Paltrow fund to help poor

A BANKING group that has made its name providing “microfinance” to some of the poorest communities in the world will this week launch a UK outpost.

Finca, mostly funded by charitable donations, has been lending small sums of money to villagers in Africa and other parts of the developing world for 25 years. The UK arm of the business, which will be launched this week by actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Natalie Portman, will be targeting some of the UK’s poorest families.

Merger plan for exchanges

GERMAN stock exchange operator Deutsche Börse has formulated a plan to merge with NYSE Euronext, according to German magazine reports.

The report says Reto Francioni, the Frankfurt exchange’s chief executive, has presented his supervisory board with proposals to combine the businesses via a holding company in the Netherlands.

The deal would create the world’s largest stock-exchange group.

BT ad deal for Geldof

SIR BOB GELDOF’s media company, Ten Alps, will this week sign a deal with BT to begin offering online video adverts to 250,000 of the telecoms group’s small-business customers.

Ten Alps, which already sells advertising space for publications including Private Eye and The Pharmacist, wants to create a video version of the Yellow Pages by making low-budget commercials for members of BT Tradespace, a networking website.

Top Trumps at Orbis

GAMING software group Orbis has acquired smaller rival Electracade in a deal that gives it the rights to brands including children’s game Top Trumps.

Orbis, whose clients include bookmaker William Hill, is owned by NDS Group, a technology company majority-owned by News Corporation, ultimate owner of The Sunday Times.

Orbis paid an initial £2.6m, though this could rise depending on performance.

Fastest growing firms

THE twelfth annual Fast Track 100, our survey of Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing sales, is published with today’s paper (folded inside Travel).

Average sales growth of the companies over the past three years ranges from 53% a year to 225% a year, with sales typically between £10m and £50m.

The league table, compiled by Oxford-based networking events and research company Fast Track, features household names such as Innocent drinks, Gü chocolate puddings, Silver Cross prams, Tyrrells Potato Chips, and Abel & Cole, the organic produce home-delivery company.

The No 1 company is Hotel Chocolat Stores, the Hertfordshire-based chocolate retailer whose 30 shops across the UK have achieved sales growth of 225% a year to £18m.

Two faces of the private equity business

40%

THE amount by which buyout firm Permira has announced that investors are permitted to reduce their commitment to the company’s current fund.

25%

THE percentage reduction in returns that investors accepting Permira’s offer have to agree to in exchange for the lower commitment