LEEDS Group, the investor vehicle that owned a 29 per cent stake of Dawson International, yesterday confirmed that it had written down its holding from £745,000 to zero after the cashmere firm called in administrators.
Leeds, led by Swedish activist investor Peter Gyllenhammar, acquired its stake in Dawson four years ago at a cost of £981,000.
Blair Nimmo, of administrator KPMG, said the collapse represented ”an excellent opportunity to acquire a well-known and profitable Scottish cashmere knitwear business”.
Cisco raises dividend on upbeat results
Cisco Systems has offered little hope that dire economic conditions in Europe will come to an end any time soon but pleased investors with a 75 per cent dividend hike as the company posted quarterly results that beat estimates.
The California-based firm said its dividend will rise to 14 cents per share in the first quarter and that it plans to return a minimum of 50 per cent of free cash flow annually through dividends and share repurchases. Cisco kicked of a restructuring programme last year that included plans to slash 15 per cent of its workforce.