The private equity owner of Asda has struck a deal to buy a controlling stake in a group which specialises in backing British SMEs. Sky News has learnt that TDR Capital has agreed to acquire a majority interest in CorpAcq, less than six months after the so-called ‘corporate compounder’ aborted a deal to list in
Business
The owner of Poundland, one of Britain’s biggest discount retailers, has drafted in City advisers to explore radical options for arresting the growing crisis at the chain. Sky News has learnt that Pepco Group, which has owned Poundland since 2016, has hired consultants from AlixPartners to address a sales slump which has raised questions over
TikTok has said it could go dark on Sunday after the Supreme Court ruled against its bid to avoid a ban that could shut the app down. The looming ban is the end result of 2024 legislation passed on national security concerns that called for TikTok parent ByteDance to sell the popular short-video app or
The wife of green energy entrepreneur Dale Vince has been awarded more than £40m by a High Court judge following their divorce. However, Mr Vince said his ex-wife came away from their divorce with £12m less than he offered her four years ago. The pair disputed how their money should be split at a hearing
The UK’s benchmark stock index has reached another record high. The FTSE 100 index of most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange closed at 8,505.69, breaking the record set last May. It had already broken its intraday high earlier on Friday, meaning it reached a high not seen before during trading hours. The weakened
Fears have been raised over the robustness of Britain’s trade sanctions against Russia after the main government department enforcing the rules admitted it has no idea how many cases it is investigating. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which monitors and polices flows of goods in and out of the country, says it had no central
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned against the prospects of a renewed US-led trade war, just days before Donald Trump prepares to begin his second term in the White House. The world’s lender of last resort used the latest update to its World Economic Outlook (WEO) to lay out a series of consequences for
The UK economy just about returned to growth in November after two months of contraction, the latest official figures show. Gross domestic product (GDP), the standard measure of an economy’s value and everything it produces, grew by 0.1%, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. It was expected to grow by 0.2%. Money
Forget this week’s minor decrease in the UK inflation number. The most important European data release was the confirmation from Germany that, during 2024, its economy contracted for the second consecutive year. Europe’s largest economy shrank by 0.2% during 2024 – on top of a 0.3% contraction in 2023. Now it must be stressed that
There’s been a surprise fall in inflation to 2.5% after two months of rises, official figures show. It means prices are still rising but at a slower pace than before, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data for December. Economists had expected the figure to remain at 2.6%, the level recorded in November. Inflation
Donald Trump will address business and world leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in a virtual appearance from the US three days after his inauguration as President. The Davos event, which starts on Monday, will attract more than 3,000 business and political leaders to the Swiss Alps. They will include 900
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been accused of refusing to “face up to her own failures” by “jetting off to Beijing” during a week of market turmoil. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride accused the chancellor of ducking difficult questions as the “government was losing control of the economy” while Ms Reeves visited China over the past week
Pizza Hut’s biggest UK restaurant franchisee is closing in on a rescue deal that would salvage the vast majority of its British outlets and jobs. Sky News has learnt that Directional Capital, an investment firm which already controls much of Pizza Hut’s dine-in operations in Denmark and Sweden, is in advanced talks to acquire roughly
The government will “mainline AI into the veins” of the UK, with plans being unveiled on Monday by Sir Keir Starmer. The prime minister is set to promise investment, jobs and economic growth due to a boom in the sector. It comes as his government battles against allegations they are mismanaging the economy and stymied
The health secretary has said that the cabinet is aware of the “pressure” on Chancellor Rachel Reeves amid volatile markets and a challenging broader economic picture – but appealed for the public to “give her time”. Wes Streeting argued that the public “underestimates” the “amount of heavy-lifting” Ms Reeves has had to do and will
Rachel Reeves’s trip to China – the first by a British chancellor since 2019 – was always going to be controversial. In recent years Conservative governments have been keeping Beijing at arm’s length – amid concern about espionage, the situation in Hong Kong, and the treatment of the Uyghurs. David Cameron‘s so-called “Golden Era” of
The London Stock Exchange is preparing to do battle for one of Europe’s biggest initial public offerings for years as Verisure, the domestic security systems provider, kicks off plans for a flotation valuing it at more than €20bn (£16.7bn). Sky News has learnt that Verisure’s owner, the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman (H&F), is
Making Britain better off will be “at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind” during her visit to China, the Treasury has said amid controversy over the trip. Rachel Reeves flew out on Friday after ignoring calls from opposition parties to cancel the long-planned venture because of market turmoil at home. The past week has seen
The pound has come under renewed pressure at the end of a torrid week for the UK currency, falling to fresh 14-month lows against the dollar. Sterling lost almost a cent, to stand just above $1.22 at one stage, on the back of higher support for the greenback after US employment data came in much
Britain’s gas storage levels are “concerningly low” with less than a week of demand in store, the operator of the country’s largest gas storage site has warned. Plunging temperatures and high demand for gas-fired power stations are the main factors behind the low levels, Centrica said. The UK is heavily reliant on gas for its