German drugs giant Merck launches makeover to differentiate from US competitor October 14, 2015 German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA is re-branding itself in order to stand out against competitors. By re-designing its logo and altering its business structure, it hopes to have a greater claim over the “Merck” brand. Everywhere outside the North America, where US company Merck & Co has dominance over the Merck name, it is ditching [...]
Standard & Poor’s says Wall Street’s banks are leaving European rivals behind October 14, 2015 As the Wall Street banks report quarterly results this week, Standard & Poor's has released a report showing US investment banks are leaving their European partners trailing in the dust. Since the recession, the UK's banks such as RBS and Barclays, have scaled back their investment operations leaving their American rivals like Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and [...]
Apple faces £595m patent bill after losing lawsuit over microchip used in iPhone 5S, 6, 6S and iPad October 14, 2015 It looks like Apple has borrowed its microchip design from a university. The University of Wisconsin-Madison just successfully sued the tech giant over a chip patent that it developed in 1998, and Apple has been using in devices like the popular iPhone 6 without permission. Apple now faces a £595m patent bill after losing the [...]
Twitter share price rises as it names Google’s Omid Kordestani as new executive chairman October 14, 2015 Twitter announced the appointment of its new executive chairman true to form, with a tweet: https://twitter.com/twitter/status/654281217932554241 The company has appointed former Google executive Omid Kordestani, who added (also in a tweet): Excited to work with @jack, the Twitter Board, @adambain, @anthonynoto and the rest of the team to grow @twitter’s impact and business. It’s rare you get to [...]
N Brown share price rises as Simply Be and Jacamo owner says turnaround on track October 14, 2015 Shares in N Brown rallied this morning as the home shopping group said efforts to turnaround the business and draw a line under the past year’s woes were paying off. The catalogue and online retailer, which caters for older and larger shoppers through brands such as Simply Be and Jacamo, posted a 15.9 per cent fall [...]
Al Noor and Mediclinic merge to form London-listed healthcare giant October 14, 2015 Private healthcare companies Al Noor and Mediclinic today announced their plan to merge and list on the London Stock Exchange. Mediclinic, which is currently listed in Johannesburg, will own a majority stake worth between 84 and 93 per cent, while Abu-Dhabi-based Al Noor Hospitals is offering its investors a special dividend of £3.28 per share, [...]
Bank of America Merrill Lynch reports a $4.5bn profit despite market chaos and low rates October 14, 2015 Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML) reported its net income for the three months to the end of September rose to $4.5bn (£2.9bn), after making a loss of $232m in the same period in 2014. Net income decreased from $5.3bn in the previous quarter, as did diluted earnings per share, which were $0.37, down from $0.45 in [...]
IPO latest: Lloyds spin-off Equiniti expects a market capitalisation of up to £600m after IPO October 14, 2015 Equiniti, the payments technology provider, has added to the current flurry of IPO activity, announcing the price range for its shares will be between 165p and 200p. The price would give Equiniti an initial market capitalisation of between £495m and £600m: the company estimates the flotation to net around £135m, which it plans to use to pay off some [...]
Worldpay closes above initial offer price: How does it compare to London’s biggest floats this year? October 14, 2015 Yesterday, payments processor Worldpay attracted attention with the biggest float on the London Stock Exchange so far this year. And as institutional investors rushed to get a slice of the fintech company's, its shares closed up 10.4 per cent at 265p per share, giving it a market cap of £5.28bn on its first day of trading. Companies are clamouring to list [...]
£1bn IPO is finally on for retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone October 14, 2015 After years of rumours, retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone finally announced its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange today, an IPO which Morning Wire understands could give the company a valuation of £1bn. McCarthy & Stone, which said it has a 70 per cent share of the UK's owner-occupied retirement property market, hopes to [...]