Author: Steven Sahiounie

A pair of private equity firms are battling to acquire control of an online aggregator which sells ferry tickets for operators including P&O and Stena Line. Sky News understands that 3i Group and Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) are two of the frontrunners to acquire Direct Ferries. The ferry tickets platform, which was founded in 2001, is among the world’s biggest businesses of its kind. City sources said it was expected to command a price tag of more than £150m. It has been part-owned by Livingbridge, another private equity house, since 2016. Based in Blackfriars, London, it offers tickets for more…

Tesco has begun sounding out candidates to replace John Allan, its long-serving chairman, paving the way for a change at the top of Britain’s biggest retailer. Sky News has learnt that the FTSE 100 supermarket chain is working with headhunters to identify Mr Allan’s successor. City sources said a number of heavyweight boardroom figures had been approached in recent weeks about the role. Mr Allan will step down next year, by which time he will have served for nearly a decade and be ‘timed out’ under corporate governance guidelines which mean that he would no longer be regarded as independent.…

Crypto-friendly US-based bank Silvergate Bank has begun the voluntary process of liquidation, according to a statement issued by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI).  The announcement of Silvergate Bank’s liquidation comes just a day after reports surfaced suggesting that the bank was discussing ways to avoid a shutdown with US federal officials. The majority of the bank’s many crypto clients abandoned the bank earlier this month, sending its share price tumbling, after Silvergate delayed the filing of its annual 10-K filing report.  The bank cited multiple reasons for the delay, including the need to respond to auditor requests, ongoing regulatory inquiries, and investigations.…

The bankrupt cryptocurrency lender, Celsius Network, is reportedly pursuing more bids and exploring new buyers despite having an offer on the table. During a bankruptcy court hearing in Manhattan, Celsius attorney Chris Koenig said the company remains open to better offers, per a report by Reuters. He added that the lender’s official unsecured creditors committee (UCC) met with a potential buyer just days ago to review an alternate proposal. The crypto lender also asked judge Martin Glenn, who is overseeing Celsius’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, to extend the time limit for submitting a bankruptcy restructuring plan built around the NovaWulf deal. The…

The Israeli occupation forces killed three Palestinian young men Thursday morning in Jaba’ town, south of Jenin, in the West Bank. ‘The occupation troops stormed the town, deployed snipers on the rooftops, and opened fire on a car with three young men on board, killing them’, Wafa News Agency said. On Tuesday, the Israeli occupation committed a massacre in Jenin camp in the West Bank, claiming the lives of six people. with the death of the three young men today, the number of Palestinians who have been killed in occupation forces’ fire since the beginning of this year has reached…

JP Morgan Chase (JPMC) is suing former top executive Jes Staley over his links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Wall Street giant alleges Mr Staley failed to disclose potentially damaging ties to the late sex trafficker. A lawyer for Mr Staley declined to comment when contacted by the BBC. JPMC is facing lawsuits from the US Virgin Islands and an unnamed woman alleging that it aided Epstein’s sex trafficking by allowing him to remain as one of its clients. The bank is attempting to make Mr Staley liable for any penalties it might face if it is found to…

The leader of the Moldovan breakaway republic was the target of an assassination attempt, media reports claim Security officials in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria have claimed that they foiled “a terrorist attack” targeting prominent figures that was allegedly planned by neighboring Ukraine. The suspects are being interrogated, the region’s State Security Ministry (MGB) said on Thursday. Transnistria borders Ukraine from the southwest. RIA Novosti cited a source as saying that the culprits wanted to rig a vehicle with explosives and bomb the motorcade of Transnistrian President Vadim Krasnoselsky. Anatoly Guretsky, Transnistria’s top prosecutor, was quoted by the media as saying that…

A “plane-type” unmanned aircraft was intercepted in Bryansk Region, its top official has reported The Russian military has shot down a drone in Bryansk Region, which borders Ukraine, its governor, Aleksandr Bogomaz, has said. There were no casualties or damage on the ground, according to a brief statement he posted on social media on Thursday. The unmanned aircraft was destroyed by Russian air defenses near the village of Navlya, some 45km south of the regional capital city of Bryansk, and was a “plane-type” drone, the governor explained. In a separate incident, Ukrainian forces shelled the border village of Rakovka, damaging a resident’s…

The disappearance last month of technology industry dealmaker Bao Fan has rekindled interest in a recent Chinese phenomenon – vanishing billionaires. The founder of China Renaissance Holdings – with a client list that has included internet giants Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu – is seen as a titan in the country’s tech sector. Mr Bao’s case has followed a well-trodden path: he went missing for days before his company announced that he was “co-operating in an investigation being carried out by certain authorities in the People’s Republic of China”. As has also become customary, there has been no word yet on…

The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini concluded an official visit to Cairo on 7-8 March to meet with Egyptian and Arab League officials and renewed his call to support the Agency. In his address at the opening session of the 159th meeting of the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers at the League of Arab States, where he reiterated that the rights and well-being of Palestine refugees were a collective responsibility, until there is a fair and lasting solution to their plight. He called on member states, especially those with a long tradition of…