Going short is not necessarily the answer September 2, 2008 A medium or long term approach may be wisest just now, says Katie Hope Its’ like a grim version of “when I were a lad…” working in the City at the moment. Everyone’s trying to out-do themselves in describing just how bad things have got. Going to school barefoot barely makes the grade in terms [...]
TNS rebuffs WPP despite GfK walk out August 28, 2008 Market research company Taylor Nelson Sofre said it would continue to fight WPP’s hostile bid even after its preferred bidder GfK walked away from a takeover deal yesterday because it could not raise enough cash. German GfK had been trying to raise financing with private equity groups and wealth investors to launch a rival takeover [...]
Rock forced to pay £2m for new boss July 24, 2008 Northern Rock has announced the appointment of Barclays director Gary Hoffman as its new chief executive, in a deal worth more than £2m. Hoffman, who will pull in an annual salary of £700,000, has been at Barclays since 1982, where he has held several senior positions, including chief executive and chairman of Barclaycard. He stands [...]
China’s PBC builds stake in Prudential August 26, 2008 Prudential has poured cold water on suggestions that it should spin off its Asian arm into a separate company, as it emerged that the People’s Bank of China has built up a one per cent stake in the UK’s second-largest insurer. Chief executive Mark Tucker has fought an ongoing battle on two fronts to convince [...]
Indian tech giant snaps up UK’s Axon August 26, 2008 Indian software services giant Infosys yesterday said it had agreed to buy the London-listed IT consultancy Axon in a deal worth £407.1m – the largest ever takeover of a technology firm by an Indian player. Infosys, India’s second largest software services firm, offered 600p a share for Axon, a premium of 33 per cent on [...]
New Caz boss: I won’t turn us into sharks July 29, 2008 JP Morgan Cazenove’s brand new CEO Naguib Kheraj has a long history in investment banking, having worked at Salomon Brothers and Robert Fleming prior to a 10-year career at Barclays. He joins the British investment bank at an opportune moment, as the famously blue-blooded organisation looks for experienced heads to guide it into the future. [...]
Setanta’s £125m bet July 1, 2008 Setanta Sports has upped its multimillion-pound gamble to take on the dominant Sky Sports by paying a record £125m for the rights to the Scottish Premier League. The new four-year deal is the largest in Scottish football history and will go through to 2014. It is more than double the £54m Setanta paid for its [...]
Banks set for worst results in City history August 4, 2008 Markets brace for a raft of bad news from HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and others HSBC will today kick off another disappointing week of banking results as the credit crunch continues to wreak havoc in the City. HSBC is forecast to reveal $2bn-$3bn (£1bn-£1.5bn) of credit market provisions in its global markets business. Europe’s [...]
HBOS backers face £300m losses on rights issue flop July 18, 2008 HBOS’s £4bn cash-call is today expected to be shunned by shareholders – making it one of the biggest ever failed rights issues. Shares in the bank staged a rally yesterday, rising 5 per cent to 268.25p – but despite clawing back some of the ground lost in recent days the stock still closed below the [...]
Price website founder snubs takeover bid July 24, 2008 Moneysupermarket.com shares jump 45 per cent after offer by mystery buyer Top site Moneysupermarket.com saw its shares rocket 45 per cent yesterday after it dismissed a bid approach. The popular website, which lets users compare finance and travel prices, confirmed in a statement that CEO and cofounder Simon Nixon had received an initial approach regarding [...]