Property firm PointPark eyes a London float October 9, 2012 EUROPEAN warehouse operator PointPark Properties yesterday announced plans to raise £250m in a float on the London Stock Exchange, marking the first IPO in the real estate sector for two years. The property group said it plans to use the proceeds to buy a €760m (£612m) portfolio of properties that it currently manages on behalf [...]
Mizuho picks new international boss September 17, 2012 JAPANESE bank Mizuho has hired Michiel de Jong, an investment banking veteran of Dutch group ABN Amro, to run its London-based advisory and securities business as it tries to make inroads into the international market. De Jong, who started as president and chief executive officer of Mizuho International yesterday, replaces Paul Hearn, a former BNP [...]
Direct Line IPO boosted by US intervention October 11, 2012 DIRECT Line Group yesterday celebrated a successful float as its shares jumped by more than seven per cent – however City A.M. has learned that London’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) in 17 months was heavily reliant on demand from US institutional investors. More than a third of the initial tranche of shares were bought by American funds, an unusually high [...]
Autumn statement December 5, 2012 THE BUSINESS CONFEDERATION’S VIEW DIRECTOR GENERAL JOHN CRIDLAND The CBI is the UK’s top business lobbying organisation. It aims to influence government policy on a wide range of business matters. “£5bn on near-term infrastructure, like the tube to Battersea, half a billion a year tax relief for small firms, and £1.5bn extra export support should [...]
CLS launches latest retail bond August 22, 2012 In the latest attempt to capitalise on consumer cash, CLS holdings, the London property investment firm, launched a retail bond yesterday. Investors will be able to put anything from £2,000 in the instrument, at a rate of 5.5 per cent. CLS has a portfolio of properties in London, France, Germany and Sweden.
Olympic feelgood factor fails to lift gloom on British high street August 23, 2012 GLOOM on the high street has continued in August, a leading survey revealed yesterday, with retailers becoming even more downbeat over business prospects for the next three months. Despite an uplift in morale from sunny weather and the London 2012 Olympic Games, retail sales were virtually flat compared to the same time last year. The [...]
Positive Chinese data sees the FTSE grow to highest level since March October 18, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index rose to a seven-month closing high ysterday, bolstered by mining stocks on a reassuring economic outlook from top metals consumer China. Chinese economic growth slowed to 7.4 per cent year-on-year during the third quarter, as expected, but industrial output and retail sales data for September beat forecasts, paving the way for [...]
Ashmore assets are boosted by fresh inflows October 11, 2012 ASHMORE Group said yesterday its assets under management rose 6.8 per cent in the three months to the end of September as rising markets and fresh inflows from Asian and Middle Eastern government-related investors boosted the emerging markets-focused manager. In a trading update released yesterday morning, Ashmore said the money it manages on behalf of [...]
Rapid responses January 8, 2013 Planning inflation [Re: Daft planning rules are pushing up the price of food in shops, yesterday] While it is always good for an article about planning policy to focus on commercial property rather than housing, and while the academics cited may have delivered interesting papers, let’s not use this work to justify more fiddling with [...]
Westfield eyes Croydon mall September 11, 2012 WESTFIELD has submitted plans for a new shopping centre in Croydon. The Australian mall firm hopes to redevelop the Whitgift Centre in the middle of Croydon into its third London site, and has pledged to deliver 5,000 permanent jobs and new travel links. The firm added yesterday that retailers operating in the existing shopping centre [...]