Starbucks gives £20m to taxman December 6, 2012 COFFEE chain Starbucks yesterday offered to pay £20m in corporation tax over the next two years even though it records no UK profits, in an effort to calm MPs’ anger that it has not had to pay any for years. But tax lawyers warned the move sets a dangerous precedent with an arbitrary charge being [...]
Ericsson and Samsung in patent wars as licensing talks collapse November 27, 2012 ERICSSON, the world’s biggest telecom network equipment maker, said it was suing Samsung Electronics for patent infringement after two years of talks failed to yield a licence agreement. Sweden’s Ericsson, which reckons more than 40 per cent of the world’s mobile traffic passes through its networks, filed a lawsuit in the United States saying Samsung [...]
Rapid responses December 5, 2012 Debt calculations [Re: A case of lies, damn lies and our rocketing national debt, yesterday] It’s unsurprising that so few know the difference between the deficit and debt. The really shocking story is the way the government calculates its liabilities. The very first lesson in any accounting course is reflecting reality, and using accounts to give [...]
Imagination finally lands chip firm MIPS after bidding frenzy December 17, 2012 BRITISH chip designer Imagination Technologies has finally won the bidding for US-based company MIPS, in a deal that will speed up its entry into the fast-growing processor industry. The company agreed a $100m (£61.7m) price for MIPS yesterday, and bidding rival CEVA said it would not up its offer. The agreed price comes after a [...]
Merger talks for historic publishers October 25, 2012 PEARSON revealed yesterday it is in talks with German media powerhouse Bertelsmann to merge its book publishing arm Penguin with Bertelsmann’s Random House. A deal would see a combined company worth around £2bn, with Pearson likely to own a minority share. The merger would also create a company with greater clout when negotiating with technology [...]
Row your boat gently down the Atlantic say three City boys November 25, 2012 THREE City boys and former army officers – Ed Janvrin, consultant at PwC, Alex Mackenzie, consultant at McKinney Rogers and Will Dixon, business manager at Barclays – stripped off their suits to row across the Atlantic in aid of charity Row2Recovery earlier this year. The mission, conceived by Janvrin and Mackenzie, was undertaken by a [...]
The man with a will to make online music pay January 20, 2013 RIO Caraeff has chosen quite a week to visit the UK. As his New York-based music video company, Vevo, is embroiled in negotiations with Google over a potential investment that is rumoured to value it at $500m (£315m), Britain’s most prominent high street music retailer, HMV, is entering administration. Vevo, founded by record labels Universal [...]
Snake anti-venom adds bite to profit hike at pharma firm BTG November 8, 2012 STRONG demand for snake anti-venom and cancer drugs helped BTG lift revenue 30 per cent to £143.4m in the half-year to the end of September, the firm said yesterday. The speciality pharmaceutical company was also boosted by the successful US launch of a treatment to prevent toxicity caused by cancer chemotherapy and growing royalties from [...]
Snake anti-venom adds bite to profit hike at pharma firm BTG November 8, 2012 STRONG demand for snake anti-venom and cancer drugs helped BTG lift revenue 30 per cent to £143.4m in the half-year to the end of September, the firm said yesterday. The speciality pharmaceutical company was also boosted by the successful US launch of a treatment to prevent toxicity caused by cancer chemotherapy and growing royalties from [...]
The company tax debate must focus on realistic reform December 3, 2012 THE Public Account Committee’s (PAC) ongoing criticism of large multinationals for their corporation tax payments is an ill-considered departure from a more sensible debate. Multinational companies, like Starbucks and Google, are by definition different to domestic businesses (like John Lewis or Morrisons). This is especially true of internet retailers like Amazon. Under the current law, [...]