F-B-F.org -

Earlier, John Bridgeman approved the merger, citing its benefits to consumers from creating increased competition in the pay-TV market.”When you look at the significance of cable industry technology it’s very important that it be allowed to develop,” Ms Browning said “It needs to be able to compete and develop its technology. “I would be very concerned if it was being done for political purposes,” said Angela Browning, Conservative MP and opposition spokeswoman for trade. She added that Mr Byers, who has pledged to remove political considerations from DTI competition rulings, was being monitored closely by the Opposition in areas where he has taken a strong personal interest.
The Conservative MP also urged Mr Byers to move rapidly in his simultaneous inquiry into the competition issues involved in cable group NTL’s pounds 8.5bn takeover of the residential cable business of Cable & Wireless. THE APPOINTMENT of Denise Kingsmill to chair a Competition Commission investigation into the acquisition by France’s Vivendi of a 25 per cent interest in BSkyB coincided last night with fresh criticism of Stephen Byers, the Trade Secretary, for his handling of the referral. The plans include a new, as yet unnamed personal finance web site which will operate alongside FT .Pearson shares closed 9p higher at 1,484p.Outlook, page 21. “The beauty of this deal is that it gives us a strong position in the US business information market with no cash outlay.”The Financial Times is investing pounds 40m in FT and has recruited 100 journalists to staff it. Pearson group is investing pounds 120m in new media, largely through the FT and its Pearson education subsidiary.

The deal is expected to strengthen the Financial Times’ push into North America where its circulation has reached 95,000.”Together we will broaden our scope of services across the specialist asset management and portfolio evaluation markets and deliver more of our products by Internet,” Mr Hill said. The CBS site is currently attracting 4.6 million visitors a month. FT ’s monthly visitors total around 850,000, up a third on six months ago However, the two sites are expected to remain separate. The combined business will have revenues of $320m, bigger than the total earnings of the Financial Times newspaper.DBC has a market value of $495m. Marketwatch has a market capitalisation of $675m.The transaction is being effected by DBC issuing new shares to buy the FTAM business, though Pearson will have a 60 per cent stake in the new entity. The deal puts a value of around $800m on FTAM.The new company has agreed a cross-marketing deal between CBS’s Marketwatch and Pearson’s fledgling online service FT.

DBC provides real-time market data to traders and individuals in the US. FTAM provides a similar service with data on more than 3.5 million securities. Its subscriber base is largely professional investors.
Pearson said the deal would create a larger group capable of delivering a global service to a global audience. “Together we will broaden our scope of services across the specialist asset management and portfolio evaluation markets and deliver more of our products by Internet,” said Stephen Hill, chief executive of Pearson’s FT Group.The deal gives Pearson a 32 per cent stake in CBS.Marketwatch , a financial web site which is part of the giant CBS television corporation. PEARSON, THE media group, moved to strengthen its position in the online financial information business yesterday when it merged its Financial Times Asset Management division with Nasdaq-listed Data Broadcasting Corporation.

The outflow of savings that reached pounds 400m in the first half had slowed since Egg, the Prudential’s direct banking arm, went internet only, and mortgage applications are running at 85 per cent of the levels of the second half of last year.. Northern Rock has fallen badly out of favour because of concern about the impact of new competitors on its core business.The bank said yesterday that the second half of the year was going well. “Being small is not always and advantage but at least in this case we have been able to move quickly in response to changes in the marketplace.”Yesterday’s announcements were warmly welcomed in the City. “This is not a change of strategy it is how to enhance the strategy we have already articulated,” Mr Applegarth said.