According to reports, US buyout firm Blackstone and UK medical research charity, the Wellcome Trust, have dropped their joint bid for Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) 318 Williams & Glyn’s branch network. The branch network is being sold under the orders of the European Commission as a punishment of the billions of pounds in state [...]
The US Treasury Department has today announced it is selling its 27% stake in Citigroup this year, in what will be one of the largest stock sales ever. According to the department, around 7.7 billion shares in the bailed-out bank will be sold in stages. The stock is currently worth around $33 billion (£22 billion) [...]
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 84% state-owned, has today announced it will dispose of its factoring unit in Germany to GE Capital, the financial services division of General Electric. In a statement, the bank said: “The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc has agreed the sale of RBS Factoring GmbH to GE [...]
Property owners in danger of losing their homes as a result of consumer debt could soon be better protected. The Ministry of Justice has launched a consultation on proposed new measures that would set a minimum level of such debt before a court can order the sale of a home. Under the current system, a [...]
HSBC has jumped on the bandwagon of January sales by launching cut-priced mortgages, savings accounts, and insurance products. “All over the world, people are making New Year resolutions and sorting out their finances is often high on that list,” said Brendan Cook, HSBC spokesperson. “This year, we want to make it easier for our customers [...]
Lloyds Banking Group, which is 43% owned by the taxpayer, has today announced it will axe 5,000 jobs by the end of 2010, bringing its total number of job losses this year to 12,500. Since its merger with HBOS last autumn, Lloyds has axed thousands of jobs due to overlap within the megabank. However, a [...]
The announcement that US car giant General Motors (GM) abandoned plans to sell a majority stake in its European car business Opel, including its UK brand Vauxhall, has led to a protest by thousands of the 25,000 workers at Opel’s four factories. In March, GM announced plans to offload Vauxhall and sister company, Germany-based Opel, [...]
US car giant General Motors (GM) has abandoned plans to sell a majority stake in its European car business Opel, including its UK brand Vauxhall. GM had agreed to sell Opel and Vauxhall to Magna, a Canadian car parts supplier, to raise funds after facing collapse earlier this year. The shock decision comes after talks [...]
Last week, it was announced that nationalised Northern Rock is to be split into two, after receiving the necessary approval from the European Union (EU). Meanwhile this weekend, it has been confirmed by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, that Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are to broken up. The new banks [...]
UK airports operator BAA has reported a pre-tax loss of £784.7 million for the first nine months of the year, compared with a £519 million loss a year earlier. The group said it had lost £225 million on Gatwick Airport, which it confirmed it had sold last week for £1.51 billion. However, today BAA said [...]
BAA has today confirmed the sale of Gatwick airport to Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51 billion. The sale of the airport is due to be finalised at the end of the year – subject to approval by the European Union. The sale marks the end of BAA’s 40-year monopoly of London’s three main airports – [...]
Morgan Stanley has struck a deal with investment manager Invesco which will see the US bank sell its retail asset management business for $1.5 billion (£913 million) in stock and cash. The purchase price includes $500 million in cash and $1 billion in stock. Morgan Stanley is to acquire a 9.4% equity stake in Invesco, [...]
Following a review of its investment management business, banking giant Lloyds has sold some of its private client funds to Rathbone Brothers after concluding that they were “no longer core” for the bank. The bank said approximately 6,000 customers with funds totalling £1.27 billion will transfer to Rathbone Brothers. If all of the funds are [...]
Nationwide has launched a number of initiatives aimed at helping first-time buyers and homemovers. For first-time buyers, the building society is discounting its reservation fee by up to £500 and offering a £250 reservation fee discount, plus free legals. The lender is also extending this offer to its four and five-year fixed rate deals. The [...]
ITV has sold Friends Reunited for £25 million to Brightsolid Limited, the company owned by DC Thomson, Dundee-based publisher of children’s comic, the Beano. The sale comes as the broadcaster announced a pre-tax loss of £105 million in the first half of 2009, while advertising revenues plummeted by 15% – however this was marginally better [...]
Northern Rock is once again offering mortgages to existing customers. The move follows a gap of well over a year during which period borrowers coming off fixed deals either reverted to the Rock’s standard variable rate or were forced to go elsewhere. The nationalised lender is strictly interested in retaining its best customers and only [...]
US investment group BlackRock is to buy Barclays fund management division, Barclays Global Investors (BGI), for £8.2 billion. BGI is one of the biggest money managers operating in more than a dozen countries and manages more than $1 trillion for investors around the world. The unit owns the iShares division, which Barclays had agreed to [...]
It has been reported that the Government is in talks to sell off its stakes in part-nationalised banks: Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI), which was established to oversee taxpayer’s interest in UK banks, is believed to be sounding out investors abroad. However, a speedy sale is [...]
Barclays has received further offers for its iShares business despite agreeing to sell off the division to private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners, last month for £3 billion. However, under the terms of the agreement, Barclays had the right to seek a higher bidder within a 45 day period. As a result, private equity groups [...]
According to the Financial Times, Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Mobile, is under pressure to leave the UK market after disappointing financial results. The two main shareholders are the German government and the private equity group, Blackstone, are calling for the UK mobile telephone operations to be sold as they are under performing in an ever [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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