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Top story
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Dusanj brothers buy back Cains
Sudarghara and Ajmail Dusanj have bought back Cains brewery and the leasehold interest on nine pubs, just over six weeks after Robert Cain & Co was placed into administration. After an extensive marketing period, the former owners saw off a range of potential buyers - at one point administrators at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) had received 50 expressions of interest - effectively to take the business back to the position it was in before the reverse takeover of Honeycombe Leisure in 2007. The family, which acquired the Liverpool brewer and pub operator in 2002, still owned the freehold on the brewery and nine pubs through a separate company, which was a stumbling block for other potential buyers, inlcuding Glasgow-based Marketing Management Services International, which made a bid at the end of August. PwC is seeking buyers for the remaining 45 pubs.
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Deals
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Volex in a power play
Volex, the Warrington-headquartered global electrics and cabling group, has put its Singapore-based power products division in play after a strategic review by Rothschild. A statement said: "The board has decided to investigate the potential for realising value from its Power Products division including its potential divestment or flotation of the business on an Asian stock market." The division supplies cable assemblies for clients including Sony, Dell and Samsung. Volex added that group trading during the second quarter has continued the positive trend reported in July.
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Business
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Liverpool well placed for Shanghai supplies
A Liverpool delegation, which includes council leader Warren Bradley and representatives from key investor Peel Holdings, is in Shanghai this week to develop relationships ahead of Liverpool’s presence at the World Expo 2010, to be held in Shanghai. Dr Kerry Brown, director of the Liverpool-Shanghai Partnership, told Insider: “The focus for Liverpool is Shanghai, as there is a historical relationship to build on. This is about narrowing the process and getting some focus on what we can do together.”
Surface on the move with Mov'it
Surface Transforms, the Ellesmere Port-based maker of carbon fibre reinforced ceramic materials for the aerospace, defence and high-end automotive markets, has signed a perpetual distributor agreement with Mov'it, a European supplier of braking systems to the after-market industry. The principal markets for ceramic brake sets are owners of high-performance vehicles and light race cars seeking enhanced braking performance. Last week Surface Transforms announced that annual revenues had risen 90 per cent.
Poker faces
Playtech, the AIM-listed gaming software developer headquartered in the Isle of Man, has announced a poker agreement with Sisal, an Italian land-based and online gaming company. Sisal becomes the third Italian licensee on Playtech's Italian poker network after Snai and Gala-Coral's Eurobet Italia. Under the terms of the licence agreement, Playtech will provide Sisal with its entire portfolio of poker games.
North West jumps on Olympic bandwagon
Culture Northwest, the region's cultural commission funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency and the Department for Culture Media & Sport, is to hold 39 events over next weekend to celebrate the launch of the Cultural Olympiad of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The events will be spread across the region and will involve mass participation.
Adapt or lose value in climate wars
Tackling climate change can have a significant impact on company value, according to a new report by the Carbon Trust out today Climate Change: a business revolution? The report, based on analysis by McKinsey & Co, found that the deep emissions reductions will create business opportunities and risks. Well-positioned and forward-thinking businesses could increase company value by up to 80 per cent, while poorly positioned companies run the greatest risk of destroying value. As much as 65 per cent of company value was found to be at risk in some sectors.
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Property
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Smith & Sons gets busy
With property auctions reporting increasing activity, Wirral consultancy Smith & Sons has announced that its next auction will take place at the Village Hotel in Bromborough on 29 October. The firm's July auction saw Smith & Sons sell properties for a combined £1.7m.
Pochin's profits fall
Cheshire property company Pochin's has posted a fall in pre-tax profits, from £9.1m to £1.8m in its results for the year to June 2008. Although turnover remained steady at around £115m, write-downs and investment provisions saw profits slashed. The company will pay a dividend of 3 pence a share on top of the interim dividend of the same amount. Pochin's said that its construction services business had been affected badly and that it will focus on public sector contracts to alleviate this. The Royal Bank of Scotland has renewed and extended the group's banking facilities.
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Events
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Dates for your diary this week
If you’re looking for an alternative to the hundreds of fringe events around the Labour Party Conference in Manchester this week, there is plenty on offer. Friday sees Liverpool’s BT Convention Centre play host to the Northwest Regional Development Agency annual conference, with confirmed speakers including: Phil Redmond, creative director of the Liverpool Culture Company; Christine Gaskell, HR director at Bentley Motors; and Julia Cleverdon, vice-president of Business in the Community. On Friday morning accountancy Hurst and Cheshire-based Applewood Asset Management are holding a breakfast seminar in Stockport on how owner managers can grow their wealth. And, to top all of that, Insider is holding its Creative Forum on Wednesday evening at the Lowry Centre, featuring an audience with Kevin Roberts, worldwide chief executive officer (CEO) of Saatchi & Saatchi.
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Contact Us
Insider
8th Floor, Boulton House
17-21 Chorlton Street
Manchester
M1 3HY
Telephone: +44 (0)161 907 9711
Email:
nw@insiderdaily.co.uk
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