Aviva closes IPO of Turkish arm November 10, 2014 INSURANCE company Aviva yesterday confirmed the closing of its Turkish arm’s IPO, following its announcement in September that it was offering to the public market a minority stake in the shares of its joint venture with Sabanci Group, AvivaSA. The company, which will be listed as Avisa on Borsa Istanbul, the Turkish stock exchange, from [...]
Aviva meets criticism over Friends Life deal November 24, 2014 Analysts have warned that Aviva’s share price could continue to decline, following news that the insurance group is in talks concerning a £5.6bn merger with rival Friends Life. Shares dropped by more than five per cent yesterday when the markets opened for the first time since the news broke. “The market is in a state [...]
Rugby World Cup: Warren Gatland turns spotlight onto rivals August 31, 2015 Wales coach Warren Gatland has turned up the heat on England and Ireland ahead of their clash at Twickenham this weekend after naming his squad for the Rugby World Cup yesterday. New Zealand-born fly-half Gareth Anscombe was omitted from the principality’s 31-man party after suffering an ankle injury in training last week, while wing Alex [...]
Tottenham Hotspur sponsor Under Armour posts first billion-dollar quarter October 22, 2015 Like many of the athletes who sport its brand, Under Armour has enjoyed a good year after surpassing $1bn in quarterly revenue for the first time. The figures The sportswear retailer posted revenues of $1.2bn (£800m) in its third quarter, a 28 per cent increase on last year's $938m. Under Armour heralded the "game-changing" performance of [...]
West End landlords club together to create business improvement district October 15, 2015 The lobby group behind London’s West End has unveiled plans to launch a new business improvement district (BID) run by the area’s landlords to oversee £16m of investment into the area. The New West End Company, which represents 600 businesses around Oxford Street, Bond Street and Regent Street, is already a BID itself but funded [...]
Friends Life and Aviva started merger talks months ago November 26, 2014 Insurance firm Aviva has been in talks about a potential merger with Friends Life for a number of months, City A.M. understands. Discussions began when Aviva chief executive Mark Wilson contacted his opposite number at Friends Life, Andy Briggs. But it was only on Friday when Aviva was forced to confirm the talks due to [...]
Insurance deal frenzy shows no signs of stopping as Phoenix considers offer for Cinven subsidiary September 17, 2015 Insurer Phoenix Group today confirmed it’s in talks about a possible takeover of Cinven-owned Guardian Financial Services. “Phoenix has been evaluating Guardian Financial Services as part of an on-going sale process for the Guardian Financial Services business,” it said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange today. “Discussions remain on a non-exclusive basis. There [...]
Brazil’s pain has no end in sight as impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff kick off December 8, 2015 The soap opera of Brazilian politics continues as impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff kicked off last week. After months of lobbying, petitions to have the President impeached were accepted by the speaker of the lower house, Eduardo Cunha, one of the most powerful sitting politicians. The charges (which she denies) are that [...]
Electra chairman Roger Yates resigns as Sherborne’s activist investor Edward Bramson voted onto the board by shareholders November 5, 2015 Sherborne's Edward Bramson has finally succeeded in his mission to join the board of private equity group Electra, after 53.5 per cent of shareholders voted in favour of his appointment as a director, 16.6m to 14.4m against. Chairman Roger Yates resigned from the from the board with immediate effect after the meeting. Sherborne's first move is to introduce "a strategic [...]
As Chinese slowdown fears ease, are prospects brighter for emerging market equities? October 1, 2015 Will Ballard, head of emerging markets and Asia Pacific equities at Aviva Investors, says Yes The recent turmoil in emerging markets is nothing new. Indeed, we have been here before. The journey has often been painful but it has also been rewarding. This is because although emerging markets are volatile, they are driven by long-term [...]