Fund closes at $22bn

Blackstone Group, the private equity firm that floated in New York in June, closed a record $21.7 billion (£10.7 billion) fund that will pay for its investments. About two thirds of the capital in the fund, known as Blackstone Capital Partners V, had been committed to previously announced deals. The completion comes as the private equity sector faces pressure amid volatile credit markets. (Reuters)

Vodafone to retain stake in Verizon

Vodafone said that it remained committed to Verizon Wireless, its venture in the United States, after announcing that it would not exercise an option to sell its stake, retaining its full 45 per cent holding, valued at about $54 billion (£26.5 billion). The group had until today to exercise the option that entitled it to sell up to $10 billion of its total interest in the venture to Verizon Communications, its partner. Last year disgruntled investors called for the group to sell the stake and the issue was back on the agenda at this year’s annual meeting. Vodafone’s announcement followed a review. (Elizabeth Judge)

Storm delays launch of Virgin America

After two years of regulatory hold-ups, the launch of Virgin America, Sir Richard Branson’s latest airline venture, was delayed by a tropical storm. Virgin America plans to take on the North American aviation industry with low fares and high-class service.

Sir Richard has been forced to keep a low profile while Virgin America sought regulatory approval because foreigners are not allowed to own US airlines. However, he was on the inaugural flight from New York to the airline’s base at San Francisco yesterday. The flight left 30 minutes late after a storm hit New York. (David Robertson)

Taxes on taxi rides

Employees will be forced to pay income tax on late-night taxi fares from work to home under a crackdown by the taxman. HM Revenue & Customs said that businesses were not following rules that required them to ensure that employees were paying income tax on taxi fares to and from work. Employees must pay tax unless they can prove that the journey is not made “regularly”. (Elizabeth Colman)

Silverjet ends flights

Silverjet said that it would end charter flights operated by its subsidiary Flyjet at the end of October, when the charters on its two Boeing 757 aircraft expire, because of weakness in the package-holiday charter market. It said that it was focused on its core business-class service and saw “insufficient returns” from continuing to service the charter market. (Thomson Financial)

Wireless deal doubt

The £2.5 billion sale of National Grid’s wireless business to Macquarie, the Australian bank, has been thrown into doubt after the announcement of a review by the Competition Commission. The Office of Fair Trading said it had referred the deal to the authorities after being left “unsatisfied” by a package of remedies suggested by Macquarie UK Broadcast Ventures. (Elizabeth Judge)

Thames solution

Thames Water defied the tough credit markets by saying it would refinance its existing debt by launching a securitisation of its business guaranteed against future cashflows. Thames, owned by Australia’s Macquarie Bank, said its existing bonds would all be refinanced as part of the £4.1 billion securitisation, which will be sold as new and existing restructured bonds to private investors. (Siobhan Kennedy)

Air Partner profit rise

Air Partner, the aircraft charter company, expects to post a 50 per cent rise in annual profits after a sharp increase in demand from European governments. It said that pretax profit for the year to the end of July was anticipated to be 50 per cent greater than last year’s £5.1 million. It said that it had benefited from the increased use of private jets by government ministers. (David Robertson)

Australia raises rates

Australia’s central bank raised interest rates to 6.5 per cent, the highest in more than a decade, to check inflation and many economists suspect that further increases are on the way. John Howard, the Prime Minister, who is facing an election this year and is trailing in the polls, conceded that the increase would hurt mortgage-holders but said that past tax cuts could cushion the blow. (Reuters)

Irish sentiment drops

Ireland’s consumers are at their gloomiest for nearly four years, a survey showed. The IIB Bank/ESRI consumer sentiment index fell to 74.7 in July from 93.2 in June, as worries over a cooling property market led to concern that the economy might start to slow. Higher interest rates from the European Central Bank are set to add to strain on mortgage payments next month. (Gabriel Rozenberg)

US setback for GSK

GlaxoSmithKline has failed to win approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market a higher-dose version of Advair Diskus, its asthma inhaler, as a treatment for a lung disease often linked to smoking. The regulator said that the treatment as proposed was “not approvable” for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Advair is GSK’s top-selling respiratory drug. (AP)

Cathay’s win in China

Cathay Pacific Airways’ expansion into China has paid off dramatically. The Hong Kong-based airline reported net profits for the first half to June up 54.7 per cent from a year earlier to HK$2.58 billion (£162 million). Cathay, which has a 17.3 per cent stake in Air China, recently acquired Dragonair. The results propelled Cathay shares to a record HK$21.90. (XFN-Asia)

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