- Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) boss in bribe inquiry given payoff. A Royal Bank of Scotland manager who is subject to a police investigation into allegations that he solicited bribes from the owners of small businesses left the bank with a payoff, The Times reported today. The banker from the bank’s Global Restructuring Group was given a voluntary redundancy package in 2016.
- Bank refuses to lend on Taylor Wimpey’s leases. Barclays (BARC) bank has refused to issue a mortgage on a development by Taylor Wimpey (TW.) after discovering that buyers can be thrown out of their homes if the developer goes bust.
- Norway deal caters to Bunzl (BNZL) taste for snapping up global acquisitions. It aims to expand around Scandinavia from an already strong base in Denmark. Enor, the business it has acquired, has £27m of annual revenues and is Norway’s leading provider of catering equipment and appliances.
- RPC unpacks food business as pressure mounts. RPC Group (RPC) said that it had reached an agreement to sell the food service business of Letica Corporation for $95m to Graphic Packaging International, an American rival, subject to regulatory approval.
- Faroe Petroleum (FPM) has rebuffed criticism of its governance by DNO, a day after the Norwegian company had withdrawn its bid for seats on Faroe’s board. DNO, Faroe’s largest shareholder, said that it had “concerns” about the governance culture at Faroe and accused it of having a “disdainful” attitude to a request for board seats
- Kelvin Dushnisky has resigned as chairman of Acacia Mining (ACA), weeks after announcing his departure from Barrick Gold, which owns 64% of Acacia. The troubled Tanzanian goldminer said that he would leave on Friday and would be replaced by Rachel English, an independent director, on an interim basis.
- A £140m lifeline for embattled estate agent Countrywide (CWD) as shares hit an all time low. Shares in Countrywide hit all-time lows as investors threw the crisis-hit estate agent a £140m lifeline. In another brutal day of trading for the firm, its stock fell 10.7%, or 1.5p, to 13.3p, bringing its total losses this year to more than 80%.
- Ocado Group (OCDO) – Bahamas-based trust which counts Ocado’s chief executive Tim Steiner as a beneficiary has sold almost £51mworth of shares in the online grocer. The Linic trust, which is owned by lawyer Arthur Seligman and says it has other beneficiaries as well as Steiner, sold 4.8m shares for £10.60 each, adding up to £50.8m.
