WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 4, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES AQUASCUTUM IN BUY-OUT TALKSAquascutum, the classic British clothing brand, could be sold to the Hong Kong clothier that distributes the label in China and south-east Asia after an offer from the brand’s management to buy the business was rejected at the eleventh hour last week. Japan’s Renown, which bought the British label in [...]
Blank’s exit won’t end Lloyds’ troubles May 17, 2009 IT was always Sir Victor Blank, one of the Labour Party’s favourite businessmen, who was most likely to be Lloyds Banking Group’s sacrificial lamb. It was he, after all, who was the main driver of Lloyds TSB’s ill-fated takeover of HBOS; he first discussed the idea of the deal with Gordon Brown over drinks in [...]
Dresdner Kleinwort set for job cuts after Commerzbank seals the deal September 2, 2008 Dresdner Kleinwort employees were bracing themselves for a round of sweeping job cuts yesterday, after German bank Commerzbank completed a deal to buy Dresdner Bank from insurers Allianz at the weekend. Dresdner Kleinwort, led by CEO Stefan Jentzsch and his team employs about 5,500 staff in the UK, with 2,000 of those based in the [...]
Liberty surges on speculation over fierce bidding war August 27, 2008 Liberty International saw its shares receive a welcome fillip yesterday as US mall owner Simon Property Group upped its stake in the UK shopping centre specialist to 4.22 per cent, prompting speculation of a bidding war. Australian property group Westfield, the world’s largest shopping mall owner by market cap, also confirmed yesterday that it had [...]
Volatile markets give London Capital Group a boost as interim profits soar August 8, 2008 Volatile market conditions helped profits more than double at spread betting firm London Capital Group over the past six months, its interim results revealed yesterday. Profits before tax rose 52 per cent to £5.43m in the six months to the end of June as sharp falls in share prices tempted more people to try spread [...]
Quintain cuts Wembley jobs August 6, 2008 Developer Quintain unveiled plans to slash costs yesterday, saying it was cutting jobs at its Wembley project and will pay no dividend for up to two years. The property company, which is redeveloping the 85 acres surrounding the north London Wembley stadium into a large retail, leisure and residential scheme, said it was axing over [...]
Allianz sells Dresdner in £8bn deal September 1, 2008 German insurance giant Allianz last night agreed to sell its beleaguered banking arm Dresdner to rival Commerzbank in a deal worth €9.8bn (£7.9bn) – a tie up that will lead to at least 1,000 job losses in the City. In what will be the biggest German banking merger in nearly a decade, Commerzbank will buy [...]
Business confidence plummets July 21, 2008 Worsening economic conditions are taking their toll on business confidence in the capital, according to the latest Business in Britain survey. The study, from Lloyds TSB Commercial, revealed that firms’ optimism for the coming six months is lower than ever, with London-based companies hit hardest. The Business Confidence Index for July showed that the balance [...]
Plunge into a dark pool in the new era of trading platforms August 26, 2008 Project Turquoise is here, and promises to shake up the world of trading. But what does it mean for you?, asks Katie Hope Within two weeks, Project Turquoise will launch in full. The hotly awaited new trading platform set up by a consortium of nine investment banks, started quietly almost two weeks ago trading just [...]
Capital & Regional set to sell fresh assets after its funds slump in value July 16, 2008 Co-investing property fund manager Capital & Regional hinted yesterday that further sales of its assets were likely, as it moves to cope with the slump in the property market. The company, which is one of the biggest property asset managers in the country and owns a number of large shopping centres and out of town [...]