
Billionaire Dynasty's Buyout Firm Hires Hayfin Veteran as CFO
A private equity firm backed by one of the world's richest families hired a veteran of direct lender Hayfin as chief financial officer, adding to a series of leadership changes.
Neil Syers was appointed Wednesday to the London-based role at Bregal Investments, founded by the Brenninkmeijer dynasty behind clothing retail giant C&A. He'll oversee the firm's global finance function and help continue its growth in investment strategies and geographies, according to a company statement. The 46 year-old UK native previously held a similar role at Hayfin Capital Management, one of Europe's largest closely held private-credit firms, which he left in March, filings show.

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Bloomberg
40 minutes ago
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How Will Private Equity Change Big Law?
Wall Street Week Big law is going through a transformation as private equity sees the investment potential in law firms. For an industry built on tradition and ethics, how will non-lawyers change the business? (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Raise taxes to bring down energy bills, British Gas boss tells Reeves
The boss of British Gas owner Centrica has urged Rachel Reeves to raise taxes to bring down energy bills. Chris O'Shea said the Chancellor must act to prevent hard-up households from shouldering the cost of Ed Miliband's net zero transition. In particular, he signalled that Centrica would support plans to shift green levies from household bills to general taxation. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House, he said: 'The cost of the energy transition is not small. 'It's not because renewables are expensive, it's just because we have an energy system that was designed for a world that no longer exists, so we're having to upgrade the energy system and that requires a quite substantial investment. 'At the moment, the costs for doing that come off consumer bills. There is an option to put that on general taxation and that's something that we would support at Centrica.' Mr O'Shea acknowledged that the Chancellor was facing significant financial pressures, especially ahead of the upcoming spending review. However, he said: 'The reality is that we as a country have to pay for the upgrade of the energy infrastructure, either through bills or through general taxation.' His comments come amid mounting scrutiny over so-called green levies, which are charges added to household energy bills to help fund renewables such as wind and solar. These are seen as key to supporting Mr Miliband's target of reaching net zero by 2050. However, critics have accused the Energy Secretary of failing to tackle sky-high energy bills. The Climate Change Committee, which advises the Government on its emissions targets, has said that green levies should be removed from household costs and shifted either on to gas bills or general taxation. In a report last month, the quango said it was concerned that high electricity bills were preventing consumers from buying heat pumps and electric cars, which in turn was slowing down the energy transition. Business leaders have also urged Mr Miliband to scrap green levies as British companies grapple with the highest electricity prices of anywhere in the developed world. Rain Newton-Smith, the director general of the Confederation for British Industry (CBI), last week warned that the net zero costs were acting as an 'anchor' on UK ambitions. Household energy bills are set to fall next month after regulator Ofgem said it would lower the price cap by £129. Nevertheless, high energy costs remain a key political concern, especially as Britain ploughs ahead with a costly transition to renewable sources. In a sign of tensions over Labour's net zero strategy, Sir Keir Starmer has intervened in controversial proposals to make homes and businesses in the South pay more for power than those in the North. Supporters of so-called zonal pricing, which is under consideration by Mr Miliband, claim the switch would lead to savings of £52bn for consumers. Mr O'Shea said increasing energy storage would help to lower prices, but warned that other measures would amount to simply redistributing costs. He said: 'If we're just talking about reallocating things then the cost has to be met by the country. The question is who in the country meets that cost – is it consumers, is it businesses, is it the taxpayer?' The comments come a month after Centrica faced a shareholder backlash over Mr O'Shea's £4.3m pay package. The energy chief was handed a 29pc salary increase, though his total pay was down sharply on the year before, when it ballooned to £8m thanks to a bonus. Mr O'Shea has previously said it was 'impossible to justify' his pay when millions of households are struggling with their bills. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.


CNN
an hour ago
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Germany plans rapid expansion of outdated bunkers amid fears of Russian aggression
Germany's aging and decrepit bunker network is in need a major overhaul, according to the head of the federal agency tasked with nationwide civil protection in case of an attack. The Federal Agency for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief (BBK) President Ralph Tiesler said in an interview with popular German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 'For a long time, there was a widespread belief in Germany that war was not a scenario we needed to prepare for. That has changed. We are concerned about the risk of a major war of aggression in Europe.' Tiesler's words represent a real fear, echoed across Europe, that Russia could try to mount an attack on Europe again within four years. That timeframe is widely regarded as the minimum period Russia would need to rearm after fighting a bloody and long campaign in Ukraine. Germany only has 580 bunkers, many of them not operational, the newspaper report said. That number is down from nearly 2,000 that existed during the Cold War. Just 5% of the German population would currently be able to seek shelter in the event of an attack, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported. Germany's population is about 83 million people. The civil protection agency chief said that he will upgrade tunnels, metro stations, underground garages and basements of public buildings to 'quickly create one million shelter spaces,' as well as expand the nation's siren and notification systems. Tiesler said his agency will be presenting a full plan for the revamp and expansion in the summer but added that funding still needed to be secured. 'New bunker systems with very high protection requirements cost a lot of money and time,' said Tiesler. He noted that the BBK will likely require 'at least' 10 billion euros ($11billion) in the next four years and a further 30 billion euros ($34 billion) in the following 10 years to complete the overhaul. There is some cause for optimism, though, for the German agency. Friedrich Merz, before officially becoming chancellor, managed to unlock half a trillion euros ($570 billion) in spending for Germany's defense, some of which the BBK would be eligible to receive. However, given the scale of the task of updating the German armed forces the allocation of money may be prioritized elsewhere. Merz recently vowed to make Germany's army the strongest in Europe, but in order to meet that pledge, he will be required to spend huge sums of money to modernize, train and equip soldiers. A report released earlier this year from the parliament's armed forces commission pointed out that the German army has 'too little of everything.' It has long been underfunded, and much of the basic infrastructure of the army, including barracks, is well below standard, the Bundestag report said. It also comes as the army struggles to meet recruitment targets. In 2018, Germany committed to boosting its standing forces to 203,000 by 2025 — a target date that was later revised to 2031. The current standing size of the Germany army is just 181,000. Merz's government is mulling the possibility of introducing mandatory military service. The issue of manpower also concerns Tiesler and the BBK. 'We lack personnel in an emergency,' he told the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung. 'Perhaps we need a mandatory military service or a voluntary civil defense service… One that allows the choice between civilian and military service for the country,' he said.