Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group

In case you were too busy enjoying your weekend (or too swamped trying to get all of your holiday shopping done) to have kept up with the news, contributor Martin Mitchell has been kind enough to gather some important market events from this past weekend (and week) so that you can start this week well informed:

Saturday, December 6th

• Mergers and Acquisitions
  Spain’s Ferrovial has invited bids to sell London Gatwick airport in advance of an antitrust decision that is expected from the Competition Commission next March. Ferrovial owns BAA, which in turn owns all 3 London airports as well as Edinburgh and Glasgow. Indicative bids are expected by January 19th.

Financial Institutions

• Europe’s biggest buy-out fund, Permira, has offered to hand back €1.5bn of unused capital to investors. The unusual move comes at a time when returns from private equity have slowed markedly.
• HSBC has taken ownership back of its Canary Wharf headquarters from its Spanish property company Metrovacesa. HSBC sold the property for £1.09bn last summer and leased it back in a deal that involved a bridging loan to Metrovacesa of £810m. With Metrovacesa faced difficulties refinancing the loan, HSBC agreed to buy the property back for £838m.
• Merrill Lynch stockholders voted to approve the firm’s acquisition by Bank of America. The all-stock transaction valued Merrill at about $20bn and is expected to close by December 31st.

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Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

In last week’s column, I mentioned my colleague who cancelled a lunch last-minute. I used her as an example of what NOT to do. It was not that I felt she shouldn’t cancel on me but I felt strongly she shouldn’t cancel her lunch. You are more productive when you take periodic breaks. Since the frenetic pace of office life today often means that well-intentioned breaks fall by the wayside, you need to proactively build in these office breaks. In fact, as 2008 comes to a close plan your 2009 breaks now:

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Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group

In case you were too busy enjoying your weekend (or too stuffed from your Thanksgiving repast) to have kept up with the news, contributor Martin Mitchell has been kind enough to gather some important market events from this past weekend (and week) so that you can start this week well informed:

Saturday, November 29th
Mergers and Acquisitions

• Commerzbank has accelerated the purchase of Dresdner Bank from Allianz. The revised deal reduces the equity stake that Allianz was due to receive and increases the amount of cash. It will enable the deal to be completed 6 months earlier than first planned.

Financial Institutions

• Redemptions are adding to the pain of poor performance for hedge funds. Morgan Stanley analyst Huw van Steenis estimates that industry assets could shrink from $1,930bn in June 2008 to $900bn by the end of 2009.
• Royal Bank of Scotland’s latest rights issue managed just 0.24% take up – leaving the UK government providing the vast majority of the funds.
• The European Commission has blocked the French government’s plan to shore up the capital position of France’s six main retail banks – BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole, Caisse d’Epargne, Banque Populaire and Crédit Mutuel – insisting that the banks must reduce their lending in return for state support.

Credit

• The UK’s credit insurance industry suffered a blow as Amlin decided to withdraw from the market. Amlin cited the difficulties in getting reinsurance as part of the reason for the withdrawal.

Other

• Capital raising for UK companies will become quicker, whilst preserving pre-emptive rights. The government is proposing to shorten the period for existing investors to subscribe for a rights issue from 21 to 14 days, and the Association of British Insurers is planning to change its guidelines to increase the proportion of shares that can be issued without calling a shareholders’ meeting.
• British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) has applied to the Competition Appeal Tribunal to take their ruling to the Court of Appeal. Last month, the Tribunal ruled that BSkyB must sell its 17.9% stake in ITV. BSkyB paid £940m for the stake, and based on the current ITV share price it would be worth just £240m.
• “Black Friday” sales disappointed U.S. retailers and indicated a poor Christmas retail season, as shoppers focused on discounted products and basic items rather than luxuries.
• The OPEC oil cartel deferred a decision to further cut its output in order to boost prices, although it is expected that they will revisit the decision later in the month.

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Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group

In case you were too busy enjoying your weekend to have kept up with the news, contributor Martin Mitchell has been kind enough to gather some important market events from this past weekend (and week) so that you can start this week well informed:

Saturday, November 22nd
Financial Institutions

• The difficulties for Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit continued as shares in the universal bank fell to $3.77, meaning the shares have lost half their value in 3 days. Mr Pandit denied any plans to sell Smith Barney, its US wealth management business.
• The two Scottish bankers campaigning to keep UK bank HBOS independent, rather than allowing it to be taken over by Lloyds TSB gave up their fight. The plan was dropped because the government had made it ‘crystal clear’ that it did not want HBOS to be independent, according to the two men.

Credit

• UK retailer Woolworths is running out of time to save itself from administration. The group is in talks with lenders GMAC (the consumer lender part-owned by General Motors) and Burdale, and a potential purchaser of its retail stores, Hilco UK. The group hopes to be able to structure a deal that will see the 800 stores sold to Hilco UK for assuming £265m of debt plus a nominal £1. The deal would leave behind two profitable business divisions holding the balance of £120m of debt, EUK ,a wholesale distribution business, and a DVD joint venture with the BBC called 2entertain. To be successful, the deal needs to gain the support of the group’s lenders.

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By Heather Chapman (New York City)

While finding a ‘good’ job—one that you enjoy, with livable hours and health insurance—can be difficult for a single woman, it can be even more difficult for working women who have to factor in their children. Juggling a job and its requirements with the responsibilities that come as being a parent can be extremely frustrating, especially when it feels like you have to shortchange one to fulfill the other. While not every company recognizes the need to offer benefits like flextime, telecommuting, on-site childcare, and paid parental leave, the number that do is growing every year. Here is a list of the best of the best – the Top 100 Companies, as featured in the October 2008 issue of Working Mother.

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