Cowdery gets his man as Tiner joins Resolution team September 10, 2008 Cowdery assembles crack buyout team Clive Cowdery set up the first incarnation of Resolution in 2003 with £500,000 of his own money, after leaving General Electric’s insurance unit. The company began life as a closed life fund consolidator, before Cowdery transformed it into a FTSE 100 insurance behemoth through a series of tie-ups. A merger [...]
Resolution to float as Tiner becomes CEO September 10, 2008 Acquisitions vehicle appoints new board members and gears up for spending spree Clive Cowdery’s buyout firm Resolution yesterday announced plans to raise £1bn through an initial public offering in November, as it prepares for a series of acquisitions of financial services companies in need of restructuring. Cowdery has pulled off a major coup by landing [...]
Brain-drain? It’s nothing but a blip September 10, 2008 Lots of City workers are heading for Dubai at the moment, but don’t worry: London will lure them back soon, says Max Orbach We all know somebody who has re-located to Dubai, Singapore or even Moscow in the last few months, as the British economy has wobbled, house-prices have fallen and inflation has risen. While [...]
EDF may face £1.5bn fee for BE takeover September 8, 2008 French energy giant EDF is facing yet another hurdle in its British Energy (BE) takeover bid – a £1.5bn approval fee. Close to finalising the bid, investors Invesco and M&G, which own 21 per cent of the shares, are understood to have pushed for a sweetener at the eleventh hour and will reiterate their position [...]
Builders set for mega loss on portfolios September 8, 2008 Homebuilders Barratt and Redrow are expected to report a £300m loss on their portfolios later this week. Barratt chief executive Mark Clare will announce they had to write £160m off the value of their land bank and work in progress. Despite Barratt boosting its shares earlier in the summer when refinancing debts and covenants, shares [...]
Nationwide merger will suit all sides September 8, 2008 Nationwide’s merger with The Derbyshire Building Society and The Cheshire Building Society, which was confirmed yesterday, will see it stretch its lead at the top of the list of UK mortgage lenders. The tie-up will hand the building society an extra 95 branches to add to the 900 retail locations it already operates, reinforcing its [...]
Boeing’s largest union votes to strike over pay and health benefits September 5, 2008 The largest union of American plane maker Boeing has rejected a new contract over pay and conditions, giving the management 48 hours to improve the deal or face a damaging strike. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said in Seattle last night that 80 per cent of the voters opposed the contract and [...]
Aviva cuts final payout for Norwich Union policy holders by 10 per cent September 5, 2008 Norwich Union, part of giant British insurance group Aviva, will slash its final policy payout by 10 per cent, in a move that will affect 2.4m policyholders. Norwich said yesterday its terminal bonuses would be cut by as much as 10 per cent after its funds were hit by faltering stock markets, commercial property and [...]
Resolution will not bid for UK insurer September 5, 2008 Clive Cowdery’s Resolution is not interested in a bid for the insurer Friends Provident, a company spokesman said yesterday. Shares in Friends Provident rose yesterday on reports that it was on a “wish list” of companies in Resolution’s sights. But a Resolution spokesman said today there was no truth in the rumours. He said: “There [...]
BNP Paribas to exploit credit crunch with new distressed finance group September 5, 2008 French bank BNP Paribas is to create a distressed finance group to take advantage of the credit crunch and snap up assets at discount prices, it said yesterday. The new unit will be led by Alain Dib, formerly the co-head of European high-yield markets. The bank plans to expand its distressed trading operations by providing [...]