Financial News

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- European shares dipped on Thursday as indexes took their lead from a downward move in U.S. stock markets overnight. Insurance stocks led the decliners. The German DAX 30 index slipped 0.6% to 5,235, France's CAC 40 fell 0.6% to 4,634 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.3% to 5,510. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 lost 0.4% to trade at 305.68. Insurers like Munich  ...

By Santosh Menon and Daniel Morrissey LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Virgin Mobile, which on Wednesday rejected a 817 million pound takeover approach from cable giant NTL, says it has not solicited a higher price from its suitor. Virgin (VMOB.L: Quote, Profile, Research) issued a statement after top shareholder Richard Branson told British radio that only about 25 million pounds was holding back an agreed takeover of Britain's fifth-largest mobile company by NTL. "The independent board confirms t ...

By Santosh Menon and Daniel Morrissey LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Virgin Mobile Holdings (VMOB.L: Quote, Profile, Research) , which on Wednesday rejected a 817 million pound takeover approach from cable giant NTL (NTLI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , says it has not solicited a higher price from its suitor. Virgin issued a statement after top shareholder Richard Branson told BBC radio that only about 25 million pounds was holding back an agreed takeover of the country's fifth-largest mobile compa ...

Construction and engineering firm Carillion has agreed to buy its smaller rival Mowlem for about £290m ($503.1m). Carillion said the deal would create one of the UK's largest support services and construction firms with a combined turnover of more than £4.1bn. The deal is expected to boost Carillion's presence in Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects. Carillion was behind the rebuilding of the GCHQ intelligence centre in Cheltenham back in 2000. The company was spun out of the  ...

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares dipped on Thursday as indexes took their lead from a downward move in U.S. stock markets overnight. Insurance stocks led the decliners. // document.write('');   MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS Toll Brothers profit surges 72%, but unsure on 2007 Banks and insurers push bourses lower Can Legg Mason's Miller top the S&P 500 yet again? Gold ...

European bourses were weighed down on Thursday by weakness in the financials sector and slides on Wall Street and in Asia. // The FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 0.5 per cent to 1,259.61 with Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax off 0.7 per cent to 5,229.10, the CAC-40 in Paris down 0.7 per cent to 4,629.31 and the FTSE 100 in London down 0.5 per cent to 5,502.4. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended Wednesday 0.16 per cent lo ...

The merger between Lightly & Lightly, of East and North Yorkshire, and Hawley & Partners, which has offices in South and West Yorkshire, will see the creation of LHL Group.The new firm will have five directors and more than 40 staff across offices in York, Doncaster, Leeds, Harrogate and Hull.Lightly & Lightly, which was founded in York in 1981, has 22 staff, including an architectural practice, i ...

By Daniel Morrissey and Santosh Menon SYDNEY/LONDON (Reuters) - Cable company NTL remains close to clinching a deal to buy Virgin Mobile Holdings, even though its initial 817 million pound bid was rejected, Richard Branson said on Thursday. Branson, whose Virgin Group owns 72 percent of the UK's fifth-largest mobile phone company, told the BBC that the difference between NTL's offer and Virgin Mobile's expectations was only around 25 million pounds and he was confident a deal could be struck.  ...

Geoff Foster, Daily Mail8 December 2005 ANOTHER not entirely new takeover tale was unwrapped after hours when dealers heard that a cash-rich private equity player could be stalking David S Smith. OTHER STORIES Market report: Thursday preview Private equity eyes on Forth Focus in fashion for fund savers Smaller companies report: Wed close Sunday newspaper share tips THE EDITOR ...

NEW YORK -- The Canadian market ended higher as gold prices and the underlying stocks continued to strengthen despite gains in the U.S. dollar, but share prices in Mexico and Brazil closed lower. In Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.31%, to 11131.43, and advances edged declines 770 to 709. The S&P/TSX 60 Index closed up 0.29%, at 628.38. Overall, eight of the Toronto's 10 sect ...