Is Prudential about to cut ties with the UK?
Despite the fact that the Prudential has links with the UK going back to 1848 it is believed that directors of the company are currently considering a sale of the UK business. This is a shock for many analysts who believed that the Prudential would be based in the UK forever and a day. So why the potential change in policy?
The rumours about a potential sale of the UK business centre round the fact that the company is currently in negotiations to buy the Asia division of AIG. This is a multi-billion pound takeover and there are concerns about how the transaction will be funded and the structure of the group going forward. However, nobody for a moment believed that the Prudential would look to sell any UK operations but it looks as though the company is considering all options and may even hint at a sale of UK operations this week.
Whether the company would be able to obtain a good price for its UK operations in the current marketplace is open to debate but then again you could argue the company is getting a "good price" for the AIG Asian operation.
Share this..
Related stories
Standard life rejects takeover of Tomkins
Standard Life, one of the largest investors in the UK stock market, has this week rejected a £2.9 billion takeover offer for engineering conglomerate Tomkins. While the indicated offer, from a Canadian consortium, was well above the Tomkins share price at the time there are growing fears that overseas investors are using a weakness in the UK exchange rate and a weakness in the UK stock market to...
Read MoreIs Cadbury in play?
As we covered in one of our earlier post, today's trading statement from Cadbury contained a number of positive figures and forecasts for the future and in fact took many analysts and investors by surprise. Initially the shares were marked up by around 1.2% although they have since fallen back to around eight pounds against an indicative offer price from Kraft Foods of around £7.26. So what next...
Read MoreMarks and Spencer sounds the warning cries on the high street
While it is no secret that the former bell weather of the UK retail sector, Marks and Spencer, has been struggling of late it seems that things will get decidedly worse before the get better. Reporting a 6.1% fall in first quarter sales it seems as though even those at the top of the tree are finding life very tough. So what next for the high street giant?
As you might have expect...
Entrepreneurs flock to the Internet
There are very few areas of life which the Internet has not yet touched but one area which has attracted massive attention is the ability to create your own website and your own online business in a relatively short space of time. The main attraction of the Internet is the fact that at the touch of a button you can increase your traditional local marketplace to a worldwide marketplace. Many ent...
Read MoreComputer crash embarrasses LSE
When the London Stock Exchange (LSE) trading system crashed shortly before 9am yesterday who would have though that nearly a whole day's trade would be wiped out before the issue was resolved?
The news that the system was only resurrected about 30 minutes before the close of play yesterday has hit the financial headlines all around the world. The LSE is the second largest stock exc...