Pascucci departs
Hope Pascucci, one of the City of London’s most senior women bankers, is leaving her post as head of Deutsche Bank’s global capital markets division for “personal reasons” to return to Boston. Only months ago the bank integrated its debt and equity trading and issuance divisions under Ms Pascucci and Richard Byrne as co-heads.
Director for trial
Jeremy Crook, a British businessman sought by American authorities on fraud charges relating to accounting irregularities at a software firm, will be extradited today. Mr Crook, a former European director of Peregrine Systems of the United States, denies participating in a billion-dollar fraud at Peregrine, which collapsed in 2002.
Advertisement
Acambis wins $30m contract
Acambis, the vaccine maker, announced that it had won a $30 million (£16 million) contract from the United States for its smallpox vaccine. Gordon Cameron, the chief executive, said that the US government order had significantly improved the cash outlook for the company, which reported pre-tax losses of £22.9 million in the six months to the end of June, compared with a loss of £12.8 million the previous year. Yesterday shares rose 8p to 144p on the contract news.
Headhunter taken over
Whitehead Mann, the executive headhunter, plans to open offices in India and China, after the company announced yesterday that it had agreed to a £25.7 million takeover offer from Palladian Investments.
Palladian’s offer will return Whitehead Mann to an independent partnership structure and give the management and employees a stake of at least 30 per cent of the company, a substantial increase on the 6.5 per cent shareholding that they own at present.
Advertisement
Credit Suisse backs Ospraie
Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank group, is to invest $500 million (£266 million) in Ospraie Management, the fund manager, just two months after the New York firm closed down one of its hedge funds because of a 30 per cent fall in value.
The bank said that it would take a small controlling interest in Ospraie Management, which is focused on basic industries, in addition to investing $500 million in Ospraie Advisers, the fund manager’s private equity division.
Brian Finn, head of Credit Suisse’s alternative investment business, said: “Ospraie is arguably the most proven and successful investor in the commodities and basic industries sectors globally.”
Ospraie, a big player in commodities, shut one of its funds in June after the $250 million fund was reportedly 300,000 tonnes short of copper, at a time when copper prices were soaring.