A FORMER stripper has won a top literary prize for a novel that draws heavily on her years at one of London’s best-known strip clubs. Fiona Dunscombe, 44, drew on her work at Raymond’s Revuebar in the 1980s for her first novel, The Triple Point of Water. The heroine is a striptease artist looking for her lost father. The book yesterday won the Dundee International Book Prize for an unpublished novel, with a 10,000 award and a publication deal with Polygon. Radio 4’s...
THOMSON FINANCIAL NEWS TOP STORIES UK 1105 BST
May 31, 2007 on 9:11 pm | In Currency |
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Here are the top stories on Thomson Financial News
Royal Bank of Scotland consortium says intends to make public offer for ABN
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - A consortium of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Banco Santander Central Hispano and Fortis NV has said that it intends to make a public offer for 100 pct of ABN Amro Hldgs NV.
The banks said that under Dutch regulations they cannot disclose full terms of the offer for seven days, but on Wednesday the consortium indicated that it may offer 39 eur per share for the Dutch bank, providing that the sale of LaSalle to Bank of America Corporation does not go through.
Sulzer hikes Bodycote offer to 344.5 pence per share from 332.0
ZURICH (Thomson Financial) - Sulzer AG said it has raised its offer for UK competitor Bodycote International to 344.5 pence per share from a previous 332.0 pence, but no agreement has been reached.
The Swiss engineering group said this is a final offer and represents a 49 pct premium over the Bodycote closing share price on Jan 25.
Friends Provident Q1 total new business sales up 12 pct at 1.497 bln stg
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Friends Provident PLC said that new business sales for the three months to end March 2007 rose by 12 pct to 1.497 bln stg, up from 1.331 bln stg in the same period last year.
The result was marginally higher than analysts’ expectations of 1.482 bln stg.
Cross Shore agrees to reverse takeover of ReSearch Pharmaceutical
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Cross Shore Acquisition Corp said it has agreed to a reverse takeover of Pennsylvania-based ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services Inc for about 39.1 mln usd cash plus shares and warrants.
“It provides us with the resources to aggressively expand our operations into China, India, Eastern Europe and other key markets,” Daniel Perlman, chairman and chief executive of ReSearch Pharmaceutical, said in a statement.
Taube Hodson Stonex further cuts stake in Alliance Boots to 0.672 pct
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Taube Hodson Stonex Partners Ltd said it has sold a further 7.9 mln shares in takeover target Alliance Boots PLC at 1121 pence each, cutting its stake to 0.672 pct from 1.49 pct.
Taube Hodson Stonex Partners now holds 6.5 mln shares in Alliance Boots.
Tesco could make joint bid for Coles with Australia’s Woolworths - report
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Tesco PLC could team up with Australia’s biggest retailer, Woolworths, to mount a bid of at least 7.9 bln stg for Coles Group Ltd, the country’s second biggest retail group, reports The Times.
It says Woolworths is considering a partnership with Tesco as one of several options as it plans the carve-up of its rival.
John Lewis week to Apr 21 dept store sales up 11.9 pct, Waitrose up 24.8 pct
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - John Lewis Partnership, the employee-owned retailer, said week to April 21 sales at its 26 UK department stores increased by 11.9 pct to 45.55 mln stg, while sales at its chain of 183 Waitrose supermarkets rose by 24.8 pct to 74.84 mln stg.
Total sales grew by 19.6 pct to 120.55 mln stg.
Dassault Systemes acquires UK’s ICEM for 51.4 mln eur cash
PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Dassault Systemes DS said it has agreed to acquire ICEM, a UK group specializing in styling, surface modelling and rendering software, for about 51.4 mln eur in cash.
The purchase, which is subject to closing conditions, is not expected to be dilutive to non-GAAP earnings, the group said in a statement. It gave no indication on the impact under IFRS earnings.
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China takes steps to curb its surging economy »HONG KONG: The Chinese central bank announced Friday that it would allow its currency to fluctuate more during daily foreign exchange trading, but again rebuffed demands from the United States and Europe for a sustained rise in the yuans value. The central bank also raised interest rates and demanded that commercial banks set aside more of their assets as reserves that cannot be lent. The two moves are aimed at tightening credit and reducing the risk of overheating in an economy that is growing...