Findings from GrowthBusiness’ M&A on AIM 2012 reveal that although the number of acquisitions and disposals only grew by one, spend on deals climbed 50 per cent to nearly £2 billion. The report, sponsored by Crowe Clarke Whitehill and Howard Kennedy, finds that that M&A activity has grown despite AIM’s population diminishing by 6 per cent over the past 12 months. Deal figures for the first quarter of 2012 showed a similar number of acquisitions over the same period in 2011, and a surge of 31 per cent to £362
Read more →With all the talk about Barclay’s, and soon other banks we presume, manipulating LIBOR, I have had many people asking me what it is they actually did. I found this article in the Times which explains what LIBOR is and what Barclay’s were accused of doing. Essentially Barclay’s reduced its LIBOR rate dramatically towards the end of 2008, giving the impression that it was stronger than other banks, increasing its exposure and in the end making larger profits for itself. LIBOR is calculated as an average rate of the 16
Read more →There has been no shortage of profit warnings in the recession, but rarely recently has a company had to explain away the fact that it cannot cope with soaring demand. Shares in Computacenter crashed 12 per cent to a new low for the year yesterday after the company warned that the rapid growth of its IT services businesses in Germany and Spain would force it to hire an extra 700 staff. The company, which already expected to take on 500 new workers in the second half, said that it would
Read more →via Chancellor shores up the banks with £100 billion | The Times. Britain’s stricken economy was thrown a lifeline of at least £100 billion yesterday as the Government scrambled to prevent a new credit crunch. In the most significant response to date to the threat of a euro breakup, the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England offered tens of billions of pounds to banks to boost lending and help the sector to protect itself against a Greek exit. George Osborne said that the move proved that Britain was
Read more →Royal bank Coutts has found that 72 per cent of entrepreneurs do not believe that venture capital is the best way for a business to realise its growth potential. Despite the finding that 69 per cent of entrepreneurs say venture capital cash will help deliver faster growth to a company, the majority doubt the sustainability of the experience. Only 19 per cent of those questioned say that it is a sustainable system. Further findings show that nearly a quarter of entrepreneurs (25 per cent) admit that VC investment is likely
Read more →It may have taken more than a decade, but one of Britain’s more obscure telecoms companies has finally started to deliver on its promises, reporting its best quarterly performance since the tech boom. Colt Group increased its revenue in the first quarter by more than 5 per cent to €397 million (£324 million). Operating profit also rose by 5 per cent to €81 million. Most surprising was that this was driven by growth in voice revenue, which has been in steady decline for years. Colt has introduced a new platform
Read more →The most relentless lending squeeze on record is stifling companies’ ability to invest and derailing Britain’s fading recovery hopes, businesses warned in the wake of dire Bank of England figures. Lending to companies plunged by £4 billion in February — the sharpest drop for almost two years, according to the Bank’s Trends in Lending report. Lending has been falling since the middle of 2009, in the longest contraction since official data began in the 1960s. Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay, the former Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, called the figures “horrific”,
Read more →A report compiled by professional services firm Grant Thornton shows that 75 per cent of medium-sized tech companies have no plans to invest in new markets in the next 12 months. This follows on from the finding that 141 UK M&A deals were completed during 2011, a higher volume than in any other market. Wendy Hart, head of technology at Grant Thornton, says investors in the UK’s technology mid-market need to think beyond ‘traditional’ investment regions such as the US, Australia and Germany, to seize opportunities. ‘Over the last five
Read more →The walking wounded from the eurozone debt crisis are trickling into the emergency room. Among them are Europe’s telecommunications companies. The further south the company – mirroring the eurozone crisis – the greater the threat to total shareholder payouts as regulatory demands, market share loss, infrastructure investment and deteriorating economies erode profits. The glory days of Europe’s telecoms providers as cash-rich, utility-like behemoths may be over. Telefónica is a good example. Spain’s incumbent has been a freewheeling payer of dividends. In 2003 it paid €0.25 a share; by 2011 this
Read more →The Cable & Wireless name is set to disappear from the UK telecoms market after almost 80 years following Vodafone’s agreement of a £1bn cash acquisition of the group. The deal will catapult Vodafone to become the UK’s second-largest combined fixed and mobile operator after BT. It will also double its British enterprise business and bulk up its overseas network. For C&WW, it would mark an end to a decade of decline, barely arrested with the acquisitions of Energis and Thus six years ago and a demerger from the overseas consumer business
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