Scottish Financial Review

Menzies Distribution announced that former Booker CEO Charles Wilson has acquired a “significant minority shareholding” in the company and has joined the board as a…

ILC Therapeutics, a Newhouse, Lanarkshire-based biotechnology company involved in the development of a new class of interferon drugs, has announced the strengthening of its board…

Shares of Aberdeen-based global engineering group Wood plc fell about 6% on Thursday after it published an AGM trading statement saying its first quarter “was…

Baillie Gifford investment manager James Anderson has delivered a fiesty farewell message to shareholders of the firm’s high-flying flagship fund, the £18 billion Scottish Mortgage…

Baillie Gifford’s high-flying flagship fund, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust plc, said on Thursday it produced its strongest ever return in the year to March 31,…

Scotch Whisky and drinks giant Diageo plc announced on Wednesday it will resume its return of capital (ROC) programme of up to £4.5 billion to…

John Menzies plc, the Edinburgh-based global aviation services business, announced on Tuesday its intention to raise £22 million via a sale of shares. The firm…

The UK Treasury and UK Government Investments Limited (UKGI) have undertaken to the bookrunners of the latest sale of shares in NatWest-RBS “not to sell…

Almost 35% of shareholders of Edinburgh-based international oil and gas company Cairn Energy voted against the company’s remuneration report at its AGM on Tuesday. “The…

Glasgow-based packaging firm Macfarlane Group said on Tuesday its sales in the first quarter were 15% ahead of the same period in 2020 and that group…

The UK government announced on Monday its intention to sell another 5% of the shares the UK taxpayer still owns in NatWest Group plc, formerly…

Wheatley Housing Group Limited — Scotland’s biggest social landlord — has announced Jo Armstrong as its new chair. Armstrong will succeed Alastair MacNish when he retires…

Royal London said on Monday it has hired former Scottish Conservative Party leader Ruth Davidson as non-executive director with effect from June 8, 2021. Davidson will…

Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) — owner of Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows and Halifax — said on Monday it “may be able to accommodate a…

Aberdeen Harbour Board has awarded two new contracts worth £60 million for the construction of its South Breakwater and Crown Wall. Both structures will provide protection…

Permanent staff appointments across Scotland rose at a faster pace during April — with the rate of increase the fastest since July 2014 — according to…

Glasgow-based global engineering and mining giant Weir Group announced on Friday it has completed its first ever syndicated bond deal as it priced the offering of $800 million…

Shares of Glasgow-based cloud data centre operator Iomart Group plc rose about 8% on Thursday following its Capital Markets Day presentation to investors on Wednesday…

Shareholders of Edinburgh funds platform Nucleus Financial Group have finally agreed to a £145 million takeover by investment firm James Hay. In a stock exchange statement, James Hay…

Glasgow-based Virgin Money UK — owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks — said on Wednesday its customer deposits rose £964 million to £68.67 billion in the…

The latest data published by Mercer’s Pensions Risk Survey shows that the accounting deficit of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes for the UK’s 350 largest…

Edinburgh-based Tesco Personal Finance Plc (Tesco Bank) announced it has completed the transaction to acquire the Ageas UK Limited stake in Tesco Underwriting. “The decision…

Mortgage lending in the UK showed the biggest net increase on record in March 2021, and UK households saved another £16.2 billion into bank and…

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) announced that its CEO Charlotte Wright, who has led the development agency for the past five years, plans to step…

Latest data from fund research giant Morningstar shows that smaller companies funds maintained their 2021 winning streak in April, with European funds “leading the charge.”…

Macquarie Capital, Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) and Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure (DEI), the investors behind Spain’s Onivia Network, have acquired a majority stake in a…

Scotgold Resources Limited, the Australia-based gold exploration firm focused on Scotland, said on Friday that some of its directors have undertaken to provide a short…

Shares of troubled West of Shetland oil and gas explorer Hurricane Energy plc fell another 50% on Friday after it proposed a complex debt restructuring that…

Shares of Glasgow-based media firm STV Group plc rose about 3% on Thursday after it published a trading update ahead of its Annual General Meeting. The…

Shares of Glasgow-based global engineering and mining giant Weir Group edged 1% higher on Thursday after it published a trading update for the first quarter ending March…

NatWest Group, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, said in a trading update on Thursday its customer deposits increased to £453.3 billon in the first…

Real estate investor CLS announced it completed a £61.7 million loan from Scottish Widows secured on a portfolio of five UK office properties. “This loan…

Shares of Edinburgh-based Frontier IP, a specialist in commercialising university intellectual property, rose about 9% on Wednesday after it published an update on its trading for…

AGS Airports, which owns and manages Aberdeen International, Glasgow and Southampton airports, has confirmed the appointment of former Scottish Enterprise CEO Lena Wilson as its…

Edinburgh-based Aegon UK — owned by Dutch investment giant Aegon NV — said on Wednesday it has acquired Pension Geeks, a business “that specialises in connecting…

Shares of Perth-based transport giant Stagecoach Group plc fell as much as 8% on Wednesday after company founders Brian Souter and his sister Ann Gloag…

Scottish local authorities had debt of £19.3 billion at March 31, 2020, an increase of 6.3% from £18.2 billion at March 31, 2019, according to…

Shares of Scotgold Resources Limited, the Australia-based gold exploration company focused on Scotland, fell another 20% on Tuesday after it published a stock exchange statement saying…

The £2.32 billion takeover of Glasgow-based mobile power giant Aggreko plc by private equity firms TDR Capital LLP and I Squared Capital has narrowly won enough…

Perth-based Voyager, the company established to supply cannabidiol (CBD) and hemp seed oil products, has announced its intention to seek admission to trading on the…

The latest UK Powerhouse report by law firm Irwin Mitchell and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) predicts that Edinburgh will be among…

Boston and Edinburgh-based Current Health, a “remote care management platform” formerly called snap40, announced it has raised $43 million in an oversubscribed Series B financing. “The round…

Edinburgh-based asset management giant Standard Life Aberdeen plc announced on Monday its intention to change its name to “Abrdn plc” — a move that will…

The coronavirus pandemic forced the UK government to borrow £303.1 billion in the year ending in March, an increase of £246.1 billion on the previous…

Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup plc said on Friday it agreed to sell North American businesses First Student and First Transit to Stockholm-based investment firm…

The Scottish salmon farming industry has called for urgent action “to address discrepancies with export statistics published by the UK Government.” The Scottish Salmon Producers…

Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has confirmed a change in the management of its prominent £12 billion Global Absolute Return Strategy (GARS) fund. Veteran GARS fund manager Neil…

The £240 billion investment trust industry is requesting the removal of stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax (SDRT) on purchases of investment trust, investment company…

The £2.32 billion takeover of Glasgow-based mobile power giant Aggreko plc by private equity firms TDR Capital LLP and I Squared Capital has been thrown into…

Edinburgh asset management giant Baillie Gifford has invested $100 million in Blockchain.com — the largest single investment yet made in the crypto wallet provider that…

Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) said it completed a $25 million growth equity investment in Basis Technologies, a provider of “DevOps and test automation software for…