Betfair has given a thumbs down for CVC’s takeover offer of £912m citing the bid offer as undervaluing the company and its prospects. The online gambling firm confirmed to have received a preliminary bidding offer last week 880 pence per share in cash or investments in a new entity from CVC Capital Partners.

ABB is all set to acquire Power-One for $1bn (£656m) to expand its presence in solar inverters market. ABB announced that it will pay $6.35 (£4.17) per share in cash, financed out of the Swiss firm’s own funds. The deal includes Power-One’s net cash of $266m (£173m). The Switzerland-based company which is the world’s biggest supplier of industrial motors and power grids is looking to tap a market forecast to…

The dream of acquiring your home is often restricted by financial limitations for most people. However, the 2013 Budget gives a ray of hope to those who are aspiring to buy their own home by introducing the  ‘20% loan’ clause. The key feature of the clause is that the 20% loan will be repaid by the borrower upon sale of the property till the home has a market value less…

Blackstone Group bows out of its $25bn (£16.3bn) offer for Dell, thereby, paving the way for Michael Dell and his private equity partner Silver Lake to go ahead with a $24.4bn (£15.9bn) to acquire the world’s third biggest PC maker. Blackstone’s withdrawal from the deal follows reservations expressed by Blackstone’s private equity fund investors on the merits of the deal, and concerns that the stock market had already valued Dell…

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is facing market abuse allegations by the consumer watchdog, Office of Fair Trading (OFT). GSK has responded to the accusations by saying that it acted within the boundaries of law. The GSK market abuse allegations, levelled by OFT, consist of claims that the pharmaceutical behemoth shelled out cash to its competitors to postpone their release of their own editions of GSK’s Seroxat treatment. The OFT allegations of market…

Insurer Aviva has announced 2000 global jobs on Thursday as part of its ongoing endeavour to cut costs. The Aviva job cuts announcement involved sacking of nearly 2000 employees across its branches in Asia, the European continent and Britain in the next six months. Aviva has said that the decision to cut jobs is being publicised in advance to satisfy Aviva’s promise to its employees and unions to inform them…

Barclays investment bank chief Rich Ricci has resigned and will walk away with a year’s salary as a part of a major management shake up at the bank. Rich Ricci was the right hand of Bob Diamond, the ill-famed ex-CEO of Barclays. Rich Ricci will be stepping down on June 30 with Rich Ricci  leaving the bank with a salary of £700,000. Such payments are not usually made when an…

Marks & Spencer’s ‘knicker queen’ Janie Schaffer has quit barely three months after taking over as the head of lingerie and beauty, as the retailer suffers yet another setback in its attempt to restore the ailing business. Janie Schaffer joined M&S in January from luxury lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret. It is widely believed that Janie Schaffer was frustrated with the lack of opportunity that she was supposedly given to overhaul…

John Barton, the chairman of fashion retailer Next and Lloyd’s insurer Caitlin, has been chosen as the chairman of budget airline easyJet. The 68-year-old will take over from Sir Mike Rake as non-executive chairman on May 1. John Barton has a daunting task ahead in the role of easyJet chairman as he would have to manage the strained relationship between the company and its founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. John Barton…

Tesco has withdrawn from the US market after the supermarket chain’s profits fell 52% since the early 1990s. The exit from the US market has cost Tesco more than £1bn at a time when the Britain’s biggest retailer is experiencing slowdown in sales at home front too. After indicating US market exit in December last year, Tesco will be shutting down 199 Fresh & Easy stores, which have posted zero…