James Fontanella
Bank trio in auction rate deals
Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank on Thursday agreed to buy back up to $14.5bn of auction-rate securities and pay $162m in fines to resolve investigations into whether they misled people who bought the debt instruments.
Lone Star rides in to rescue IKB
Germany drew a line under one of its biggest banking crises on Thursday as it revealed a deal to sell IKB, the lender stricken by subprime investments, to a US investment group. Lone Star is acquiring more than 90% of IKB from KfW,
Investors quit Russia after war
Investors pulled their money out of Russia in the wake of the Georgia conflict at the fastest rate since the 1998 rouble crisis, new figures showed on Thursday. Foreign currency reserves dropped just over $16.4bn in the week beginning August 8,
Babcock & Brown to sack quarter of staff
The board of Babcock & Brown, the Australian investment group, on Thursday bowed to investor pressure by overhauling its senior management, sacking a quarter of its 1,600 staff and promising to shun opportunistic deals.
Fannie and Freddie crisis eases
The crisis surrounding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac eased on Thursday as both the equity and debt of the two US mortgage financiers rallied — although worries remained that a government bail-out would be necessary.
Deal for Continental sparks rift
A further rift has opened at the top of Continental after Schaeffler succeeded in its fierce €12.1bn takeover battle for Germany’s second-largest automotive supplier. Conti’s chief Manfred Wennemer announced that he would step down at the end of August after his rift with Hubertus von Grünberg,
iTraxx Crossover rules to ease
The gloomy outlook for corporate credit in Europe has led banks to vote for a relaxation in the rules that excluded riskier companies from the junk-rated credit derivatives index run by Markit Group, the data provider said on Thursday.
Mizuho invests in US boutique bank Evercore
Japanese bank Mizuho has agreed to invest in US-based Evercore Partners as it continues to expand its overseas operations amid a declining domestic market, while the latter hopes to build up its asset management business.
Hollywood in $1bn 3-D push
A consortium of the biggest US cinema chains is closing in on a $1bn deal that will pave the way for a new generation of money-spinning 3-D movies, after securing provisional backing from three key Hollywood studios.
Bleak Bank forecast sends pound lower
Sterling plunged against the euro and the dollar on Wednesday as the Bank of England gave its bleakest economic assessment for more than a decade and financial markets priced in a series of interest rate cuts.
Merrill survey sees world downturn
A global recession is widely expected by fund managers as the credit crunch marks its anniversary by mutating from a financial crisis into a world economic downturn, Merrill Lynch reckons. Almost one-quarter
Genentech rejects $44bn offer by Roche
Genentech on Wednesday rejected an unsolicited $43.7bn takeover bid from its majority owner Roche but suggested it would consider a higher offer. The US group, one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies,
Greenspan sees bottom to house price slump
Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chairman expects that US house prices will begin to stabilise in the first half of next year, the Wall Street Journal reports. “Home prices in the US are likely to start to stabilise or touch bottom sometime in the first half of 2009,”
Apollo to face grilling over Dutch fund
Apollo Global Management, the private equity group, will on Thursday face questions from investors about the fate of its poorly performing Amsterdam-listed fund after its US parent company revealed a first-quarter loss of $96.4m.
SEC short selling rule made little impact
US regulators’ move to restrict “naked” short selling in 19 financial stocks had little impact on prices according to a study, although trading was down 63 per cent during the period the rule was implemented,
RBS fails to offload Australian and NZ assets
Royal Bank of Scotland’s efforts to offload businesses suffered a setback on Wednesday when the UK banking group scrapped the sale of its operations in Australia and New Zealand after the last remaining bidder dropped out.
Lonmin’s chairman hits back at critics
Sir John Craven, chairman of Lonmin, accused the City of short-termism and defended the performance of the platinum mining group, which is facing a £5bn hostile takeover bid from Xstrata. In an interview with the FT in which he set out Lonmin’s defence strategy,
HBOS to axe 425 jobs
HBOS, the UK’s biggest mortgage lender, is to cut 425 jobs and close one of its five mortgage brands to new business as it aims to streamline costs. The bank, which recently reported a 72 per cent slump in first-half profits to £848m and saw its £4bn rights issue shunned by most investors,
Vultures circle distressed debt
Since the credit crunch hit last year, the distressed debt industry has been undergoing a somewhat surprising shake-up. In recent months, bankers in distressed debt trading, research or proprietary investing have been quietly leaving long-held positions.
Crude and food falls help lift equities
Oil prices fell below $125 for the first time in six weeks yesterday, fuelling a rally in equities and declines in other commodities. The S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq are now all out of bear market territory.
US housing rescue plan approved
The US House of Representatives approved a package of legislation yesterday designed to breathe fresh life into the ailing US housing market after the White House dropped its threat to veto the measures.
Goldman $10bn fund to invest in LBO loans
Goldman Sachs has raised a $10bn fund to invest in loans backing leveraged buy-outs, taking advantage of a gap in the financing markets created by the credit crisis. The new fund comes in addition to an existing $20bn Goldman fund that invests in “mezzanine” debts.
US economy deteriorates for consumers
Conditions in the US economy deteriorated for consumers and businesses in the month to July 14, as the Fed warned that “the pace of economic activity slowed somewhat since the last report [on June 11]”.
John Paulson looks at cash-strapped banks
John Paulson, who made enormous profits – estimated by investors at more than $12bn – by shorting, or betting against, subprime mortgages, is planning a new fund to provide capital to cash-strapped banks.
China’s banks told to tighten mortgages
Chinese officials and government economists have warned domestic banks to tighten their mortgage lending criteria after the US government’s action to prop up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Liu Mingkang,
Johnson to leave Microsoft in shake-up
Microsoft revealed its disarray in the aftermath of its failed bid for Yahoo yesterday, announcing a major reorganisation and the unexpected departure of the executive who oversaw its offer. A person close
Tokio Marine buys US rival for $4.7bn
Tokio Marine is to buy Philadelphia Consolidated, a midsize US non-life insurer, for $4.7bn in the second largest acquisition by a Japanese company this year. Japan’s largest non-life insurance group is to pay $61.50 a share in cash,
Genentech shareholders sue over Roche bid
A Genentech investor filed a lawsuit yesterday over the proposed $43.7bn buyout by majority shareholder Roche, saying the bid is unfair and inadequate, Reuters reports. The law suit seeks to block the Swiss drugmaker’s bid from going forward under its current terms.