are currently blocked from any further progress by a resistance line in place on the daily chart since [...]
Lloyds close to agreeing break fee of 2.5bn November 1, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group and the Treasury are close to rubber-stamping a deal under which the bank will fork out a break fee of £2.5bn to exit the government’s asset protection scheme (APS). An announcement is expected possibly as early as tomorrow on the exact terms of Lloyds’ exit from the state-backed scheme, into which it [...]
Lloyds close to agreeing break fee of 2.5bn November 1, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group and the Treasury are close to rubber-stamping a deal under which the bank will fork out a break fee of £2.5bn to exit the government’s asset protection scheme (APS). An announcement is expected possibly as early as tomorrow on the exact terms of Lloyds’ exit from the state-backed scheme, into which it [...]
LLOYDS LAUNCHES ITS RECORD RIGHTS ISSUE November 24, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group yesterday launched the biggest cash call the City has ever seen with its long-awaited £13.5bn rights issue, offering new shares to investors at a deep discount of almost 60 per cent. The rights issue has been priced at 37p, a discount of 59.5 per cent to Monday’s close of 91.47p. Under the [...]
Lloyds eyes CPA Global for 400m October 25, 2009 Lloyds Banking Group’s private equity unit LDC is in talks to take on CPAGlobal – the patent and legal services group – for £400m, in a move which shows how the private equity branch of the part state-owned bank now overshadows the UK’s ailing buy-out market. The majority of private equity groups have been pushed [...]
Lloyds eyes CPA Global for 400m October 25, 2009 Lloyds Banking Group’s private equity unit LDC is in talks to take on CPAGlobal – the patent and legal services group – for £400m, in a move which shows how the private equity branch of the part state-owned bank now overshadows the UK’s ailing buy-out market. The majority of private equity groups have been pushed [...]
Investors in scramble for Lloyds bonds November 23, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group yesterday said investors had heavily oversubscribed to its ground-breaking contingent convertible bond exchange plan, sending the stock 3.8 per cent higher and paving the way for a strong take-up for its upcoming rights issue. Lloyds, which said the result marked “an important milestone” in its capital-raising exercise, raised £8.5bn in its non-US [...]