Chelsea staying at Stamford Bridge has saved fans from an inexplicable sadness October 1, 2014 The increasing likelihood that Chelsea might remain at Stamford Bridge, the club's home since 1905, is wildly comforting to me as a supporter since the late sixties. When the club flirted with moving to Earls Court or Battersea Power station a couple of years ago, I allowed myself to see the reasoning behind it. [...]
Singapore fund crashes into RAC stock market float plans September 23, 2014 RAC, the roadside recovery group that has been preparing itself for a £2bn flotation in London, is understood to be in takeover talks with GIC, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund. Sources said last night that RAC’s initial public offering timetable had come to a halt to allow talks to be held between private equity group [...]
Barclays’ Antony Jenkins needs to perform soon – Bottom Line September 23, 2014 Another day, and another fine for Barclays. The FCA’s £38m fine on the bank for failing to protect its clients from the risk of loss will not substantially weaken Barclays financially. Nor will it impact on the authority of chief executive Antony Jenkins since the failings occurred before his appointment. Jenkins, however, must be feeling [...]
RAC IPO plans stalled as firm considers trade sale option September 22, 2014 RAC, the roadside recovery group, has yet to set a date for its hoped-for initial public offering (IPO), leading some to argue the group is more likely to plump for a trade sale to a new private equity owner. Carlyle, RAC’s current owner, enlisted business hotshot Sir Michael Rake as its chairman earlier in the [...]
Scottish independence referendum: Politicians have failed to inspire, but the union must survive September 17, 2014 There have surely been better political campaigns than the Better Together one that has been arguing the case for Scotland remaining in the United Kingdom, 307 years since the 1707 Act of Union. Admittedly, the Better Together side started with a bad hand, taking the No position in the whole debate. Arguing for something not [...]
CityAM awards: Business of the Year nominees announced September 7, 2014 I have great pleasure in introducing the first of our shortlists for the annual CityAM awards. As ever, the awards have attracted nominations from all sorts of diverse businesses and people who have done great things during the course of the past year, a year of recovery in the UK. We have taken on [...]
Len Blavatnik’s Perform offer revives troubled IPO debacle – Inside Track September 1, 2014 The non-executive directors of the media group Perform, who include the sports broadcaster Gaby Logan and the former DMGT finance director Peter Williams, have a tough job on their hands in deciding whether to recommend the 260p per share offer for the group from its major shareholder, Len Blavatnik. Blavatnik, whose business interests also include [...]
Inside Track: Sands deserves praise for facing critics July 27, 2014 Say what you like about Standard Chartered chief executive Peter Sands, and many people have in the past few days, he deserves credit for facing his critics. Sands knows that the performance of the emerging markets bank he runs hasn’t been all it could have been during the last few months. But on Thursday last [...]
Peace is not ready to ditch Sands at Standard Chartered – just yet July 23, 2014 STANDARD Chartered Bank, which recently produced its worst results in more than 12 years, said last night it stood behind its beleaguered chairman and chief executive. In response to speculation that either chairman Sir John Peace or chief executive Peter Sands might step down imminently in the wake of the bank’s disappointing performance, it said: [...]
BSkyB built its empire on live football – ignoring that could cost it dear July 23, 2014 WHEN BSkyB reports its results tomorrow, most expect them to be well received. The fast-moving satellite group will likely report strong profits and growth prospects, and will have much to say about innovative new products like Sky Go, Sky Store and Now TV, all intended to make it easier to consume its broadening content. However, [...]
