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December 2007
News & Views
Business round-up
A look at what's happening around the globe
A look at what's happening around the globeBRANDING
Nike buys UK football strip maker
Manchester-based Umbro, the maker of the England football team's kit, has been bought by US sportswear giant Nike in a deal worth €345m. The Football Association said Nike had assured it that the FA's relationship with Umbro would be protected. Umbro said last month that sales of England tops had been 'disappointing', and analysts are concerned that sales could suffer if England fail to qualify for next year's European Championship. Nike began moving into football in the early 1990s and has been steadily expanding its share of the market, catching up with German rival, Adidas. In its offer document Nike said Umbro was 'a world-class, authentic football brand, with well-established positions in key growth markets and a deep football heritage'..
Stock markets opened up
The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), which effectively creates a common market for share, commodities and derivatives trading across 30 countries in Europe came into force on 1 November. MiFID ends the monopoly of national stock exchanges over share trading and throws open the field to newer electronic exchanges and even the big investment banks.
Until now, some countries, including Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, still required trading to take place over the national exchange. Others, such as the UK, have long been more liberal. MiFID dismantles each one of those monopolies, forcing brokers to provide 'best execution' for their clients. Traders must now execute a buy or sell order on any exchange or trading system which they feel gives the best deal for their clients, a move which reflects trading's increasingly move away from the established exchanges.
New electronic exchanges have emerged in Europe such as Chi-X, which claim to undercut the cost of trading in established exchanges. In 2006 seven large investment banks in London launched their own electronic exchange which under MiFID will trade in competition with established bourses. National exchanges are taking steps to counter the threat of competition, partly because of MiFID. The London Stock Exchange has joined forces with Borsa Italiana, and the exchanges of Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon have forged Euronext, acquired last year by the New York Stock Exchange.
TRANSPORT
Rugby fans boost Eurostar 
Cross-channel high-speed train operator Eurostar notched up record revenues and passenger numbers in the third quarter as rugby fans flocked to the World Cup in France and business travellers switched from air travel. Eurostar, which runs between London, Paris and Brussels through the Channel Tunnel, said ticket revenues rose 13.8% to €212m between July and September, against the same period last year, while passenger numbers increased by 3.6% to 2.23 million. The company estimated that it carried at least 125,000 rugby fans during the tournament, and attributed a 12.9% rise in business class volumes to travellers switching from short-haul airlines due to environmental concerns.
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