News

Your daily news update straight from the City PM newsroom in London

FAREWELL TO THE KING OF POP

July 7, 2009

Michael Jackson’s memorial service in Los Angeles was attended by 17,500 people yesterday. Stevie Wonder and Mariah Carey both played, but former wife Debbie Rowe was not in attendance. Around 1.6m people had applied for 800,000 tickets to watch the service, and international viewing figures were expected to hit 1bn.
Four Seasons put on the market

July 7, 2009

Lenders to debt-laden Four Seasons Healthcare have rejected the company’s restructuring proposal and the care home operator will now be put up for sale, its bond administrator said yesterday. Four Seasons, which owes a total of £1.4bn put a debt for equity deal to lenders in June, and gave them a 6 July deadline to [...]
Boeing to buy plane plant

July 7, 2009

Boeing the world’s second-largest plane maker, said yesterday it will pay $580m (£359m) for a plant that makes part of the fuselage of its long-delayed 787 Dreamliner. The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, may give Boeing more control over its supply chain.
BoA seeks strength in staff

July 7, 2009

Bank of America, yesterday promoted two investment bankers to strengthen relationships with its largest corporate clients amid departures following the Merrill Lynch takeover. Stefan Selig, a 10-year BoA veteran has been made executive vice chairman for global corporate and investment banking. Steven Baronoff, who was with Merrill Lynch, has become chairman of global M&A.
CRH warns of profit nosedive

July 7, 2009

Irish building materials group CRH yesterday warned pretax profit nosedived by 83 per cent in the first half and said trading would remain extremely difficult, but investors bet the worst was behind the group, sending its shares sharply up.
Record US consumer defaults

July 7, 2009

Soaring US unemployment and a shrinking economy drove delinquencies on credit card debt and home equity loans to an all time high of 6.60 per cent from 5.52 per cent in the fourth quarter.
Strike threat as tube staff are balloted

July 7, 2009

THOUSANDS of London commuters face further disruption this summer, as 600 staff at London Underground (LU) prepare to be balloted on industrial action, after union leaders rejected a final pay offer. Unite union said LU’s offer of 1.5 per cent in the first year and retail prices index (RPI) plus 0.5 per cent in the [...]
Rose ready for battle at M&S investor AGM

July 7, 2009

MARKS & Spencer is bracing itself for an investor revolt for the second year in a row when shareholders gather for the retailer’s annual meeting today. A number of influential shareholder bodies have backed a resolution urging M&S to split the roles of chairman and chief executive currently held by Sir Stuart Rose. It is [...]
JJB pledges support for Jones in spat

July 7, 2009

AILING sportswear retailer JJB Sports yesterday backed its executive chairman Sir David Jones amid a growing storm over a £1.5m loan he received from Mike Ashley, chief executive of arch-rival Sports Direct. JJB Sports said that the board had given its “unanimous support” to Jones and said it believes “that he is the right person [...]
Landbank drops its 250m LSE launch

July 7, 2009

PROPERTY firm Landbank has abandoned plans for a £250m share listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), in favour of raising money privately. The recently-launched firm had been pencilled to complete an initial public offering (IPO) today, under plans to raise capital to buy vast swathes of residential land from distressed housebuilders at bargain prices. [...]