A roundup of today's other business news in brief
Ormonde in deal with Antofagasta
Ormonde Mining has signed a deal with Chilean company Antofagasta Minerals on an exploration joint venture on its La Zarza ground holdings in the Huelva province of southern Spain.
Ormonde said work programmes would commence immediately.
Ormonde has agreed to give Antofagasta a 51 per cent interest in La Zarza over a three-year period in return for the Chilean firm spending $7 million (€4.7 million) on expanding the exploration potential of the site.
British retailers grow more upbeat
British retail sales volumes grew at their fastest pace in almost two years in October, a survey indicated yesterday, with retailers more upbeat about future prospects than at any time since July 2007.
The Confederation of British Industry’s distributive trades survey reported sales balance rose in October.
Retailers are more optimistic in their outlook than at any time since July 2007 and plan to place their highest volume of orders since November 2007. – (Reuters)
Aramark’s Veris purchase approved
The Competition Authority has approved multinational Aramark’s purchase of the property management businesses of Veris.
Veris recently agreed the €50 million sale of the businesses to the US-based group. The size of the deal meant it had to get approval.
Veris is holding an extraordinary general meeting in Dublin today to get shareholder backing for the sale. If the deal goes ahead, Veris will simply remain as a cash shell.
The company will ultimately be delisted from the Irish Stock Exchange and any proceeds will be distributed to shareholders.
Northern Rock report today
European Union anti-trust regulators will today unveil the results of their 18-month investigation into aid for state- owned British mortgage lender Northern Rock, a person familiar with the situation said.
The findings could lead to the break-up of the bank as part of a restructuring proposed by British authorities to soothe EU competition concerns.
The European Commission is reviewing a spate of bank bailouts across the 27-country bloc. – (Reuters)
Securities laws criticised
Securities laws are outdated and legislation is needed to regulate new investment products that were at the heart of the financial crisis, Mary Schapiro, chairwoman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, said yesterday.
Ms Schapiro called for new regulation of securities saying: “I believe legislative action is also necessary to deal with some of the issues that have been highlighted by the credit crisis.” – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009)
