Trump quer despedir responsável de estatísticas laborais dos EUA após fortes revisões em baixa

[suavemar]

Hoje entrei neste titulo, mais por impulso do que entrada fundamentada,O qual a vossa opinião sobre entrada neste titulo uma vez que a queda já é de 90%?

[acintra]

Updated:13:58, Friday December 07, 2007

Investment group Olivant has officially entered the race for beleaguered bank Northern Rock.

Another interested partyIt has submitted a rescue proposal that would allow the bank to repay up to £15bn of the £25bn it has borrowed from the Bank of England.

Olivant, led by the former head of UK bank Abbey and veteran troubleshooter Luqman Arnold, says it plans to raise up to £650m through a rights issue and will put in £150m.

US private equity group JC Flowers, meanwhile, has taken a step back from the bidding, Sky sources have learned.

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The US group last week submitted a revised takeover proposal last week for the Rock but, while it says it is still interested, it is understood to be keeping a "watching brief" on the situation.

The ailing bank went cap in hand to the Treasury in September when the credit crunch struck.

Following its rapid expansion, it found itself unable to secure funding on the global money markets.

The Treasury has received bids from several groups keen to take over the ailing bank.

They include Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Money and another US private equity firm Cerberus.

[acintra]

É um texto longo, mas vejo alguma luz ao fundo do tunel entrei a 102,50 GBp.

Código: Selecionar todos

December 7, 2007


Luqman Arnold's group promises to give the Bank of England the right to profit from a Northern Rock turnaround Miles Costello and Siobhan Kennedy
Luqman Arnold's investment firm, Olivant, is planning to offer taxpayers the chance to profit from a turnaround at Northern Rock, the stricken mortgage bank.

The former Abbey National boss, who tabled his proposals to take control of Northern Rock this morning, has pledged to give the Bank of England the right to buy shares in the mortgage lender at a pre-agreed price, understood to be at about 150p.

Northern Rock admitted yesterday that it has borrowed £25 billion in emergency funding from the Bank of England. As by far the bank's biggest creditor, the views of the Bank and the Treasury will be central to the success of a bid plan for the Rock.

Under the terms of Olivant's proposal, the Bank would be given warrants, which would give it the right to buy more than 5 per cent of Northern Rock immediately following a rights issue.

Related Links
JC Flowers pulls out of Northern Rock race
‘Take it or leave it’ Olivant bid totters
Olivant lines up Northern Rock bid plan
The Bank of England could then sell the shares on at a profit but it would be expected to pay more than the price of shares in the rights issue.

Northern Rock shares edged 0.6p higher to 103.6p as details of Olivant's plan emerged this morning.

Olivant, which is being advised by Lazard, said it has received non-binding letters of commitment from five institutional Northern Rock shareholders, who collectively own 23 per cent of the bank.

RAB, the hedge fund and holder of 6.6 per cent of Northern Rock, has confirmed it is supporting the plan.

SRM Global, Northern Rock's largest investor that holds over 9 per cent of the bank, is also understood to be among the five supporting holders.

The Northern Rock Shareholder Action Group, whose individual members account for about a further 30 per cent of the holdings, also threw its weight behind Mr Arnold's plan.

Olivant is expecting to hold talks with the Treasury about its plan over the coming days.

Olivant's proposal includes raising funds of up to £800 million through a rights issue. Olivant will contribute £150 million, the five shareholders will underwrite about £440 million and a further £200 million would come from other existing investors.
Like the Bank, Olivant would take high-premium warrants for 7 per cent of the enlarged company following a rights issue.

Richard Branson's Virgin Money, which is Northern Rock's preferred bidder, is also proposing raising £650 million through a rights issue but at a heavily discounted 25p.

Olivant said Northern Rock's total £25 billion in debt would be repaid to the Bank of England by the end of 2009 "through active operational management, accelerated through external market financing".

The investment group said £10 billion to £15 billion would be repaid after the rights issue completes. Banking sources said Olivant had received letters of comfort and assurrances from Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and Royal Bank of Scotland that they would be happy to offer loans secured against Northern Rock's high quality mortgage book.

Related Links
JC Flowers pulls out of Northern Rock race
‘Take it or leave it’ Olivant bid totters
Olivant lines up Northern Rock bid plan
It emerged last night that JC Flowers, which had been a serious contender to rescue Northern Rock, has pulled out of the race because it was unable to structure a deal that could keep both the Government and shareholders happy.

Sources said this would free up further lending banks, including Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and RBS.

Mr Arnold said this morning: "It is time for all stakeholders to work together to ensure prompt and full repayment of the Bank of England facility, and to set Northern Rock back on course for a successful and independent future."

Olivant also confirmed it would retain the Northern Rock brand and that Mr Arnold would be parachuted in to become Northern Rock’s executive chairman, with Kirk Stephenson, Olivant’s chief operating officer, taking up a role as a non-executive director at the bank.

Mr Arnold would then choose an acting chief executive, aiming to find a permanent replacement once a new strategy is in place.

One senior banking source close to the bid team said: "We can have Luqman in Newcastle on Monday morning, just as soon as Northern Rock's board approves our plan.

"He is the only man to have turned round a UK mortgage bank. If anyone can revive the brand he can. This proposal gives full comfort for the Bank of England and taxpayers. The overwhelming majority of shareholders are behind this, I can't see how the Northern Rock board cannot change its backing."

Other senior City sources questioned whether the Rock's brand could be revived. They highlighted that the strength of the Virgin brand was central to the decision to give it preferred bidder status.

One said of Olivant: "It is a better deal for shareholders, which is why many of them have backed it. But they don't have the brand and they're not putting up as much equity.

"What is the brand that will attract consumers back into Northern Rock? Virgin is a brand that has a lot of resonance with consumers."

It is understood that the Northern Rock board is lukewarm about the plan.

[tghmc]

Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG may withdraw support from Virgin Group Ltd.'s bid for Northern Rock Plc, the Sunday Telegraph reported, without saying where it got the information.

Deutsche Bank, one of three lenders offering a 15 billion pound ($31 billion) credit line for the bid, is concerned about comments on the extent of its involvement in the transaction made by Virgin, the newspaper said. Virgin spokesman Nick Fox declined to comment on the report when contacted today by Bloomberg News.

Northern Rock's deposits may fall to as little as 2 billion pounds by year-end from 10 billion pounds now as savers withdraw funds, making the lender unsaleable by Christmas, it reported.

SRM Advisers, Northern Rock's largest shareholder, aims to present a rescue plan to the board tomorrow involving a rights offer underwritten by SRM manager Jon Wood, the Telegraph said.

Luqman Arnold, former Abbey National chief, is preparing an offer that will be submitted Dec. 4, according to the newspaper.

[acintra]

December 2, 2007

The Rock is rapidly becoming a millstone
AgendaJohn Waples, Business Editor
FIND me a reason why anyone should keep their money in Northern Rock. You can get just as competitive savings round the corner at another bank or building society and you don’t have to wake up everyday wondering what will happen to your money.

I accept that should Northern Rock go into financial meltdown, the government has guaranteed all losses for the stricken bank’s depositors. But most savers just don’t need the worry.

I am growing increasingly concerned that unless a deal is done by Christmas a rescue will be impossible. The bank’s once-loyal customer base, even in its home city of Newcastle, has had enough. The only customers hanging in there appear to be those who took out Northern Rock mortgages and, I suspect, a minority of those are misguidedly hoping that if the bank goes into administration they will somehow not have to repay their loans.

Despite earlier hopes, Virgin Group does not yet have its financing deal in place from a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland, Citi and Deutsche Bank. There is still a huge amount of due diligence to take place and at least one of these three banks is unhappy with the terms of the Virgin deal.

Some bank analysts believe the loan deal could cost a hefty 7%. If that is the case, it will seriously curtail Virgin’s plans to grow the bank. This week the other potential rescuer, Luqman Arnold’s Olivant, will put a “financeable plan” to the bank’s board. But that is only stage one of a protracted process.

Northern Rock is running out of reasons to stay in business. The Bank of England and the Treasury have bungled it again. You only have to look at the personal-finance sections of national newspapers to see how hard banks work to attract customers. But Northern Rock has lost them with reckless abandon. It has failed to exploit the loyalty of its customer base and, as I said at the start, give me a reason.

Eastern promise

DO YOU hear that creaking noise? That’s the sound of the business world shifting on its axis, and the balance of economic power moving slowly but inexorably to the East.

You might think this a bit dramatic, but consider the evidence. The West – and in particular its biggest economy, America – is teetering on the brink of recession. House prices are in freefall in the US, and in the UK, where they have so long been a buttress of the economy, there are signs they are finally starting to falter. Thanks to the credit crunch, the debt-fuelled expansion of the western economy is running out of steam, and all of a sudden cash is king.

To find out who has the cash, you need to look east, to the buckets of money held by governments in resource-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Russia.

Armed with this financial firepower, eastern investors are ideally poised to take advantage of the West’s woes, and snap up assets at attractive valuations. In many cases, they are the only buyer in town.

Last week China’s second largest life assurer paid £1.3 billion to become the top shareholder in Fortis, the Belgo-Dutch banking and insurance group. When Citi went looking for a strategic investor to help it through its funding crisis, it went not to Wall Street, but Abu Dhabi. Investors there last week took a 5% stake in Citi, one of the world’s biggest banks.

It’s not just financial assets that are going under the hammer. It now looks likely that Jaguar and Land Rover, two of Britain’s most prestigious car companies and employers of 15,000 in the UK, will soon be owned by an Indian company.

There is going to be a lot more to come. The eastern invaders are also in the market for intellectual capital. Last week Dubai International Capital announced it had appointed a trio of big hitters to advise on equity investments for its global strategic fund. They were none other than JP Garnier, the outgoing boss of GlaxoSmithKline, Nobuyuki Idei, the former chief executive of Sony, and Helmut Panke, former chief executive of BMW, the German carmaker.

At some stage this will become a hot political issue. Although the European Union is preparing guidelines on the activity of sovereign wealth funds, the UK must make up its mind about where it stands. Do we have a genuinely open market, free to all comers? Or are there some areas – and some bidders – that we should declare off limits?

Indian summer

SHARES in Capita, the outsourcing specialist, have had a decent run, partly in expectation of a strong trading statement which will be issued tomorrow. But the market is also waking up to the opportunities from its growing Indian outsourcing business. This operation picked up Capita’s biggest single contract from the Prudential last week.

The Mumbai centre specialises in managing the back office of life and pensions groups and the Pru deal doubles its Indian staff to 2,500.

Six years ago the average administration cost per policy was £30 – this has now come down to between £12-£14.

Paul Pindar, Capita’s chief executive, believes the Indian business has the potential to double within three to five years. Capita now manages 23m life and pensions policies, but that is out of a total of 150m in the UK. If big corporates are tightening their belts, deals like the one we saw last week are going to become more common.

[acintra]

Será que afinal são os Américas a ficar com o NR?
Sir Richard vai ter que abrir mais os cordões da bolsa, para ficar bem visto em UK.

'Race To Buy Rock Blown Wide Open'
Updated:15:18, Friday November 30, 2007

The race to take control of Northern Rock is wide open again with the Treasury preparing to look at two revised offers, Sky News has learned.

Huge queues formed outside bankPrivate equity firm JC Flowers was threatening to withdraw its offer for the stricken bank after becoming frustrated by the Treasury's failure to return its calls.

Now Sky has been told officials believe the Flowers bid and another from former Abbey boss Luqman Arnold have been improved sufficiently to warrant further talks.

On Monday Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Money was given preferred bidder status but a deal now appears to be far from done.

The Virgin consortium has offered to immediately pay back £11bn of the £25bn Northern Rock borrowed from the Bank of England.

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The other £14bn would be repaid over two to three years.

New York-based JC Flowers was said to have been "mystified" by Virgin's emergence as the first choice bidder.

It claimed its rescue package for the bank was as good if not better than any of its rivals'.

Nonetheless it has revised its initial offer to meet two concerns raised by the Treasury.

Under the terms of the proposed new deal, it would make an immediate repaynment of £15bn - £4bn more than Virgin.

Northern Rock was plunged into chaos by the sub-prime mortgage lending crisis in the United States.

News it was in trouble sparked panic among customers who formed huge queues outside branches to withdraw their savings.

[tghmc]

LONDON (Reuters) - J.C. Flowers raised the stakes in the rescue battle for Northern Rock (NRK.L: Quote, Profile , Research) on Friday, offering to improve its bid but also warning it will walk away if the government won't talk with it, a person close to the buyout firm said.

Britain's government wants to ensure all the money it has lent to Northern Rock will be repaid on a par with other creditors and wants the bank's shareholders to be offered some exposure to any turnaround.

J.C. Flowers would revise a takeover proposal it submitted last week to address both issues, the person said.


But the finance ministry has not been willing to discuss the issues since selecting a rival consortium led by Virgin Group on Monday, and J.C. Flowers will withdraw if it cannot discuss the issues, the person said.

The finance ministry said it was ready to have discussions with any bidder that met its principles. Northern Rock declined to comment.

[acintra]

Northern Rock Small Investors Meet
Updated:07:02, Wednesday November 28, 2007

Small shareholders in Northern Rock are meeting today as opposition to Virgin Money's takeover bid grows.

Bank in crisisJust yesterday, one of the investment firms opposed to the sale of the business upped its stake in the bank to 8.5%.

That makes SRM Global, which has called on Northern Rock to scrap the auction, its biggest shareholder.

The move comes just one day after Richard Branson's Virgin Money was named as the preferred bidder.

Earlier, Britain asked the European Commission to approve the aid it has provided to help keep the bank afloat.

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The taxpayer - through the Government - has lent Northern Rock an estimated £25bn since it ran into financial difficulties in September, as credit markets dried up.

Virgin Money has promised to repay £11bn of that as soon as the sale goes through and the rest over two to three years.

Under EU rules, governments can offer rescue aid or restructuring aid to ailing companies under strict conditions only.

In either case package must be approved by the European Commission, Europe's top competition regulator.

If aid is judged to be illegal, it has to be repaid to the government involved.

Meanwhile, Sir Richard is also facing opposition to his bid from Northernn Rock's second-largest shareholder, RAB Capital, which says the offer is too low.

[acintra]

November 27, 2007

Virgin to raise £650m through share issueSiobhan Kennedy
Shareholders could be left holding just 6 per cent of Northern Rock if they do not subscribe to a share issue that is central to Virgin’s plans to rescue the troubled mortgage bank, it emerged yesterday.

Under Sir Richard Branson’s proposed takeover, the group is hoping to raise £650 million of its £1.3 billion investment by offering to sell new shares at a highly discounted rate of 25p a share.

Although the details were not fully disclosed yesterday, it is understood that existing shareholders will be offered six new shares for every one they own.

If all shareholders subscribe to the issue, which is underwritten by Hoare Govett, they will together hold 45 per cent of the enlarged group, while Virgin and its partners will hold the remaining 55 per cent stake.

Related Links
Watchdog acts on mortgage mis-selling
Would-be chief denies offer undervalues bank
Competition rises against Branson's Rock rescue
However, if the takeover goes ahead and none of the shareholders takes up the offering, it is understood that existing shareholders will be diluted so that they end up owning only 6 per cent of the new bank, which will be rebranded Virgin.

Philip Richards, chief executive of RAB Capital, which holds about 6.7 per cent of Northern Rock, said that Virgin’s status as preferred bidder was positive for the bank, but he said that shareholders should hold out for better terms: “We do not believe that this proposal reflects the true value of Northern Rock and we would expect either that this proposal be improved or that alternative proposals be brought forward which would combine a similar repayment schedule for the Treasury together with improved terms for shareholders.”

Mr Richards has been a vocal campaigner on behalf of the rights of Northern Rock’s shareholders. The hedge fund emerged early on in the sale process when it began to accumulate a stake. Last week Mr Richards and SRM Global, a hedge fund run by former UBS trader Jon Wood, jointly called for an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to force a shareholder vote on any takeover or break-up of the group.

It was reported last night that Virgin Group could earn £10 million a year in licensing fees within five years of buying Northern Rock simply from allowing the mortgage lender to use its brand.

Sources close to the sale process said that other bidders were continuing to circle Northern Rock. Olivant, an investment group set up by Luqman Arnold, the former boss of Abbey National, will today hold talks with the tripartite of the Bank of England, the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority.

JC Flowers, the US private equity firm, is also understood to be considering its options, as is Cerberus, the other US investment group that submitted a proposal for Northern Rock by a deadline earlier this month.

However, some City sources suggested yesterday that, if the Virgin bid failed, Northern Rock would opt to refinance using the available funds from Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland or Deutsche Bank, rather than go with any of the other bidders.

They said the JC Flowers proposal had not been favoured by Northern Rock or the tripartite because the US group did not want to keep the bank public and instead favoured a pre-packaged administration which gave no rights to shareholders. The proposal by Mr Arnold was also seen as lacking because the investor had dragged his heels and only yesterday agreed to sign a confidentiality agreement. One source said: “He’s way behind. He’s got to raise his £200 million of equity from elsewhere and the bottom line is he’s not a retail person.”

Shares of Northern Rock soared 24.2p at 110.1p yesterday on the news that Sir Richard’s consortium had been named preferred bidder for Northern Rock.

Who’s who

Wilbur Ross

The American billionaire and chairman and chief executive of New York-based WL Ross & Co is known for buying up companies in industries such as coal, steel and textiles. Dubbed the “King of Bankruptcy” by clients during his 25 years at Rothschild, the investment bank, the 69-year-old specialises in turning troubled companies around. He was the lead investor in the rescue of the failed Kofuku Bank, bought from the Japanese Government and rebranded as Kansai Sawayaka Bank in Osaka.

Toscafund Asset Management

The UK hedge fund, chaired by Sir George Mathewson, the former chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, concentrates on investment in financial service companies. Founded in May 2000, Toscafund has more than £3 billion invested and returned 8.4 per cent last month. Its involvement with Northern Rock and its purchase of a stake in the UK buyout firm Penta Capital has raised its profile.

First Eastern Investment Group

The direct investment firm, which focuses on China, is chaired by the Hong Kong businessman Victor Chu. First Eastern recently teamed up with European companies, including Siemens and BASF, to launch a fund aimed at taking advantage of growing ties between Europe and China.

AIG Financial Products

This is a wholly owned subsidiary of American International Group (AIG), the world’s biggest insurer by market capitalisation. While it is not an equity investor in Virgin’s Northern Rock bid, it will play a part in financing the deal. AIG-FP provides clients with corporate finance, investment, and financial risk management solutions. It also acts as a principal investor in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Last year, AIG took over from Vodafone as the sponsor of Manchester United, paying £56.5 million over four years for the privilege – the biggest shirt sponsorship deal in English football.

[acintra]

November 28, 2007

Virgin to get 'super-bonus' if it can return Rock to health
(Joel Ryan/PA)
Sir Richard Branson

Siobhan Kennedy
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group will collect a super-bonus if it meets certain performance targets as part of its proposed acquisition of Northern Rock, The Times has learnt.

The windfall for the mobile phones and airlines giant will come in the form of a “performance warrant” to be paid only when strict return targets have been met for all shareholders.

Details of the super-bonus have been kept under wraps but it is believed that more information will become available when Sir Richard’s consortium publishes the prospectus for its planned share issue. A Virgin spokesman said: “It is under consideration now. Everything will be made public before any decisions are made.”

The super-bonus is one way that Virgin hopes to extract longer-term value from its £200 million upfront investment in Northern Rock. In addition, the billionaire Virgin boss will receive fees from the beleaguered bank for the use of the Virgin brand name. Sir Richard and his partners also plan to cross-sell Virgin Money products, such as a new mortgage range, to Rock customers as another way of driving fresh revenue.

Related Links
Virgin Media’s strategy chief to leave
Virgin to raise £650m through share issue
Would-be chief denies offer undervalues bank
The consortium, which includes Wilbur Ross, the US billionaire who specialises in restructuring troubled companies, is also counting on a pickup in the Rock’s share price once things have settled down and the bank is able to grow its deposit base by leveraging the Virgin brand.

News of the sweetener comes as sources said yesterday that Virgin was pressing full-speed ahead with its proposed takeover after being named preferred bidder this week by the Rock and the Tripartite Authorities of the Bank of England, the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority.

Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank, which have agreed to provide £15 billion of liquidity for Virgin’s bid, will spend the next two weeks completing their due diligence and obtaining clearance from their credit committees to sign off formally on the deal. Although it is possible for the banks to pull the plug, one source said that Sir Win Bischoff, Sir Fred Goodwin and Josef Ackermann, the chief executives of the three lending banks, had already “emotionally signed off on the deal”.

It is understood that Philip Richards, the chief executive of RAB Capital, the 6.7 per cent Northern Rock investor that has been most vocal about shareholder rights, spoke to Sir Richard on Monday night by telephone. Sources said that RAB was not against Virgin’s bid but thought it too dilutive to shareholders. Mr Richards is also unconvinced about the management pedigree of Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the Virgin Money chief executive, who would take over as chief executive of the enlarged group.

Under Virgin’s plan, shareholders could end up owning 45 per cent of the new group if they subscribed to a 25p-a-share rights issue. Equally, however, if they do not stump up the cash, they will be diluted to a 6 per cent holding. The Virgin consortium will own the remaining 55 per cent, with Virgin itself believed to get slightly less than 30 per cent of the holding.

Meanwhile, SRM Global Master Fund, another key Rock shareholder, lifted its stake in the mortgage lender to 8.5 per cent from 6.8 per cent by buying 6.9 million shares at £1.09 an issue.

[acintra]

O RAB Capital deve ter sido um dos responsáveis pela subida de ontem conforme suspeitei num post anterior.

Rock Stand-Off: Who'll Blink First?
Updated:07:25, Tuesday November 27, 2007

Richard Branson is facing opposition to his bid for troubled bank Northern Rock despite backing from the Treasury.

Branson's offer is 'too low'The bank's second-largest shareholder RAB Capital says the offer is too low.

It is waiting to find out whether Branson's Virgin Group will make an improved offer.

Branson's consortium is planning to inject £1.3bn of funds in return for a controlling stake, of at least 55%.

Part of the cash will be raised through new shares being offered at 25p each, giving Northern Rock a market value of about £225m - a fraction of the group's £5.2bn value in February.

RAB Capital chief executive Philip Richards said events were a "step closer" to securing the business - but is pressing for a higher offer.

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He said: "We do not believe that this proposal reflects the true value of Northern Rock, and we would expect either that this proposal be improved or that alternative proposals be brought forward which would combine a similar repayment schedule for the Treasury together with improved terms for shareholders."

RAB Capital said it would block any deal that would not deliver value for money for shareholders.

But Virgin Money boss Jayne-Anne Gadhia told Sky's Jeff Randall she was confident her offer was the best for shareholders.

She said: "We pay the taxpayers back with interest, our depositors have a safe future, staff keep their jobs, the Northern Rock Foundation continues to benefit from profitability and we believe we're making a great offer to shareholders."

[acintra]

November 27, 2007

Taxpayers should be worried by terms of bank rescuePatrick Hosking: Business commentary
Sadly, but inevitably, Northern Rock shareholders are being mercilessly squeezed by Sir Richard Branson and his consortium partners. Sadly, but not so inevitably, it is possible that the proposal, if not carefully structured, could end up putting an extra squeeze on taxpayers, too.

The hit to shareholders is radical, although you might miss it from a casual reading of the Rock announcement yesterday. Of £1.05 billion of cash being injected into the bank, Sir Richard expects existing shareholders to chip in the bulk – £650 million. If they don’t, they end up with only 6 per cent of the newly structured Rock. Even if they do choose to risk throwing good money after bad, they still surrender control, ending up with 45 per cent.

Sir Richard is also putting his Virgin Money business into the mix, but to value this, as Rock does, at £250 million, looks a bit of a stretch, even allowing for its speedy growth and the Virgin brand. It made only £10 million in pretax profit last year.

The fact is Rock shareholders would be drastically diluted if the deal goes ahead. This is disappointing to the army of shareholders who have stuck with the bank, but while taxpayers remain on the hook for years to come, it is only fair that investors come away with only a token prize. The positive share price response yesterday seems to have been more about technicalities and a panic by bears than any genuine reevaluation of the prospects for Rock.

Nevertheless, the proposal has been elegantly structured. Shareholders who believe Sir Richard can deliver the necessary magic and breathe new life into the rapidly cooling carcass that is Rock at least get to share in the potential upside.

Compared with the JC Flowers approach, which wanted to take the business off the stock market, and the Luqman Arnold proposal, which lacked detail and firm funding, it is easy to see why ministers and regulators preferred Virgin. It may just have the consumer appeal to restore depositor credibility to the bank. A pioneer of offset mortgages and tracker savings products, it has been a customer-friendly innovator.

But it will still be a difficult task to rethink completely the business model without destroying the business itself. For all the talk of Rock’s strong asset base, there are bound to be some toxic assets in there. This, after all, is a bank that has for years been offering to lend 125 per cent of a home’s value.

The big unknown is the treatment of the debts owed to the Bank of England and any additional claims that may be necessary upon the public purse.

Taxpayers will still be writing a blank cheque. Moreover, the Rock is under the impression that it will be permitted to pay back the strongly secured £11 billion tranche of Bank debt, while continuing to borrow the less well secured £12 billion.

If that interpretation proves correct, the Bank will hand back the £11 billion of AAA-rate collateral it has taken as security, one of its best bargaining chips.

Bankers advising on the deal insist that taxpayers won’t be any worse off and that the Bank will make future loans to the Rock on terms just as good as those demanded by the commercial banks. But there was no such reassurance from the Treasury yesterday.

Ministers must come clean on the liabilities taxpayers are underwriting and may in future be called upon to underwrite and the precise form of the collateral they will hold in return.

[acintra]

Vai ser uma luta interessante entre a Virgin e aqueles que não querem/podem vender ou novos candidatos.
A volatilidade vai ser maior que nunca e o risco tb. Voltei a colocar na cabeça que entro aos 60Gbp caso desca a estes valores.

November 25, 2007

Virgin’s cut-price plan will slash Rock shares
Grant Ringshaw
A CONSORTIUM led by Virgin Group plans to launch a deeply discounted share placing for Northern Rock that would value the beleaguered bank’s shares at less than half the current price.

Under the Virgin plan, Northern Rock’s shares would be valued at between 20p and 40p. Virgin would inject a total of £1 billion in cash as well as its Virgin Money operation, worth between £200m and £300m, into the bank and take a controlling stake.

On Friday, Northern Rock’s shares closed at 86p, valuing the bank at £361m. But the revelation of the discounted placing will put further pressure on the company’s share price this week.

However, the Virgin proposal, which has financial backing from Royal Bank of Scotland and Citi, appears to have won support from the Northern Rock board. Virgin and the private-equity group JC Flowers are now the two front-runners to take control of the stricken mortgage bank. A preferred bidder could be announced within days.

Related Links
Northern Rock looks at fresh bids
Virgin seeks Rock chair
This weekend, the biggest shareholders in Northern Rock again repeated their calls for the board to scrap the auction and avoid selling the bank on the cheap. SRM, the hedge fund run by Jon Wood, has called for an extraordinary meeting to amend the bank’s articles of association and give shareholders the power to block the sale of more than 5% of the bank’s assets.

Shareholders, including SRM and RAB Capital, are prepared to back their own £1 billion rights issue, rather than allow a third party to take control. To achieve this, they have given their support to Luqman Arnold, the former chief executive of Abbey. Arnold, who runs the Olivant investment company, wants to parachute in a new management and take a 15%-20% stake through a fresh share issue. In return for this his firm is prepared to invest £200m. Arnold is confident that Olivant could raise the funds to repay part of the £23 billion loan the northeast-based bank now owes the Bank of England.

However, bankers involved in the sale process said Olivant’s plan was seen as lacking in detail because it did not have funding in place. Some shareholders believe a bid by Virgin is the second-best option as they would retain an interest in a refinanced Northern Rock. It has also emerged that Northern Rock drew up plans to apply for a European banking licence to try to gain funds from the European Central Bank. The plan has been scrapped since the bank decided it might not have enough spare collateral to secure loans.

The Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority are meeting bidders this weekend. One of their primary concerns is to have confidence in the management and future business plans to prevent a further crisis.

This weekend, Northern Rock made a further addition to its nonexecutive team with the appointment of Laurie Adams. He was formerly a managing director at ABN Amro Bank.

[acintra]

November 26, 2007

Branson's Virgin Group is preferred bidder for Northern Rock
Troubled bank is 'accelerating' talks which could see Branson's Virgin Money merge with stricken lender
(Ben Gurr/The Times)
Northern Rock could merge with Virgin Money under the proposed deal

Miles Costello and Marcus Leroux
Shares in Northern Rock broke back through the £1 barrier today after Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group was named as the frontrunner in bid talks to rescue the troubled mortgage lender.

The shares raced more than 28 per cent higher, up 24.1p at 110p, despite Virgin's bid plan valuing the bank's equity at just 25p.

Dealers said short-selling was behind some of Northern Rock's shares rise this morning, but also noted that other bidders were still in the frame and could still try to sabotage a Virgin takeover of the bank.

JC Flowers, the American investment group, and the Olivant team led by Luqman Arnold, Abbey's former chief executive, have also been involved in talks to secure control of Northern Rock.

Related Links
Virgin’s cut-price plan will slash Rock shares
JC Flowers serious contender for the Rock
Virgin seeks Rock chair
Virgin is planning to inject just £200 million of its own capital into a rescue.

Half of a proposed £1.3 billion capital injection will come from Sir Richard's group and its fellow consortium members. A further £650 million will be raised from existing investors, according to the Virgin plan.

Sir Richard's group plans to merge its Virgin Money brand with Northern Rock, pay off £11 billion of the bank's borrowings immediately and the remaining £14 billion in due course.

Virgin is joined in its consortium by Wilbur Ross & Co, the investment group, Toscafund, the hedge fund , and First Eastern Investment Group, a Hong Kong based finance house.

It emerged today that SRM Global, a hedge fund run by former UBS trader Jon Wood, increased its Northern Rock stake from 6.44 per cent to 6.84 per cent at the end of last week.

SRM has called on Northern Rock to hold an emergency meeting to allow shareholders to vote on any sale of the bank, to prevent it being sold off on the cheap.

In a statement, Northern Rock said it wanted to take forward talks with Virgin on an "accelerated basis" and promised that it has "no current intention of making any material reduction" in headcount. Northern Rock employs 6,000 staff.

It is likely the Virgin consortium will take up to three years to repay the remaining debt. This means that the Government will have to seek approval from the European Commission to continue providing state aid to Northern Rock past the current deadline of February next year.

Sir Brian Pitman, the former Lloyds TSB chief executive, has been named Rock’s chairman.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia has been confirmed as chief executive. She will be advised by Sir George Mathewson, the former chairman of RBS.

Bryan Sanderson, the chairman of Northern Rock, said in a statement this morning: "I am grateful for the support that we have had from customers and employees who have stayed loyal to us during these difficult times — and pleased that a solution that firmly restores the company's prospects has been identified.

"Furthermore our retail depositors can be fully reassured that the Government has said it will ensure savers' money is safe whatever the outcome."

The statement said that the consortium expects to rebuild a deposit base quickly and is targeting a credit rating of no less than 'A'.

The consortium have also pledged that the the Northern Rock Foundation, the charity associated with the bank, will continue to receive a share of profits.

Virgin promised up to five annual payments of as much £10 million each "in recognition of the contribution of HM Treasury and the Bank of England to the restructuring of Northern Rock."

[acintra]

Isto está de loucos!
A Virgin paga 25Gbp por acção mas diz que salda metade da divida ao BoE. Não credito que seja por isso esta subida, mas os bancos, como a UBSD, que estão entalados com valores acima doos 150Gbp e os 200Gbp a baixar o valor médio e obrigam os pretendentes a subir a parada.
Todo o cuidado é pouco...e vou ver de fora.

[acintra]

Vou aguardar que desça e depois é que coloco a OC. Com estas noticias recentes não sei onde vai parar.

Breaking News

Branson Named Preferred Rock Bidder
Updated:07:52, Monday November 26, 2007

A consortium led by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group has been named as the preferred buyer for the Northern Rock.

Branson's group leads the wayIf successful, it is understood Virgin would re-pay around half of the money that has been borrowed from taxpayers by the troubled bank immediately.

But the proposed deal is likely to be very unpopular with shareholders, large and small.

Virgin has put a price tag of just £105m on Northern Rock - much lower than its £360m stock market value on Friday night.

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It is also a fraction of the bank's worth before its crisis blew up.

Despite that, Northern Rock's chairman Bryan Sanderson is insisting the offer is "very good news".

The bank will be rebranded "Virgin" - its consortium's proposal includes the paying back of £11bn of the £25bn in taxpayers' cash the Bank of England has already loaned it.

It also says the BoE "will have a clear path towards repayment in full".

More to follow...

Continuação

Virgin's deal will see £1.3bn of funds injected into the group in return for a controlling stake.

The consortium is offering investors 25p for each share.

About 100,000 of Northern Rock's small shareholders have written to Mr Sanderson to express concerns that directors are planning a "fire sale" of assets.

In a letter signed by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, Honorary President of the Northern Rock Small Shareholders Association, they called for an extraordinary general meeting.

Meanwhile, the biggest declared investor, hedge fund RAB Capital, has threatened to block any deal to restore stability to the troubled bank that would not deliver value for money for shareholders.

[acintra]

Vou aguardar que desça e depois é que coloco a OC. Com estas noticias recentes não sei onde vai parar.

Breaking News

Branson Named Preferred Rock Bidder
Updated:07:52, Monday November 26, 2007

A consortium led by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group has been named as the preferred buyer for the Northern Rock.

Branson's group leads the wayIf successful, it is understood Virgin would re-pay around half of the money that has been borrowed from taxpayers by the troubled bank immediately.

But the proposed deal is likely to be very unpopular with shareholders, large and small.

Virgin has put a price tag of just £105m on Northern Rock - much lower than its £360m stock market value on Friday night.

Advertisement

It is also a fraction of the bank's worth before its crisis blew up.

Despite that, Northern Rock's chairman Bryan Sanderson is insisting the offer is "very good news".

The bank will be rebranded "Virgin" - its consortium's proposal includes the paying back of £11bn of the £25bn in taxpayers' cash the Bank of England has already loaned it.

It also says the BoE "will have a clear path towards repayment in full".

More to follow...

[acintra]

Virgin 'Preferred Bidder' For Northern Rock
Updated:07:27, Monday November 26, 2007

A consortium led by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group is set to be named as the preferred bidder in the battle for Northern Rock.

Bank could still be nationalisedBut it will not resolve all the questions about Northern Rock's future because shareholders - large and small - could still try to block the deal.

The Virgin bid is understood to depend on continued support from the taxpayer for two to three years.

It is thought the consortium would make an immediate repayment of £11bn of the £25bn borrowed from the Bank of England.

It is understood the new company would be rebranded Virgin Money, though it would keep its existing stock market listing.

Major shareholders are likely to be all but wiped out after the company said last week that the proposals received were "materially below" Northern Rock's market value.

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But the bank and the Government are likely to make it clear that the alternative to Virgin's bid would be for the bank to go into administration under insolvency procedures, which could leave investors with nothing.

About 100,000 of Northern Rock's small shareholders have written to the Northern Rock's chairman, Bryan Sanderson, to express concerns that directors were planning a "fire sale" of assets.

In a letter signed by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, honorary president of the Northern Rock Small Shareholders Association, they called for an extraordinary general meeting.

Sources involved in a rival bid from private equity firm JC Flowers said they were "mystified" by the news.

They spoke of positive contacts with the Government and Northern Rock.

The Treasury could nationalise the bank if buyers do not agree to repay the Newcastle-based group's debts under terms favourable to the taxpayer.

[scpnuno]

Não se queixem!! Além de Sportinguista, sou Setubalense!! Querem trocar??

A unica coisa que corre bem é não estar longa na Northern Rock (isto foi só para enquadrar no post - já não sei se vai ao ar ou não...)

[Titleist]

Dá-me impressão que a unica coisa que foi ao ar este fim de semnana foi o nosso Sporting.

... mas como diz o nosso amigo Paulo Bento, mantemos os objectivos traçados no início da época (sejam eles o 1º ou o 2º objectivo ) , somos a única equipa presente, ainda, em todas as frentes e com possibilidades de ganhar todas as provas

SCP4EVER[/quote]

[acintra]

Então mas ... se a "Virgin" ofereceu 0.80, qual a razão destas ofertas inferiores?

Já não percebo nada ...

Como vês o "Sir Richard Branson está-se a borrifar para Inglaterra e o que quer mesmo é comprar barato. O valor de 80 Gbp apareceu depois de ele vir a Skynews a dizer que ficou muito impressionado com as filas e que iria ajudar o NR e os ingleses. Nesse momento o NR cotava entre os 210 Gbp e 240 Gbp. Agora que chegou ao valor de referênçia já dá menos outra vez.
Eu tb faria o mesmo para tentar investir o menos possivél e ganhar o máximo, mas não ia para a TV dizer mentiras. O homem foi considerado "Sir", não é um gajo qualquer.

Mas ainda alguém acredita em virgens??

(os posts do fim de semana vão ao ar ou não?)

Dá-me impressão que a unica coisa que foi ao ar este fim de semnana foi o nosso Sporting.

[jpacarlos]

UBS has 6.2 pct stake in Northern Rock -paper
(25 Nov 2007)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ZURICH, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS <UBSN.VX> has a total stake of 6.2 percent in stricken British bank Northern Rock <NRK.L>, having acquired shares in October and November, according to the Sonntag newspaper.

The newspaper reported that UBS London had acquired a 5 percent stake on October 10 at around 270 pence per share. The branch then increased the stake to 6.2 percent on November 12 for a price of 154 pence per share.

Northern Rock shares closed on Nov 22 at 84.10 pence.

A spokesman for UBS said the stake was the bank's aggregate shareholding across all of its business divisions, including investment banking and wealth management. He added that the shareholding was not strategic for UBS.

"UBS, like all others, has a duty to publish their shareholdings in a large number of companies, even if they have no strategic interests," a spokesman for UBS said.

He also confirmed that UBS would underwrite a 280 million pound rights issue for British buy-to-let mortgage lender Paragon Group of Companies PLC <PARA.L>, should the firm fail to find alternative ways of raising money by February.

Northern Rock was forced to go to the Bank of England for emergency loans two months ago, as the global squeeze on credit undermined its funding strategy. Its shares have lost over 90 percent of their value this year.

UBS has also been hit by the credit crisis -- the bank reported its first group loss in five years in the third quarter after heavy markdowns in subprime-related exposure. (Reporting by Tom Armitage; Editing by Quentin Bryar) ((tom.armitage@reuters.com; +41 79 256 6214; Reuters Messaging: tom.armitage.reuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: UBS NORTHERNROCK/

[scpnuno]

Então mas ... se a "Virgin" ofereceu 0.80, qual a razão destas ofertas inferiores?

Já não percebo nada ...

Mas ainda alguém acredita em virgens??

(os posts do fim de semana vão ao ar ou não?)

[Machado]

Então mas ... se a "Virgin" ofereceu 0.80, qual a razão destas ofertas inferiores?

Já não percebo nada ...

[acintra]

Segunda-feira, vai mais uma OC com um valor bastante baixo para ver se entregam no panico da 1ª hora e meia.

November 25, 2007

Virgin’s cut-price plan will slash Rock shares
Grant Ringshaw
A CONSORTIUM led by Virgin Group plans to launch a deeply discounted share placing for Northern Rock that would value the beleaguered bank’s shares at less than half the current price.

Under the Virgin plan, Northern Rock’s shares would be valued at between 20p and 40p. Virgin would inject a total of £1 billion in cash as well as its Virgin Money operation, worth between £200m and £300m, into the bank and take a controlling stake.

On Friday, Northern Rock’s shares closed at 86p, valuing the bank at £361m. But the revelation of the discounted placing will put further pressure on the company’s share price this week.

However, the Virgin proposal, which has financial backing from Royal Bank of Scotland and Citi, appears to have won support from the Northern Rock board. Virgin and the private-equity group JC Flowers are now the two front-runners to take control of the stricken mortgage bank. A preferred bidder could be announced within days.

Related Links
Northern Rock looks at fresh bids
Virgin seeks Rock chair
This weekend, the biggest shareholders in Northern Rock again repeated their calls for the board to scrap the auction and avoid selling the bank on the cheap. SRM, the hedge fund run by Jon Wood, has called for an extraordinary meeting to amend the bank’s articles of association and give shareholders the power to block the sale of more than 5% of the bank’s assets.

Shareholders, including SRM and RAB Capital, are prepared to back their own £1 billion rights issue, rather than allow a third party to take control. To achieve this, they have given their support to Luqman Arnold, the former chief executive of Abbey. Arnold, who runs the Olivant investment company, wants to parachute in a new management and take a 15%-20% stake through a fresh share issue. In return for this his firm is prepared to invest £200m. Arnold is confident that Olivant could raise the funds to repay part of the £23 billion loan the northeast-based bank now owes the Bank of England.

However, bankers involved in the sale process said Olivant’s plan was seen as lacking in detail because it did not have funding in place. Some shareholders believe a bid by Virgin is the second-best option as they would retain an interest in a refinanced Northern Rock. It has also emerged that Northern Rock drew up plans to apply for a European banking licence to try to gain funds from the European Central Bank. The plan has been scrapped since the bank decided it might not have enough spare collateral to secure loans.

The Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority are meeting bidders this weekend. One of their primary concerns is to have confidence in the management and future business plans to prevent a further crisis.

This weekend, Northern Rock made a further addition to its nonexecutive team with the appointment of Laurie Adams. He was formerly a managing director at ABN Amro Bank.