Co-op land in the divvy as Ronnie Cohen's Apax give Somerfield away - Lovering the "hot deal maker" with egg all over his fat happy face

In November 2005 Gordon Brown's friend, Ronnie Cohen and his Apax Partners took over struggling Somerfield plc in a £1.1 Bn. all-cash take-over offer with Barclays Capital (they already owned 12.4%) , and Iranian-born Robert Tchenguiz and his younger brother Vincent who fled from the Shah in 1979. They have just 4% share of the UK food market

The star studded management team (see below) were happy to quickly unload (for an undisclosed sum) the old loss making (£40Mn a year) Kwik Save just 3 months later, in February 2006 with 171 stores and 4,000 employees to BTTF the optimistically entitled Back to the Future consortium led by Peacock Group's Chief Executive Richard Kirk which includes Paul Niklas, the former managing director of Formica. (Sunday, March 04, 2007 Ronnie Cohen, Gordon Brown, Israel, There is no Israeli Lobby )

Somerfield is Headed by John Lovering (D. Tel " regarded as one of private equity's canniest deal-makers ??)as Chairman who is also and Chairman of Debenhams and led several consumer-focused private-equity transactions including Fitness First, Laurel High Street, Homebase, Odeon Cinemas, Birthdays Group and Peacock. He was Chief Operating Officer at Tarmac plc and Finance Director at Sears plc. and by Februaru 2006 he had appointed a strong team of retail mega stars.

CEO Paul Mason (42) was the European President of Levi Strauss and previously CEO of Matalan Plc (Jan 2002 - March 2003) and President and Managing Director of Asda Wal Mart (2000 - 2001) and had been with B & Q.

Colin Smith ,Trading and Marketing Director (50) who joined from Tesco where he had been for along time.

John Cleland Retail Director (40) was the Commercial Managing Director of B&Q since January 2005. Prior to this he was Senior Vice President Operations at Wal-Mart, Japan and Retail Managing Director at Wal-Mart UK .

Some stores were closed, others (12) were sold to Sainsbury's and lot of money spent on re-vamping and store design.

140 Texaco fuel stations were bought from Texaco Chevron in 2007 and Somerfield have been busy "integrating thei brand" which means tripling store size, format and brand tofit the overall Somerfield brand. This lifted floor space from 83,000 sq ft to about 250,000 sq ft. The cost was not made public but intelligent guesses were in the region of £100Mn.

The stores have been up for sale for some time and interets expressed and Somefiled have been mentioning figures of up to £2.5Bn.. anyway the Co-op, (worlds largest with 1.5 million economically active members) their principal competitor and fifth biggest food retailer, is said to have finally offered £1.6 Bn. take it or leave it, which Ronnie choking on his Dubonnet has accepted - well Barcap are desperate for some cash in their till - there is every possibility they have extractedsome dosh on a sale and leaseback on the property of course.

On the face of it this looks as if Ronnie Cohen and his pals and the ever smiling Mr Robert Tchenguiz will just have washed their face during their brief ownership.

This is good news for the Co-op, it will extend their national spread, move them into more prosperous areas and bring fuel into the mix, yielding revenues and boosting footfall. Last year they turned over £9.4bn with 87,000 employees serving around 10 million customers a week through food, healthcare, travel, funeral care and financial services and paid a £19 Mn divvy to customers in 2006 which on 26th June they announced would be doubled this year to £38 Mn..

£550,000 of this divvy, to rounding down is given to community groups. They are of course very active in sourcing fair trade foods.

Meanwhile all eys are on ITV to see if Ronnie decides that now they are at a give away price of 42 p his pal Ronnie Lauder, and co- owner of Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME) (NASDAQ/ Prague Stock Exchange: CETV) who have TV interests in East Europe , Ukraine (Studio 1+1, Studio 1+1 International, Kino etc ) decide to gobble them up. See Thursday, August 30, 2007 Igor Kolomoisky and Ronie Lauder kiss and make up at CETV and for the whole history see here.

Trebles all round in Balloon Street tonight for the lads.

For a brief history of the origins of the Co-op Movement go here

UPDATE : Times Online - Co-op wraps up £1.6bn takeover of Somerfield

Igor Kolomoisky and Ronie Lauder kiss and make up at CMETV

Igor Kolomoisky Invests US$ 110 Million to Acquire an Interest in CME and Joins Company's Board of Directors

We had reason to write about old Igor in August last year when in an oral decision issued today, a district court in Kiev ruled that Igor Kolomoisky (44) ,owner of the conglomerate Privat including the Privat Bank, is entitled to the 70% interest in Studio 1+1 LLC which claimed to be held currently by Alexander Rodnyansky.

This some what discommoded Ronnie Lauder of CME who claimed that said Alexander Rodnyansky is effectively a custodian of their interest until a previously agreed restructuring of the ownership of Studio 1+1 to reflect these ownership interests has been completed... but go to the original post to follow the Byzantine tale of shareholdings, claims of ownership etc., etc.,

Old Igor (see pic) is an entertaining chap with residence in snowy Switzerland but at least one bolt hole in Israel. he is famous for having remarked ......“You can get out of prison some day, but you can’t get out of a forest with your head cut off.”

“I told Pinchuk, ‘life is a supermarket. you can take whatever you like, but the cash desk is at the end’ ”

Anyway close students of the CME ourtit will be interested to see a resolution of their disagreement has resulted in Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. ("CME") announcing today that Igor Kolomoisky, has acquired 1,275,227 (= 3%) shares of CME's Class A Common Stock for cash consideration of US$ 110 million , price calculated on a weighted average trading price. Old Igor has also been invited to join the Board of Directors of CME.

Ronald S. Lauder,is reported saying ..... "I've known Igor Kolomoisky for some time and admire him as an extremely knowledgeable businessman with in-depth knowledge of Ukraine. Igor understands the importance of independent television not only in Ukraine, but throughout Eastern Europe. I'm delighted to welcome him as our newest Director, and I am confident he will help CME enormously."... presumably not anxious to try to find his way out of a forest with his head cut off.

Michael Garin, CME's Chief Executive Officer, said: "Investors should welcome this step as a major vote of confidence. The Apax investment ( cf Sir Ronnie Cohen chum of Gordon Brown) last year underscored their view of the growth potential of CME as a company. Similarly, this investment by Mr. Kolomoisky should confirm CME's view that Ukraine will be a powerful growth engine for the Company in the future. As I said a few weeks ago when we released our second quarter earnings, 'We are convinced that in the next few years Ukraine will become the largest market in which we operate. We remain completely committed to Ukraine and will continue to aggressively but prudently pursue opportunities to further strengthen our presence there.' Today's announcement is a major indicator of that commitment."

Igor Kolomoisky said: "CME is one of the fastest growing and best managed media companies in the world and represents an exceptional investment opportunity for me. I am impressed with the company's management team, vision and disciplined financial approach. I look forward to working with my new Board colleagues and the CME management team to build upon the CME success story at a time when prospects are so bright both in Ukraine and in the other markets in which the company operates. Ronald Lauder has been a pioneer in helping the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to establish the independent media outlets so critical to the development of their economies and political systems. I've known Ronald for a number of years, and I'm delighted to now join him on the Board of CME."

Shares are trading at approx US$90 CETV : NASDAQ after a recent bumpy ride down from a high of US$100 in June but well up from US$60 a year ago.

British "Citizen", Boris Berezovsky AKA Platon Elenin wanted in Moscow Court for embezzlement, money laundering etc.,

Boris Berezovsky Бори́с Абра́мович Березо́вский the Jewish Russian dissident travels now as Platon Elenin and shares not only his birthdate with Lord Patel but a fondness for fastcars, glamorous and rich women, and massive, well guarded country estates.

Lord Patel was not however issued with an arrest warrant in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow on Monday on charges that he allegedly embezzled an additional $13 million in credit funds from SBS - Agro Bank which he then owned, to purchase a magnificent Mediteranean villa in southern France...which the Court wants to take off him.

This is the most recent of 11 probes into President Putin's friend who has repeatedly sent extradition requests for Boris / Platon to defend charges of embezzlement and money laundering which commenced in 1999, when he was charged with embezzling from State Airline Aeroflot of over 214 million rubles ($8.3 million) from the national air carrier and laundering more than 16 million roubles ($620,000).

This is the man who was invited by his friend Ronnie Lauder to help open the new Estee Lauder Moscow store - Ronnie, the man who sat on the New York Port Authority which sold the WTC to his friend Larry Silverstein whose son in law sits on the Federal Reserve Board and shares Boris's interest in Eastern European TV stations by holding CETV 50/50 with Sir Ronnie Cohen chairman of Apax Partners , and good buddy of Gordon Brown. (UK Prime Minister currently)

Starting as a promising mathematician , he then becoming a used-car salesman importing Mercedes cars into Russia in the 1990s (many it is said stolen from the streets of Stuttgart) , and eventually setting himself up as a middleman distributing cars made by Russia's Avtovaz which he then proceeded to loot. "His base is Logovaz, Russia's largest car dealership, but this is only the most visible tip of a golden iceberg. " explained Forbes Magazine in a notorious article in December 1996.

In the mid-1990s, he was one of Russia's leading "oligarchs" who gained control stole of the country's industrial crown jewels at knock-down prices, in rigged privatisations helped by access to Boris Yeltsin and his "family".

As well as taking ownership of stealing the Sibneft oil company, he became the main shareholder in the country's main television channel, ORT (where the now walk by irradiated and dead Alexander Litvinenko was appointed Head of Security by him) , which he turned into a propaganda vehicle for Boris Yeltsin in the run-up to the 1996 presidential election.

It was in 1996 that he became, through "very" close friendship with Boris Yeltsin's glamorous youngest daughter Tatyana Dyachenko (now 47) he was made deputy secretary of Russia's security council. (She was also "very" friendly with Yeltin's Chief of Staff n the hard nosed Anatoli Chubais - who has survived under Putin and done very well for himself) .Through him Putin entered " the family" , and he funded the party that formed Mr Putin's parliamentary base. The new President sensing oposition then moved to regain control of the ORT television station, and to curb the political ambitions of Russia's oligarchs.

(Leonid Dyachenko , Tatayana's pliant husband is described as an oil trader and it was revealed held account at the Bank of New York which US$7Bn was allegedly illegally transferred to accounts in the sunny Cayman Islands and no doubt beyond. Boris / Platon has most of his loot stashed in the Cayman Islands it said - prpbably incorrectly and with malice by his many enemies - but it was a CI trust that owned Mr Litvinenko's ***(and the glamorous but slightly irradiated Mrs Litvinenko) modest US$£ Mn. pied a terre in Muswell Hill.)

Boris / Platon moved at the end of 2001 to escape, (not wishing to enjoy the fate of Mr Khodorkovsky) along with a few (well several million) sack loads of money which he moved to Israel (where he has citizenship by right as a Jew and where his separated wife and 2 children find their home) and London. It is from London where he managed to obtain "citizenship" (as of right as a very rich man and friend of Tony Blair ex prime Minister and now Israel's Roving Ambassador in the Middle East) that he was alleged to have masterminded the brutal murder of campaigning journalist Anna Politkovskaya, in order to discredit Mr Putin - an allegation that naturally he denies.

Forbes Magazine described Boris / Platon as the "Godfather of the Kremlin" and he took them to court (in England) claiming their allegations were false, they settled out of court. Forbes issue on 30th December 1996 Forbes described the two men (BB and Mr. Nikolai Glouchkov MD of Aeroflot) as "criminals on an outrageous scale" and also said , "Berezovsky stands tall as one of the most powerful men in Russia. Behind him lies a trail of corpses, uncollectible debts and competitors terrified for their lives."

Among the other Russian dissidents he is often associated with is the former actor (remember the Chechen's took over the Moscow Theatre in 2002) , Minister of Culture and latterly Chechen warlord, Ahmed Zakayev. Paradoxically he fled Denmark after the Russians asked for his extradition and at heathrow Airport was arrested in December 2002 on a Russian request.Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov slammed London for allowing Zakayev to be freed on bail after a brief arrest, and alleged the Chechen was a terrorist comparable to suspected terror mastermind Osama bin Laden. Zakayev, 43, had last been a top aide to Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov. He remains - unextradited but his "citizenship" is unclear.

"Today we have filed an appeal against the arrest warrant for Berezovsky on charges of alleged misappropriation of $13 million from SBS-Agro Bank," Boris / Platon's court appointed lawyer Andrei Borovkov said on Friday.

The court said that if left at large, Berezovsky could continue his criminal activities, harass witnesses or conceal evidence.

Boris / Platon has refused to send any of his own defense lawyers to his ongoing trial-in-absentia in Moscow, which he has branded "a farce." Associated Press managed to track Boris / Platon down in Israel this week and he said in a telephone conversation that "it doesn't matter how many warrants are issued; it's impossible to arrest someone twice" and denied that he has had any involvement in the operations of SBS-Agro. (Boris Platon is in Israel as the Times reported on July 18th 'Security services ‘foil plot to kill Berezovsky at the London Hilton’ and suggested he scoot there for his safety... and all we hear about is these bloody asylum seekers saying we do nothing for them. "Mr Berezovsky said last night he was confident he was safe in Britain under the protection of the police." .. so that's alright then.

In an interview with a Russian radio station in January, Berezovsky labeled Putin's regime as 'anti-constitutional' and having 'lost all legitimacy', advocating the forceful removal of Putin from office. Interviewed in the UK he has repeatedly called for Putin's overthrow.

There are many amongst us who wonder why 3 bankers who are alleged to have committed a fraud in the UK can be express extradited to the US. The same Government cannot extradite a man (not forgetting the terrorist Ahmed Zakayev as well ) to his native country who has looted the public coffers, laundered the proceeds and continues to plot and publicise the violent overthrow of a legally elected Government, and it is claimed has been responsible for organising murders within Russia, still maintains his freedom as a British "Citizen"

***
The Polish newspaper "Rzeczpospolita" claimed in July 2005 that Ayman-al-Zawahiri, the second most wanted member of al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden, received terrorist training in 1998 at an FSB camp in Dagestan and later became Osama bin Laden’s deputy, they quoted Litvinenko - a story repeated by AP and Pakistani newspapers. Litvinenko said he ," was working in that section at the time and I can confirm the fact Zawahiri was not the only link between the FSB and Al-Qa'ida", yet no-one sees the hands of the US in his baloneyium related death / murder .. if it was that that killed him and Linvinenko was telling the Polish journalist the Truth.

PIC ? That is My good friend (and Boris / Platon's ) flame haired temptress, Romana Tomasová , who calls herself the Director of Corporate Communications at CETV these days ( the little minx) collecting from Richard Parsons, Chairman & CEO of Time Warner Inc., on behalf of Ronnie Lauder the 2006 International Emmy Directorate Award to CETV and Ronnie for "pioneering the development of independent television broadcasting in Central and Eastern Europe " at the glitzy 34th International Emmy Awards in New York.CETV HQ is of course in the heart of Mayfair, London and curiously, is domiciled in the Cayman Islands.

Morgan Stanley post massive profits growth

Whilst the tabloids worry about Venture capitalist's immodest earnings , the 2nd largest stockbrokers in the world (by volume) Morgan Stanley's income increased a whopping 40%.

For Q2 ending May 31st 2007 MS posted net income of US$2.6 billion, or US$2.45 a share, compared with US$1.8 billion, or US$1.75 a share, for Q2 2006.Gross revenue soared 32% to US $11.5 billion.

Chairman and CEO John Mack(appointed June 30, 2005) said, "Morgan Stanley ...(have) now achieved seven straight quarters with ROE above 20 percent, and we're well on our way to reaching our goal of doubling 2005 earnings over five years."

Simultaneously MS have opened their MSREF VI International Real Estate Fund fund, with $8 billion of equity commitments in which investments will include non-U.S. real estate assets, portfolios and companies, primarily in developed markets. To date, the MSREF funds have acquired real estate assets totaling $83.5 billion, with assets under management of $31.6 billion.
(MS total assets under management or supervision at May 31, 2007 were $560 billion, up $106 billion, or 23 percent, from a year ago.)

Kevin Warsh a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (nominated by POTUS and there until 2018) is an ex employee of MS working there from 1995 to 2002, and made VP and Executive Director in the Mergers and Acquisitions Department.

His appointment was famously described by Noam Scheiber , Editor of the New Republican ....

"Other than a Harvard Law degree and four years in the White House, the only qualification that jumps out at you is the $165,000-plus his father-in-law has donated to various Republican committees since 2002. Warsh may be perfectly capable of hazarding opinions about the future of the economy. But, by that standard, there are tens of thousands of people entitled to a seat on the Fed. ...Appointing someone like him to the Federal Reserve board dramatically lowers the bar for future appointments, which makes it more likely that the body of powerful technocrats will come to be dominated by political hacks. ...The only way you appoint Kevin Warsh to a seat on the Federal Reserve board is if you have little respect for the practice of economic policy-making and you're not ashamed to admit it."

...but he is married to the daughter of Ronald Lauder , friend of Ariel Sharon, Chairman of the New York Port Authority who sold the WTC to Larry Silverstein who also has half shares in CETV with Sir Ronald Cohen's Apax Partners who will be replacing the role of Lord Levy the midget Karaoke King (after his FO funded monster leaving bash last night) as the representative for Israel and it's many friends in the UK Government.

More rate rises on the near horizon

As the UK market chewed over the Bank of Englan's last MPC minutes and Mervyn King being out voted over a UK rate rise, it is worth noting that the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes - which influences US interest rates on mortgages and corporate loans, gained almost 4 basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 5.12 percent.

Global Warning

Today from Boing Boing Link to You Tube

CT2 Television is not of course owned or operated by Gordy Brown's VERY good friend Lord Cohen's Apax partners and Ariel Sharon's chum Ronald Lauder's CETV European TV network. who only own and opereate TV Nova , Galaxie Sport in the Czech Republic.

Ronnie Cohen, Gordon Brown, Israel, There is no Israeli Lobby

Ronnie Cohen may blush a little as he explains to his friend Gordon how the Vulture Captalists build companies and increase employment at the JPR shindig at No. 11 Downing Street in June 2001. ( 3 months after his neighbour Tony had agreed the invasion of Iraq with Dubya)

In November 2005 his Apax Partners took over struggling Somerfield plc in a £1.1 Bn. all-cash take-over offer with Barclays Capital (they already owned 12.4%) , and Iranian-born Robert Tchenguiz and his younger brother Vincent who fled from the Shah in 1979. They have just 4% share of the UK food market

The star studded management team were happy to quickly unload the old Kwik Save just 3 months later, in February 2006 with 171 stores and 4,000 employees to BTTF the optimistically entitled Back to the Future consortium led by Peacock Group's Chief Executive Richard Kirk which includes Paul Niklas, the former managing director of Formica,

Apparently the ghouls at Grant Thornton are waiting in the wings to sweep the mess up in the morning ...and maybe sell yer man Ronnie one or two of the decent stores left from the mess.

Somerfield is Headed by John Lovering as Chairman who is also and Chairman of Debenhams and led several consumer-focused private-equity transactions including Fitness First, Laurel High Street, Homebase, Odeon Cinemas, Birthdays Group and Peacock. He was Chief Operating Officer at Tarmac plc and Finance Director at Sears plc. and bu februaru 2006 he had appointed a strong team of retail mega stars.

CEO Paul Mason (42) was the European President of Levi Strauss and previously CEO of Matalan Plc (Jan 2002 - March 2003) and President and Managing Director of Asda Wal Mart (2000 - 2001) and had been with B & Q.

Colin Smith ,Trading and Marketing Director (50) who joined from Tesco where he had been for along time.

John Cleland Retail Director (40) was the Commercial Managing Director of B&Q since January 2005. Prior to this he was Senior Vice President Operations at Wal-Mart Japan and Retail Managing Director at Wal-Mart UK .

So far we are in classic Vulture Capital territory, bring in the management, get rid of the dross, pay for the acquisition with a sale and leaseback on the property (pic billionaire Robert Tchenguiz) of sweat the labour (lower the age, shorten the working week - and incidentally increase number of employees - and happil reduce employment liabilities), increase number of lines and sales of own brand and then say in 2008 launch on the stock market with a value twice what you paid for it...and the men who made it happen collect a whopping capital sum ...luvvly jubbly

Let's hope they can fully fund the Pension fund with its £120 Mn. deficit at take over time.

As for the 4,000 kicked out at Kwik Save tommorrow morning ...don't look at me guv ..I'm just building a business.

Students of Sir Ronnie's career may like to search on this site for Apax ..perhaps the intriguing interest they have in their interest in CETV , half of which they bought from Likudist Ronnie Lauder the Estee Lauder / Clique parfumier, obsessive Klimt and SCheile collector who own TV stations across Eastern Europe and who might well make a fit with ITV one day.... or maybe that in 1998 Mr Cohen, received the Jubilee Award by the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. This is the highest tribute ever awarded by the "State of Israel" in recognition of those individuals and organizations, that through their investments and trade relationships, have done the most to strengthen the Israeli economy.

Allan Barkat, managing director of Apax Europe (Israel) told The Jerusalem Post. (Nov 14 2000) "Over the last six months, Apax Partners has invested a total US$100m. - $25m. from the Apax Israel fund, and the rest from other Apax funds - in 10 Israeli companies, including Compugen (genomics-based drug and diagnostic discovery company), OnePath(provider of fiber optic transmission systems), and Kamoon(management software products in the financial services.)," he said. "I don't think any other fund, local or international, can make this claim for the period from May until now. Certainly, no other fund has as strong a commitment to Israel as Apax.".

Apax also announced at the time that it planned to invest US$600 million in Israeli companies over the next three years.

Tuesday 5th Robert Tchenguiz buys 3% of Sainsburys.

Too much news to handle today,

What a day to be a news Editor !

The Prime Minister is interviewed by Plod for selling coronets for cash - at least he didn't get kidnapped by the Met, as his tennis partner the Tottering Toff of Totteridge !.. just sandbagged in an alleyway - believed to refer to Downing Street, an inaccessible throughfare in the heart of Government.

The Attorney General lies to the House of Lords claiming that the decision of the Serious Fraud Office into Britain's biggest defence company, BAE Systems and claims of a slush fund to ease the historic mega bucks Al Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia because he thought that a prosecution "could not be brought".

He defended such a gross intrusion into the legal process by the Government that it is in "the wider public interest" which he bleated," had to be balanced against the rule of law."

Which added to the failure to declare an invasion of Iraq as illegal, contrary to advice of his officers - who resigned over the matter, makes him the most corrupt and dishonest Attorney General this country has had. He should be impeached - a formal accusation of ‘wrongdoing’, where a public official is charged with improper conduct in public office - a high crime and misdemeanour beyond the reach of the law or which no other authority of the state will prosecute.

At stake is a massive order for the unwanted, out of date, rag bag of the Eurofighter or "Typhoon" which the Saudi's quite sensibly now don't want and BAE (shortly to be handed to Boeing on a silver salver) cannot sell. The Saudis are now deep in discussion with Dassault over an intitial 16 off Rafale C fighters. These have (unlike the Typhoon) the superb SPECTRA integrated electronic survival system with software-based virtual stealth technology. Which combined with the THALES RBE2 passive electronically scanned multi-mode radar (develeoped in France by Thales and EADS) leaves the Typhoon standing (as it did in competition for the Singapore order) although it appears both lost to the politically heavyweight Lockheed F - 15.

For background on Gulf Arms procurement go here

Gordon Brown's PFI liabilities have now been revealed in the fine print of the Treasury figures accompanying his December statement to have soared 11% in 9 months from £142.4bn in figures issued with the Budget to a heart stopping £158bn up a huge up by £15.6bn since March. Don't worry the grandchildren will be left to pay THAT bill.

On top of this scandal is growing over the vigorous pursuit of a Knighthood for Gordon's wealthy Jewish friend and New Labour benefactor Sir Ronald Cohen (The Electoral Commission records Sir Ronnie gave ( no fancy loans in those days) £100,000 in 2001, £200,000 in 2002 and £250,000 in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 ) Lord Patel has followed the fortunes of Sir Ronnie with interest and the reader is invited to search the archives for "Apax" - especially their interest in CETV , half of which they bought from Likudist Ronnie Lauder the Estee Lauder / Clique parfumier, obsessive Klimt and Scheile collector and is expected to bid for ITV any day. (Apax have already bid for ITV in a deal with Greg Dyke earlier this year which was withdrawn)

Lord Patel remarked Sunday, July 16 Political / Police skullduggery, censoring the blogs and Prime Minister Reid in waiting

Those anxious to understand who will take over from Lord Levy as Middle East savant and fund raiser might look no further than Egyptian-born Jewish multi-millionaire (run out of Egypt by Nasser 50 years ago) Lord Cohen of Apax Partners.

Such a close fiend of the mean Scot from Kirkcaldy (and no mean benefactor to Noo Labour who have been so helpful to the BVCA the Vulture capitalists Trade Union) who it is said was so anxious he recived a Knighthood - and no doubt assiduously promoted by his friend and Karaoke King the Toff from Totteridge.

Lord Patel is a great fan of Sir Ronnie and can however ascribe some of his great wealth by following his investment lead. Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) Bluetooth pioneers - launched May 03 at 220p by Apax Partners (and others) soared to above 1400p in June July this year - although they have catastrophically slumped since on a revenue warning in September to hover around 600p - a handy 300% growth since launch however. With 55% of the market they have launched their new 5th (!) generation Blue Core, a fully integrated 2.4 GHz radio, baseband and microcontroller on a single chipwhich will maintain their place at the cutting edge, Customers include Nokia, Dell, Panasonic, Sharp, Motorola, IBM, Apple, NEC, Toshiba, RIM and Sony.

Vulture capitalists steer clear of hi-tech but this is one gold seam they have helped along very nicely thank you. A good time to buy.

On top of this we have the entertaining spectacle of Lord Plod (AKA Stevens of the Yard) telling us that after 3 years well paid work and ten years after her death, unrecorded by 11 CCTV cameras (which had been switched off at 9pm), her 1hr 45 minute ride over 4 miles to hosital, embalming, curious tale of blood samples, pregnancy tests, mysterious Place telephoned instructions, MI5 / MI6, US Secret agencies (9 of them), and Mystic Meg my old friend and lover the Princess of Wales died in a "tragic accident " ... which is probably marginally worse than a "non-tragic accident". King Fayed of Horrids still maintains however , despite the sterling work, expenditure of much money, time and effort by Lord Plod, that it was the "fuggin" Duke of "fuggin" Edinburgh who killed her .

Quite a day when a Senior ex Policeman makes and hits the headlines by declaring that the Queen's husband did not murder their daughter in law and mother of the future King.

More of this in a later post with some sensational news and amazing photos!

The Independent also is late, breaking the news that FO memos about Iraq have now been supplied in confidence to the House of Comons committees and are therefore privileged and can be quoted publicly. Now that should be very interesting - Mrs Wilmshurst strikes back.

Who would be the news Editor of Channel 4 News who show a wonderful acrobatic zooming, swooping, jet fighter aircraft (see pic) being put through it's paces (sans weapons and extra range fuel tanks) to illustrate the Saudi "Typhoon" deal story ... only to have to explain at the end of the news hour that the fillum was actually... er ... of the competing ...er .... (and highly distinctive) French Rafale for which the Saudis and the French are about to announce an order. Sacré Bleue.

Ronnie Lauder gets Emmy

My good friend and flame haired temptress, Romana Tomasová , who calls herself the Director of Corporate Communications at CETV these days ( the little minx) tells me that last night Richard Parsons, Chairman & CEO of Time Warner Inc., gave Ronnie Lauder the 2006 International Emmy Directorate Award to CETV and Ronnie for "pioneering the development of independent television broadcasting in Central and Eastern Europe " at the glitzy 34th International Emmy Awards in New York.

Obviously slightly excited after the events of last night, she couldn't tell me much more (... Katie Couric and Christiane Amanpour were there !). Neither could her chum Nick Pramik , although she did agree with me that the gold bauble will set off the bosses new Klimt rather well in the boardroom !

Last night she may have been tight, but this am she was distinctly tight lipped ,when asked about any interest Goldman Sachs, Ronnie, or CETV may have in the auction of ITV... whose shares remain unmoved at 114p today. (CETV:NASDAQ closed at all time high of US$75 last night.)

Oh ! ... she did say Ronnie was thrilled that Maryam Hassouni (30) won Best Actress for her stunning role as a Palestinian terrorist Laila al Gatawi in TV movie "Offers" from the Dutch Vara Broadcasting Organisation - see pic.... described as, "straight run-of-the-mill spy/thriller story with Muslim terrorists as the usual suspects/bad guys".... she gets killed.

ITV - The Kaleidoscope has been shaken

Mid afternoontoday Brandes (8%) and Fidelity(11%) the 2 largest shareholders in ITV were approached to sell their shares at 125p.

Finally they agreed (with others) to sell 18.9 % of the issued shares to Murdoch's BSkyB (39% owned by News Corp.) at a finally negotiated price of 135 p per share. A premium of over 20p (16.6%)on the market price at the time (115.7p up 1% on day) but not announced until the close of the market.

This punt of £ 940 Mn. scooping 696 million shares gives Murdoch 17.9% - The 2003 Communications Act, prohibits BSkyB from controlling more than 20% of ITV. Whilst it does not give the Australian American media monster control, it gives him a very powerful voice in the boardroom.

This follows stories earlier that RTL (34 television and 33 radio stations in 11 countries - dire Channel 5 in the UK), part of the German Bertelsmann media Empire was working with private equity firms on a potential £5bn (US$9.4 Bn.)bid for ITV. RTL were said to be running the ruler over ITV in cahoots with private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, which has Lord Hollick as a partner.

Last week heavily indebted US based NTL (whose largest shareholder is the bearded wonder, serial groper, Sir Dickie Branson) confirmed that it is to hold talks with the broadcaster about a potential tie-up, although these do not appear to have happened yet. Murdoch will not be anxious to see competitors from the cable networks muscling in on what he sees as his fiefdom.

It would be foolish to overlook the interests of Apax Partners who now own 49.9% of Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME) (NASDAQ/Prague Stock Exchange: CETV) and who have previously been involved in a private equity gang who withdrew a bid earlier which involved Greg Dyke.

Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) are also said to be interested in bidding.

As a tiny part of the deal, as a consolidation of ITV's media interests , we may see the tired and outdated Friends re-United outfit (costing ITV, £120Mn over a period of time) be swallowed up in Murdoch's My Space. Should RTL emerge as winners, and have to divest itself of Channel 5 (required by law) then a nice swapparooney looms for Murdoch.

Finally, how will BBC and Channel 4 compete with Sky / ITV / NTL for US TV rights, series , sports ?

IT'S KALEIDOSCOPE TIME FOLKS !!

To quote from our Dear leader after 9/11 when he spoke so movingly at Sedgefield....

"The kaleidoscope has been shaken,The pieces are in flux. Soon they will settle again."

For those amongst us who are lost by his imagery, turnto page 30 of that masterpiece of 20th Century philosophy by Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, and look at page 30:

"Five months ago, the kaleidoscope of power had been shaken, and Aringarosa was still reeling from the blow."

...and watch out for Lew Grade's son to find himself a new job!

Very satisfying investment for Apax

Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME) (NASDAQ/Prague Stock Exchange: CETV) today announced financial results for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2006.

THIRD QUARTER
- Net Revenues Increase 29% - 388,825
- Operating Income Increases 38% -
- Segment EBITDA Increases 34% -

NINE MONTHS
- Net Revenues Increase 56% - From US$ 248 Mn. to US$ 388Mn.
- Operating Income grows $57.5 million to $66.8 million -
- Segment EBITDA Increases 39% -

Profits have been turned into a loss as grants of shares have been poreviously been incoretcly handled and there has consequently been a restatement of the accounting for share grants.

The shares have risen from US$62 to US$77 in the last 3 months.Lord Patel looked at them last here.Since Jan. 2, 2003, CME shares have risen 1,100 %.

Since then on August 29, 2006 it was announced that Central European Media Enterprises Ltd entered into an agreement with funds advised by Apax Partners Inc (Prop Lord Cohen the Tresury Knight and Noo Labour fundee)who acquired a minority stake of 15.7% in CME for approximately US$190 million in cash. As part of this Apax will become a limited partner in a partnership holding all of the Lauder interests in CME. The remaining 50.3% interest in the partnership will be beneficially owned by Ronald Lauder and his family.

Ronald S. Lauder, bought Gustav Klimt’s portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer for US$135 million in June 2006.

Apax Partners - an interesting Private Venture Capital Company

In 1998 Mr Cohen, Chairman and Founder of Apax Partners & Co. Ltd, received the Jubilee Award by the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. This is the highest tribute ever awarded by the "State of Israel" in recognition of those individuals and organizations, that through their investments and trade relationships, have done the most to strengthen the Israeli economy.

Allan Barkat, managing director of Apax Europe (Israel) told The Jerusalem Post. (Nov 14 2000) "Over the last six months, Apax Partners has invested a total US$100m. - $25m. from the Apax Israel fund, and the rest from other Apax funds - in 10 Israeli companies, including Compugen (genomics-based drug and diagnostic discovery company), OnePath(provider of fiber optic transmission systems), and Kamoon(management software products in the financial services.)," he said. "I don't think any other fund, local or international, can make this claim for the period from May until now. Certainly, no other fund has as strong a commitment to Israel as Apax.".

Apax also announced that it plans to invest US$600 million in Israeli companies over the next three years.

CETV 9 months results show revenues grow 58%

Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME) (NASDAQ/Prague Stock Exchange: CETV) run by Ronnie Lauder of Estee Lauder, today announced financial results for the Q3 and nine months ended September 30, 2006.

THIRD QUARTER
- Net Revenues Increase 29% -
- Operating Income Increases 38% -
- Segment EBITDA Increases 34% -

NINE MONTHS
- Net Revenues Increase 56% - From US$ 248 Mn. to US$ 388Mn.
- Operating Income grows $57.5 million to $66.8 million -
- Segment EBITDA Increases 39% -

Profits have been turned into a loss as grants of shares have been poreviously been incoretcly handled and there has consequently been a restatement of the accounting for share grants.

The shares have risen from US$62 to US$77 in the last 3 months.Lord Patel looked at them last here on the prospect of them bidding for ITV.

Perfumier Lauder runs into trubble in Ukraine with CETV

Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME) (NASDAQ/ Prague Stock Exchange: CETV) has TV interests in the Ukraine (Studio 1+1, Studio 1+1 International, Kino) is controlled by cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder. In an oral decision issued today, a district court in Kiev ruled that Igor Kolomoisky (43) , (see v. rare pic) owner of the conglomerate Privat including the Privat Bank, is entitled to the 70% interest in Studio 1+1 LLC which claimed to be held currently by Alexander Rodnyansky.

CME protests this ruling today its Ukrainian subsidiary Intermedia, which owns 30% of Studio 1+1 and is a party to the proceedings and sale from their offices in Hamilton Bermuda, they are going to appeal this decision.


Michael Garin, CME’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Today’s outcome is very disappointing, which is why we will appeal this decision. We have a longstanding binding agreement with our partners that we are entitled to a 60% interest in Studio 1+1 and they are entitled to a 40% interest. Alexander Rodnyansky is effectively a custodian of our interest until a previously agreed restructuring of the ownership of Studio 1+1 to reflect these ownership interests has been completed. Igor Kolomoisky has acknowledged this right in the course of the proceedings in Kiev. The 40% interest in Studio 1+1 is not the property of CME and we cannot compel the sale or transfer of it. Any transfer, however, can only be by legal means. Accordingly, we do not believe that any person can have a legitimate claim to a 70% interest in Studio 1+1. We are confident the government is committed to ensuring the interests of foreign investors in the Ukraine are protected.”

The ruling is similiar to problems CME faced in a 5 year legal struggle trying to gain control of its operations in the Czech Republic after using similar arrangements.

"The obvious risk in this situation is that Mr. Kolomoisky, if successful at the end of the legal process, decides and manages to walk away from the ... contractual agreements...Should this worst-case scenario materialise, the impact would obviously be negative for CME, as the Ukraine is a promising market for the company," said a JP Morgan analyst to Reuters and added. "However, especially if compared to the previous episode in the Czech Republic, the impact should be manageable."

It also shows what a rough tough world it is dealing with the rubble left behind the crumbling of the USSR empire. CMTV ended the day 1.5% down but are 6% up on the week.

As some background ...

It was the attempt by Yulia Timoshenko to transfer ownership of the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (NFP), the world's largest ferroalloy producer, to a group of people including the Igor Kolomoisky ( from Victor Pinchuk, son-in-law of the former Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma who had benefited from a supposed "privatisation" of state assets) which led directly to president and ex - colleague Yushchenko to dissolve his government in September 2005.

Igor Kolomoisky is a native of Dnipropetrovsk but sensibly maintains a base and a home in Switzerland but has interests in Israel (and has contacts with Nathan Sharansky) and is a major funder of a Ukraine Holocaust Memorial.He is on the supervisory boards of the largest companies controlled by Privat: Moscomprivatbank, Naftokhimprykarpattya, and Ukrnafta. The group controls metallurgical and ferroalloy plants and now holds monopoly positions on the national market of manganese ore. Its active assets include stakes in 5 ore mining and dressing factories (OMDF). The group runs ferroalloy production in Russia and Romania. Other big holders in the group are Gennadiy Bogolyubov and Alexei Martynov. Its total assets are said to be $1.5 Bn.

Author of remarks ...“You can get out of prison some day, but you can’t get out of a forest with your head cut off.”

“I told Pinchuk, ‘life is a supermarket. you can take whatever you like, but the cash desk is at the end’ ”

"In my opinion, if the authorities declare their commitment to the freedom of expression and other fundamental values, TV should be viewed as business, rather than politics. Nowadays, entertainment is an industry; ever more tycoons from this sector hit the lists of the world’s wealthiest people. They outshine carmakers, metallurgy and processing kings, etc. I believe in business diversification, in moving ahead and expanding. It is in this context that the purchase of the 1+1 Channel shares should be considered."

UPDATE THURSDAY

Not a good week for Ronnie, Estee Lauder reported sales up 5% yo US$1.6Bn in Q4 but net 9ncome fell from US$66 Mn to US$44Mn EPS down from 30 cents to 21 cents.. The shares fell 43 cents or 1.2%. No more Klimt's for a bit then.

Go here and here for more details of the Byzantine world of Ukrainian Business / Politics

Heaven scent offer for ITV shareholders ?

Central European Media Enterprises (CME) (listed on NASDAQ ; CETV and Prague) controls 10 TV stations from a London base covering a population of 90 Mn with a combined GDP of US$400 Bn.;

Czech Republic - TV Nova , Galaxie Sport
Slovak republic - TV Markiza
Slovenia - Pop TV, Kanal A
Ukraine - Studio 1 + 1
Croatia - Nova TV
Romania - Pro TV, Acasa TV , Pro Cinema

The 12 year old company has been built up by cosmetics heir Arnold Lauder ( he owns 17% of shares by value but 67% voting rights).

CME was/is committed to Ronald Lauder’s ideology that newly-democratized nation states of the former Soviet bloc were hungry to view, and ready to support, independent television broadcasting. Prior to CME’s arrival, the region had state-controlled broadcasting monopolies and therefore state controlled information.



Advertising spend of US$11 per head of the population lags way behind the Western European average of US$72 per head, but is fast catching up.

All the stations show a healthy share (approx 25%) of the top 10 European advertisers - many of them American brands , Colgate, Johnson & Johnson, P & G, Coca Cola, Kraft and with a product aimed at their youthful free spending aspirational market worldwide, Wrigley Chewing Gum. Other leading brands include Danone,Renault, Samsung, Orange and Mobitel. The major markets are Food, Cosmetics, cleaning materials and Telecoms, compared with say the UK with Finance, Cars and Entertainment being the biggest markets. CME say "Mature markets sell cars, we sell soap !"

It is said that the CME London offices on the Aldwych have been busy with executives eyeing spreadsheets and scribbling numbers on the back of envelopes dissecting ITV - who produce their figures soon, and whose CEO is almost out the door and have to face press comment today in the Times and where else saying revenues to Christmas are down 12/14/15/ even 20%.

Yet another bid for ITV in the offing ?

UAE takes over NY Sen. D. from NJ gets on TV plus WTC story, more CMETV NASDAQ and IDC

(PIC) Sen. Robert Menendez D-N.J., Monday, Feb. 20, 2006., at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, in Newark, N.J., port shown in aerial views at rear. Menendez discussed the takeover of operations at major U.S. ports, including the port of New York and New Jersey, by Dubai Ports World, a company owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates.Dubai Ports World bought London-based Peninsular and Oriental last week, which runs major commercial operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. (AP Photo/ Jose F. Moreno)

Governer Patakis (currently hospitalised after an appendectomy) has also raised concerns.."Ensuring the security of New York's port operations is paramount and I am very concerned with the purchase of Peninsular & Oriental Steam by Dubai Ports World,"

During a stop on Monday in Birmingham, Ala., Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the administration had a "very extensive process" for reviewing such transactions that "takes into account matters of national security, takes into account concerns about port security."

Since his election in 1995 George Pataki's wife (Governer of New York) has been on the payroll of Ronald Lauder's payroll. Ronald Lauder was of course a major source of funds for his election.

As Chairman of New York Governor George Pataki's Commission on Privatization, Ronald Lauder is the key individual who pushed the privatization of the WTC and former Stewart AFB, where the flight paths of the two planes that hit the twin towers oddly converged.More

Ronald Lauder is known (along with Las vegas casino owner Steve Wynn) as a financial supporter of Ariel Sharon.

Totally unconnected are reports that Sharon's son Omri has just received a 9 months prison sentence for fraud related to election expenses for his father.Omri Sharon was indicted in August for setting up fictitious companies to conceal illegal contributions during the 1999 vote for a Likud leader. Judge Edna Beckenstein is reported as writing in the ruling: "This is a swamp of political corruption and it must be dried up."

AS well as privately owning Este Lauder / Clinique Ronald Lauder also controls Central European Media Enterprises (CETV-NASDAQ and Prague) through a Bermuda-based parent group and holding companies in the Dutch Antilles, and its partners operate 10 stations in six countries reaching an aggregate of approximately 90 million people. The Company’s television stations are located in Croatia (Nova TV), Czech Republic (TV Nova, Galaxie Sport), Romania (PRO TV, Acasa, PRO Cinema), Slovakia (Markíza since Jan 2006), Slovenia (POP TV, Kanal A) and Ukraine (Studio 1+1).. Financial Times report

Odigo, the instant messaging service, was reported widely at the time saying that two of its workers received messages two hours before the Twin Towers attack on September 11th 2001 predicting the attack would happen. It did, and the traffic that day in Manhattan WAS DREADFUL.

Odigo, like many Israeli software companies, is based and has its Research and Development (R&D) center in Herzliya, Israel, the small town north of Tel Aviv, which happens to be where Mossad's headquarters are located.

Those interested might like to follow leads on the Inter Disciplinary Centre (IDC) in Herzlyia, Israel, (allegedly closely tied to the Mossad. The IDC has a "research institute" headed by Shabtai Shavit, former head of the Mossad from 1989 to 1996, called the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism.

The IDC also has a "Marc Rich Center for the Study of Commodities, Trading and Financial Markets" and a "Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy." founded by Ronald Lauder. Marc Rich was of course famously pardoned by President Clinton in his leaving pardons. More here

As the Attorney General Mr Gonzalez ( a man of profound integrity and honesty who has been acquaibted with the President for along time ) says ... the administration had a "very extensive process" for reviewing such transactions that "takes into account matters of national security, takes into account concerns about port security."

So that's all right then.