HMV acquires 7digital stake in 7.7m deal September 3, 2009 ENTERTAINMENT retailer HMV yesterday snapped up a 50 per cent stake in online music store 7digital in a £7.7m deal. The digital media firm, founded by James Kane and Ben Drury, will now host HMV’s digital operations, including a new e-books store for its Waterstone’s brand. HMV yesterday said 10 per cent of its sales [...]
UK set for square root-shaped recovery September 6, 2009 IT is almost official: we are out of recession. The economy is growing again, albeit at a snail’s pace, the equity and debt markets have bounced back, some firms are posting higher profits and there has been a mini-renaissance in City deal-making. All of which is great news but certainly not enough to uncork the [...]
Let’s help UK economy by reining in our jealousy September 13, 2009 Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius, according to Fulton J Sheen. Now whilst it is hard to argue that there is much genius in a financial community that a year ago brought us to the brink of global financial meltdown, it is important to not let our jealousy get in the way of [...]
The numbers man on why London needs to give the right message October 21, 2009 John Griffith-Jones definitely comes across as a man on a mission. Whether he’s talking about hooking accountancy giants KPMG up with as many of its European partners as possible, helping the banks through one of the most catastrophic crises in their history, preserving the status of London as a financial centre, or teaching young children [...]
The numbers man on why London needs to give the right message October 21, 2009 John Griffith-Jones definitely comes across as a man on a mission. Whether he’s talking about hooking accountancy giants KPMG up with as many of its European partners as possible, helping the banks through one of the most catastrophic crises in their history, preserving the status of London as a financial centre, or teaching young children [...]
Clever traders use call warrants to profit from those M&A rumours September 30, 2009 WITH the exception of shot gun weddings in the banking sector, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity practically died a death during the financial crisis. But recently there has been a slew of rumoured buyout offers such as Kraft’s bid for UK confectionary giant Cadbury. Indeed, Credit Suisse analyst Richard Kersley believes that the Kraft bid [...]
Clever traders use call warrants to profit from those M&A rumours September 30, 2009 WITH the exception of shot gun weddings in the banking sector, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity practically died a death during the financial crisis. But recently there has been a slew of rumoured buyout offers such as Kraft’s bid for UK confectionary giant Cadbury. Indeed, Credit Suisse analyst Richard Kersley believes that the Kraft bid [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD THE EAST COAST MAINLINE BE KEPT IN PUBLIC OR PRIVATE HANDS? July 27, 2009 PHIL LONG ASPEN INSURANCE“Rail franchises are better off in public hands in the long run. The focus is on profit when private companies run them, and not on customer service. The private sector just cherry picks the best lines to suit them, and it’s all too easy to dispose of them when they aren’t profitable.” [...]
Wolseley says there will be no pick up until 2010 July 27, 2009 BUILDING supplies company Wolseley yesterday said that the market would not pick up for the rest of 2009, as it announced that pre-tax profits for the 11 months to the end of June were down 60 per cent. The firm, which shed 30,000 of its 80,000 workers in the past two years, said while there [...]
Bidders circle British Land’s Broadgate August 18, 2009 BRITISH Land yesterday revealed it had been approached by several buyers interested in snapping up a 50 per cent stake in Broadgate, its iconic City development. US private equity group Blackstone has been tipped to beat rivals to a share of the 16 office buildings close to Liverpool Street Station. Yesterday finance director Graham Roberts [...]