THE DAILY BRIEFING
FOOD DEAL The largest food company in the world, Nestle, has bought Canadian health food firm Atrium Innovations for £1.7bn.
BITCOIN BOOM Demand for bitcoin is far outstripping gold as inexperienced investors pile into the online currency. Three times as many people are searching for the phrase ‘buy bitcoin’ on Google as searched for ‘ buy gold’ during the financial crisis. It came as bitcoin’s price hit new highs of $13,000.
POLISH MOVE Big banks are hiring hundreds of staff in Poland. Goldman Sachs has 525 workers in Warsaw and wants another 250. Standard Chartered could pick the city to host another 500 and JP Morgan plans to have 3,000 roles there.
CLEARING ALERT Efforts to snatch the City’s valuable euro clearing business could backfire and drive up costs for banks, Barclays chairman John McFarlane has warned. He said: ‘It could even place at risk the economic viability of continuing to provide such services, other than in London or New York.’
PROFITS RISE Profits at stockbroker Numis rose 18pc to £38.4m in the year to September 30.
PENSION FIRM Swiss Re has bought a Legal & General savings portfolio with around 1m customers and assets of £3bn, for £650m.
RIVALS BOUGHT Foreign exchange firm Moneycorp is buying Brazil’s Novo Mundo Corretora and London-based First Rate FX.
LICENCE WIN Investment firm Standard Life Aberdeen has won a licence to sell its products in China.
AUDIT ROLE Topshop owner Taveta Investments has appointed former interim chairman of McColl’s, Sharon Brown, to head its audit and risk committee.
BUDGET BOOST Budget hotel chain Easyhotel posted a 39pc rise in revenue to £8.4m as consumers are lured by £9.99-a-night rooms.
CASE PLEA Dutch lawyers Prakken d’Oliviera have asked the country’s public prosecutor to file a case against Shell, its chief executive and former executives over alleged criminal actions relating to a 2011 Nigerian oilfield purchase. Shell denies any wrongdoing.
SILICA CASH Dulux paint maker Akzo Nobel is investing £3.5m to increase colloidal silica production in Sweden. It is used in electronics, coatings and construction.