The British Business Bank and NatWest (RBS) are investing alongside HSBC and M&G in venture capital firm Phoenix Court. The investment is the latest move to get more capital into promising young businesses.
The BBB will put in £50 million while the other contributors did not disclose the total size of their investment, beyond being hundreds of millions of pounds.]
Saul Klein, co-founder of Phoenix Court, said: “The UK innovation economy is absolutely steaming ahead.
“This is a watershed moment to have four major institutions, including some of the high street banks, coming together to demonstrate the scale of the opportunity.
“Hopefully this is the moment when we can start to see more domestic capital crowding in, and more British allocators backing our innovation economy.”
Airtel IPO
London is set for a significant IPO after Airtel Money, the mobile payments arm of Airtel Africa, announced it will be floating on the main market.
The float is expected to value the business at about $8 billion and will be one of the biggest IPOs in London in the last five years
Airtel Money provides payment services and allows customers to load credit on to their mobile phones and withdraw cash from thousands of branches across Africa. It had just over 53 million customers every month.
The telecoms group Airtel Africa, which is in the FTSE 100, owns 77.85% of Airtel Money.
The proposed IPO will involve a secondary offering of existing shares by current shareholders, with no new capital being raised by Airtel Money itself. Airtel Africa expects to remain a long-term strategic shareholder following the listing of Airtel Money as an independently listed business.
JD Sports
The leisurewear retailer said underlying pre-tax profits for the half-year to 1 August were down 19.7% to £282 million despite buoyant sales edging 0.7% lower to £5.9 billion.
The retailer has suffered from pressure cost of living pressures, a drop in US sales and problems at Nike, which generates nearly half of JD’s sales.
It warned last month that full-year profit before tax and adjusted items would come in between £700m and £800m, revised down from £750m to £850m.
Chief executive Regis Schultz, who recently survived an attempt to remove him by Andy Higginson, the former chairman, said: “While the trading environment remains tough, I am encouraged by the progress we are making and confident in our strategic execution.”
Cooperative Group
The groceries and funerals mutual has posted a 2.4% increase in revenue to £5.6bn for the first half of 2026. It reported an underlying operating loss of £45m, up from a £32m loss in the same half last year. It has also been hit by higher labour costs.
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