Moulton raises £143m for investment vehicle to target distressed companies December 15, 2009 PRIVATE equity industry veteran Jon Moulton has raised £142.4m to invest in struggling businesses through his new investment vehicle. Moulton, perhaps best known for his involvement in an unsuccessful bid to buy collapsed Midlands car maker MG Rover, will advise Better Capital, which will list on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on tomorrow. The group’s [...]
London rises to highest close in 3 weeks on Dubai bailout December 14, 2009 BRITAIN’S top share index closed at its highest level in a week yesterday, led by banks, after Abu Dhabi bailed out Dubai with $10bn in surprise aid, with commodities stocks also notching up solid gains. The FTSE 100 closed up 53.77 points at 5,315.34, its highest close since 4 December, adding to a rise the [...]
Retreating miners offset a strong day for banking sector December 3, 2009 A retreat in mining stocks offset gains in financials from Bank of America’s decision to repay bailout funds, leaving Britain’s top share index down 0.3 per cent at yesterday’s close. The FTSE 100 shed 14.39 points to end at 5,313.00, after gaining 0.3 percent on Wednesday. Banks were the top risers with sentiment helped by [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 3, 2009 AvivaAviva, the insurance group, announced yesterday that Mary Francis CBE had been appointed as a member of the board’s nomination committee, and took the role on with effect from 2 December this year. Francis is also a senior independent director of Centrica, and a non-executive director at Cable & Wireless. She formerly held senior positions [...]
THE LONDON REPORT November 30, 2009 BRITAIN’S leading share index shed 1.1 per cent yesterday, ending at session lows, dragged back by weakness in oil majors and banks on lingering anxiety over the impact of Dubai’s debt problems. By the close, the FTSE 100 was down 55.05 points at 5,190.68, its lowest closing level for three weeks. The blue chip index [...]
Aviva unveils new UK chief November 26, 2009 INSURER Aviva has announced a shake-up of its business with a new boss and management structure. The move will see its UK Life and Pensions unit come under the leadership of new chief executive Mark Hodges. Under the restructure, which will take effect on 1 January, a series of other executive changes will also be [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 26, 2009 PZ CussonsThe personal care firm has appointed Richard Harvey, the former chief executive of insurance giant Aviva, as its new chairman-elect. Harvey became group chief executive of Norwich Union in 1998 and took up his role at Aviva after the merger of Norwich Union with CGU, initiating the re-branding of the group under the Aviva [...]
ING insurance tempts buyers November 11, 2009 JAN Hommen, the chief executive of Dutch bancassurer ING, said yesterday that the group’s insurance division has received strong interest from potential buyers, after it was last month forced to carve up its empire to pay the price for its taxpayer bailout at the height of the crisis. Hommen said he would have to use [...]
Insurers call for rethink on capital limits November 11, 2009 INSURERS yesterday called on European regulators to widen their rethink on draconian capital restrictions proposed under the Solvency II reforms. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) welcomed indications that Europe was open to relaxing some rules for annuity providers that could potentially cost UK insurers up to £50bn a year if implemented in their current [...]
THE LONDON REPORT November 4, 2009 LONDON’S leading shares ended 1.4 per cent higher yesterday, boosted by a rebound from miners and banks, with retailers Next and Marks & Spencer also higher after posting forecast-beating figures. At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 70.68 points at 5,107.89, recouping all of Tuesday’s losses when the index fell 1.3 per cent to [...]