Melrose moves into red after GKN takeover, but shareholders remain undeterred March 7, 2019 Acquisition specialist Melrose Industries fell into the red in 2018 after the £8bn takeover of aerospace parts group GKN, but shares rose five per cent on Thursday morning investors were buoyed by strong underlying profits. The FTSE 100 firm, which specialises in buying and improving underperforming businesses, said the hostile takeover of GKN had helped [...]
Brexit uncertainty sparks public to private takeover trend February 27, 2019 Brexit uncertainty has sparked private equity fund interest in UK take-private transactions, new research shows. Of the 42 firm offers for UK public companies last year 31 per cent were made by private equity, analysis by investment bank Jefferies shows. Read more: Why tech startups are snubbing IPOs Public to private deals completed in 2018 [...]
Advertising industry group hits back in row over junk food ad bans March 7, 2019 Restrictions on junk food adverts have a huge economic impact and fail to address the problem of childhood obesity, the advertising industry body has said. In a report published today the Advertising Association (AA) states children’s exposure to adverts for products with high fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) contents has declined in recent years, yet [...]
Chef’s Table: Flor’s James Lowe invites My Dad Wrote a Porno creator Alice Levine for lunch November 4, 2019 The Lunch: Bread; Anchovy toast, lardo di colonnata, marjoram; Scarlet prawns, orange yuzu kosho; Palourde clam flatbread, spenwood, vin jaune, lautrec garlic; burrata, chestnut, pickled walnuts; Turbot, cultured butter, ‘les molates’ savagnin Alice Levine: Thanks for having me James. I remember when we first met – it was when I was doing supper clubs and [...]
Unilever shareholders to hold crunch vote on Netherlands move September 11, 2018 Unilever shareholders will vote next month on plans to streamline the consumer goods giant and move its headquarters to Rotterdam over London. The company, which makes Marmite and Pot Noodle, has revealed details of its proposal to abandon its dual-headed structure and become one legal entity in the Netherlands. The Anglo-Dutch firm, which also produces [...]
Big brands doing big deals show the UK sports sponsorship industry remains in rude health January 14, 2019 January is typically the time to look forward, to forecast and predict what will happen in the coming year. To understand the state of the UK sponsorship industry, however, it’s more worthwhile to look at what happened in the months leading up to Christmas. Rewind to the week after Black Friday in December and big [...]
DEBATE: Is attempting to trademark a product’s shape, as Kit Kat tried to do, a good business strategy? July 27, 2018 Is attempting to trademark a product’s shape, as Kit Kat tried to do, a good business strategy? Elizabeth Finn, managing director of Cowan London, says YES. We live in an age where copycat products and brands are increasingly easy and cheap to produce. It is therefore vital that brands trademark as many aspects of their [...]
Mondelez chief executive Irene Rosenfeld, the woman blamed for shutting down Cadbury factories in the UK, has stepped down August 2, 2017 Irene Rosenfeld, the former Kraft boss who became a figure of hate after its takeover of Cadbury’s in 2010, has stepped down from her position as chief executive of Mondelez. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission today, the company said Rosenfeld will be replaced by Dirk Van de Put, currently the [...]
Theresa May’s new merger powers would be a hostile takeover by the state October 16, 2018 Back in July 2016, Theresa May launched her campaign for leadership of the Conservative party by promising radical action on foreign takeovers of British businesses. In the wake of Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury and Pfizer’s failed bid for AstraZeneca, May promised to defend workers and local communities from transient shareholders who, she said, were more [...]
Halo Top ice cream defrosted from the startup doldrums to become a retail success December 17, 2018 Junk food is, rightly, under assault. This year, we’ve seen the introduction of a sugar tax on soft drinks, and last month London mayor Sadiq Khan announced a ban on junk food advertising on the capital’s public transportation network. This comes after tougher TV advertising rules introduced last year, which meant that ads for food [...]