The Guardian:
Fate of hundreds of British workers hangs on the decision of major shareholders Warren Buffett and Nelson PeltzThe fate of Cadbury as a proudly independent confectioner, and the security of hundreds of jobs in the UK and Ireland, may hang on critical decisions taken this weekend by two towering figures in the stock-picking (Read More)
WSJ.com: Deal Journal - WSJ.com:
J.P. Morgan: Theodore Dimon is moving to the house his son has built. The 78-year-old broker is leaving Bank of America Merrill Lynch to join J.P. Morgan Chase, where his son, James Dimon, is CEO. The elder Dimon, according to Bloomberg, will join the Bear Stearns Private Client Services, a unit J.P. Morgan acquired in th (Read More)
The Guardian:
• Cosmen family seeks independent advice after failed Stagecoach merger • The company is now seeking to raise £350mNational Express's biggest investor, the Cosmen family, has been canvassing fellow shareholders to see if they concur with its opinion that a fresh strategic review for the transport operator is required and th (Read More)
Wall Street Journal:
For now, the much-ballyhooed M&A recovery remains all talk.Through Oct. 29, the dollar volume of announced world-wide merger and acquisitions was down 42% from September, according to data provider Dealogic. That made it the slowest month of the year. In the U.S., activity fell 46% from September, according to Dealogic.Thos (Read More)
The Guardian:
The Cosmens, who hold 18% of National Express and run its Spanish bus operations, feared that National Express risked losing further value for all shareholdersThe National Express saga turned nasty today when Spain's Cosmen family, the company's biggest shareholder, expressed "serious concerns" about its future and urged it (Read More)
The Guardian:
• Law-makers say trials must wait till March 2011 meeting• Use of extra assistants in Europa League means delayDespite the comments this month from the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, that he wished to explore goalline technology again, the International Football Association Board – which presides over the sport's laws – last (Read More)
paidContent.org:
Updated: Don’t think big thoughts when you look at that $1.8 billion-plus in IAC’s bank account: Barry Diller is sticking to his guns when it comes to major acquisitions. He told analysts during the Q3 earnings call that he’s more inclined to repatriate the money through buybacks, not through M&A investment. But Diller did (Read More)
The Guardian:
• American billionaire now owns 28.9% stake in Gunners• Kroenke yet to reveal intentions over club's ownershipStan Kroenke has purchased another 10 shares in Arsenal's parent holding company, at a cost of some £85,000, to edge closer towards the takeover threshold. The Denver-based sports magnate now controls a stake of som (Read More)
The Guardian:
• Critics argue bank profits show lack of competition• State-backed Lloyds cash call will pay City £300m Lord Myners, the City minister, has warned of growing discontent among shareholders and company directors over the high level of fees investment banks charge for their services.He said if things did not improve, the gove (Read More)
The Guardian:
The return of bank bonuses has angered bishops and spread to the venerable churches of the Square Mile itselfThe idea of high-octane, bonus-driven City bankers shooting the breeze about moral values has always been about as likely as turkeys sitting down for a wattle-wag about how much they are all looking forward to the fe (Read More)
The Guardian:
• HandMade Kids aims to tap into lucrative television and merchandise market • Intellectual property deal includes characters created by Sarah FergusonThe British film company HandMade is bringing a welcome windfall to the Duchess of York with a deal to turn her red-headed storybook characters into TV stars.The protagonists (Read More)
The Guardian:
City welcomes switch of focus to core mining activities as group aims for 25% cut in overheadsTarmac, a leading supplier of building materials, is up for sale again as part of a new shake-up at mining group Anglo American in the wake of last week's failed merger moves by rival Xstrata.The British aggregates specialist is to (Read More)
The Guardian:
Wall Street investment banker nicknamed 'Bid 'em up Bruce'The banker Bruce Wasserstein, who has died aged 61, cast a long shadow in the financial services industry. With his longtime friend and sometime business colleague Joseph Perella, he demonstrated that the most valuable assets of an investment bank are the people who (Read More)
The Guardian:
• Forcing landlords to buy beer from their owners is not anticompetitive, watchdog rules• Investigation was sparked by super-complaint by the Campaign for Real AleAn attempt to stop pub landlords being forced to buy beer from the companies which own their pubs has been rejected by the Office of Fair Trading.The OFT told the (Read More)
The Guardian:
Reinhard Mohn, who has died at the age of 88, turned a small-town German printer and publisher into one of the world's largest media conglomerates under his great-great-grandfather's name of Bertelsmann, while studiously preserving his own and his company's private status. There could have been no greater contrast than that (Read More)