Connect with us

Published

on

A former boss of crisis-hit Wasps is spearheading a takeover bid for the Premiership Rugby club that could save it from the threat of relegation or extinction.

Sky News has learnt that David Armstrong, who stepped down as Wasps’ chief executive in 2017, is working with Terminum Capital, an investment firm, on a bid to buy the club and its Coventry Arena stadium.

Sources close to the auction of Wasps, which is taking place just days before its holding company faces being plunged into administration, said the bid led by Mr Armstrong and Terminum Capital was worth more than £50m, with a further £12m earmarked for working capital.

Wasps, who play host to Northampton Saints in a Gallagher English Premiership match on Sunday afternoon, have been pushed to the brink of financial ruin by a debt pile which includes an unpaid tax bill owed to HM Revenue & Customs.

The club’s parent company, Wasps Holdings, filed a notice of intention to appoint FRP Advisory, the restructuring firm, as administrator on 21 September.

This was followed by a second such notice last week.

Those filings buy companies 10 days of breathing space from creditors while they seek to find a way through their financial troubles.

More from Business

Wasps is one of the oldest clubs in English rugby, having been founded in 1867 in Hampstead, London.

It currently sits in 11th place in the 12-team table ahead of Sunday’s match.

‘A powerful combination

People close to the auction of Wasps say a solvent deal to buy the club and its stadium, either together or separately, is unlikely.

The Terminum Capital bid led by Mr Armstrong is said to have requested to Premiership Rugby Limited, the league’s administrator, and the Rugby Football Union, the sport’s governing body, that a deal executed through an administration process should not result in the club’s relegation.

The game’s authorities have the discretion to apply a points deduction rather than demotion in the event of something called a “no-fault administration”, according to one rugby insider.

Wasps’ stadium includes conference and banqueting facilities which are believed to have drawn interest from a number of other bidders which are not interested in buying the rugby club itself.

Oakwell Sports, one of the UK’s leading sports-focused corporate finance firms, and its founder, Andrew Umbers, are said to be advising on Mr Armstrong’s bid.

One rugby expert said the combination of Mr Armstrong’s expertise and that of Oakwell provided a “powerful combination” which could secure Wasps’ financial future.

“We have a plan of bringing about global talent and fostering a greater rugby community,” said a person close to the offer.

‘Discussions at a relatively advanced stage

After stepping down as Wasps CEO, Mr Armstrong remained on its board as a non-executive director until 2021.

A statement last week from Wasps Holdings said: “Since filing the original notice of intention on 21 September, a number of additional potential investors and funders have come forward.

“Discussions are now at a relatively advanced stage, and we remain hopeful of securing a deal that will allow the group, and the entities that sit within it, to move forward.

“We would like to thank all stakeholders for their engagement during this process, and in particular the constructive support and approach provided by the RFU (Rugby Football Union) and PRL (Premiership Rugby).

“This will continue to be vitally important as negotiations with interested parties proceed and we remain in regular dialogue with both organisations.

‘Extremely challenging’ financial circumstances

“While the financial circumstances facing the group are extremely challenging, we remain optimistic about a positive outcome and will keep our players, staff, supporters, partners, bond holders and suppliers updated as this process moves forward.”

Mr Armstrong could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Wasps’ plight comes as Worcester Warriors, another member of the English top flight, also faces existential questions, having seen its parent company appoint Begbies Traynor as administrators last week.

The financial challenges affecting a number of clubs partly arose during the COVID pandemic but have raised broader questions about the sustainability of the professional game in England.

Continue Reading

Business

Sainsburys profits top £1bn after closing all cafes and cutting 3,000 jobs

Published

on

By

Sainsburys profits top £1bn after closing all cafes and cutting 3,000 jobs

Annual profits at the UK’s second biggest supermarket, Sainsbury’s, have reached £1bn.

The supermarket chain reported that sales and profits grew over the year to March.

It also comes after Sainsbury’s announced in January plans to close of all of its in-store cafes and the loss of 3,000 jobs.

But the high profits are not expected to increase, according to Sainsbury’s, which warned of heightened competition as a supermarket price war heats up.

Tesco too warned of “intensification of competition” last week, as Asda’s executive chairman earlier this year committed to foregoing profits in favour of price cuts.

Sainsbury’s said it had spent £1bn lowering prices, leading to a “record-breaking year in grocery”, its highest market share gain in more than a decade, as more people chose Sainsbury’s for their main shop.

Money: Chef on a classic he’ll never order

It’s the second most popular supermarket with market share of ahead of Asda but below Tesco, according to latest industry figures from market research company Kantar.

In the same year, the supermarket announced plans to cut more than 3,000 jobs and the closure of its remaining 61 in-store cafes as well as hot food, patisserie, and pizza counters, to save money in a “challenging cost environment”.

This financial year, profits are forecast to be around £1bn again, in line with the £1.036bn in retail underlying operating profit announced today for the year ended in March.

The grocer has been a vocal critic of the government’s increase in employer national insurance contributions and said in January it would incur an additional £140m as a result of the hike.

Higher national insurance bills are not captured by the annual results published on Thursday, as they only took effect in April, outside of the 2024 to 2025 financial year.

Supermarkets gearing up for a price war and not bulking profits further could be good news for prices of shelves, according to online investment planner AJ Bell’s investment director Russ Mould.

“The main winners in a price war would ultimately be shoppers”, he said.

“Like Tesco, Sainsbury’s wants to equip itself to protect its competitive position, hence its guidance for flat profit in the coming year as it looks to offer customers value for money.”

There has been, however, a warning from Sainsbury’s that higher national insurance contributions will bring costs up for consumers.

News shops are planned in “key target locations”, Sainsbury’s results said, which, along with further openings, “provides a unique opportunity to drive further market share gains”.

Continue Reading

Business

US markets fall as AI chipmakers mourn new restrictions on China exports

Published

on

By

US markets fall as AI chipmakers mourn new restrictions on China exports

US stock markets suffered more significant losses on Wednesday, with stocks in leading AI chipmakers slumping after firms said new restrictions on exports to China would cost them billions.

Nvidia fell 6.87% – and was at one point down 10% – after revealing it would now need a US government licence to sell its H20 chip.

Rival chipmaker AMD slumped 7.35% after it predicted a $800m (£604m) charge due to its MI308 also needing a licence.

Dutch firm ASML, which makes hardware essential to chip manufacturing, fell more than 5% after it missed order expectations and said US tariffs created uncertainty.

The losses filtered into the tech-dominated Nasdaq index, which recovered slightly to end 3% down, while the larger S&P 500 fell 2.2%.

A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, shows the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Image:
Pic: AP

Such losses would have been among the worst in years were it not for the turmoil over recent weeks.

It comes as China remains the focus of Donald Trump’s tariff regime, with both countries imposing tit-for-tat charges of over 100% on imports.

The US commerce department said in a statement it was “committed to acting on the president’s directive to safeguard our national and economic security”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Could Trump make a trade deal with UK?

Nvidia’s bespoke China chip is already deliberately less powerful than products sold elsewhere after intervention from the previous Biden administration.

However, the Trump government is worried the H20 and others could still be used to build a supercomputer in China, threatening national security and US dominance in AI.

Nvidia said the move would cost it around $5.5bn (£4.1bn) and the licensing requirement would be in place for the “indefinite future”.

Nvidia’s recently announced a $500bn (£378bn) investment to build infrastructure in America – something Mr Trump heralded as a victory in his mission to boost US manufacturing.

However, it appears to have been too little to stave off the new restrictions.

Pressure has also come from the Democrats, with senator Elizabeth Warren writing to the commerce secretary and urging him to limit chip sales to China.

Meanwhile, the head of US central bank also warned on Wednesday that US tariffs could slow the economy and raise inflation more than expected.

Jerome Powell said the bank would need more time to decide on lowering interest rates.

“The level of the tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated,” he said.

“The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.”

Predictions of a recession in the US have risen significantly since the president revealed details of the import taxes a few weeks ago.

However, he subsequently paused the higher rates for 90 days to allow for negotiations.

Continue Reading

Business

Inflation surprisingly continues to fall but expect an April rebound due to across-the-board bill hikes

Published

on

By

Inflation surprisingly continues to fall but expect an April rebound due to across-the-board bill hikes

Inflation fell more than expected and for the second month in a row, official figures show.

The consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation fell to 2.6% in March, down from 2.8% in February and 3% in January, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.

It means prices are rising at the slowest pace since December and closest to the Bank of England’s 2% target.

 

The rate is also lower than expected by economists polled by Reuters, who anticipated inflation of 2.7%.

But the drop is likely to be short-lived as a raft of bill rises kicked in at the start of April.

Energy, water, and council tax bills rose throughout the UK at the start of this month.

Why did inflation fall?

More on Inflation

It was a fall in fuel costs, thanks to lower oil prices that led to the surprise drop, combined with the unchanged food price rise.

The price of games, toys and hobbies, as well as data processing equipment, all fell.

These drops counteracted a “strong” rise in the price of clothes, the ONS said.

The late timing of Easter also meant comparing March 2024 – as the ONS does with its annual inflation rise figure – with March 2025 isn’t comparing like with like.

Read more:
Sue the government, Sir Alan Bates tells fellow Post Office victims
‘Likely’ British Steel will be nationalised, says business secretary

Easter and the associated school break bring things like higher airfares and hotel costs, something that was not seen last month as the feast takes place in April this year.

What does this mean for interest rates?

All measures of inflation fell, in a boost to the Bank of England as they mull interest rate cuts.

A key way of assessing price rises, core inflation, which excludes volatile price items like fuel and food, dropped to 3.4%.

It’s closely watched by the rate setters at the Bank of England, who meet next month and are widely expected to make borrowing less expensive by bringing interest rates down to 4.25%.

Another important measure – services inflation – dropped to 4.7% from 5% in February. As a predominantly services-based economy, a drop in that rate is good news for central bankers and households.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Could Trump’s tariff be positive?

Inflation data, combined with the fact job vacancies are at pre-pandemic levels for the first time since 2021, has meant traders are now expecting four interest rate cuts this year, which would bring the base interest rate to 3.5% by December.

Continue Reading

Trending