Sports Direct Announces Possible Cash Offer For Goals Soccer Centres

Sports Direct International (SDIPF.PK,SPD.L) has made a proposal to the board of Goals Soccer Centres plc regarding a possible cash offer of 5 pence per share for the entire share capital of Goals. Sports Direct, the largest shareholder, currently has 18.93% shareholding in Goals. In August, Goals commenced a process to invite offers for the assets of Goals.

Sports Direct requested the Goals board to engage with the Group regarding the possible offer. The Group believes the Goals shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider the possible offer.

From Oct 1, SBI floating rate loans to be repo-linked

The bank has also extended the external benchmark-based lending to medium enterprises, to boost lending to the MSME sector as a whole.

State Bank of India on Monday said it will adopt repo rate as the external benchmark for all floating rate loans for MSME, home and retail loans, from October 1, 2019.

On September 4, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had mandated all banks to link all new floating rate personal or retail loans and floating rate loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to an external benchmark from October 1 onwards.

“We have decided to adopt repo rate as the external benchmark for all floating rate loans for MSME, housing and retail loans effective October 1, 2019,” the bank said in a release.

The RBI gave the banks options to benchmark their floating rate loans either to repo rate, three-month or six-month treasury bills or any benchmark market interest rate published by Financial Benchmarks India Private (FBIL).

The bank has also extended the external benchmark-based lending to medium enterprises, to boost lending to the MSME sector as a whole.

It had introduced floating rate home loans effective July 1, 2019, but has made some modifications in the scheme effective October 1, 2019, to comply with the latest regulatory guidelines, the release said.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

Ilhan Omar Knocks Joe Biden: It’s Now ‘Very Clear’ He’s Not The One

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) came out against former Vice President Joe Biden this weekend, saying it’s “very clear” that he’s the wrong choice to take on President Donald Trump in next year’s election.

“There are few people who fit into the kind of progress that we all want to see in this country. And I would say he is not one of them,” Omar told the Guardian, adding:

“I think it has been very clear to many of the people who have been creating the kind of movement that is exciting generations, that we want somebody who really has a plan that is going to tackle a lot of the systematic challenges that we have, and he doesn’t.”

Most polls show Biden leading his Democratic rivals in next year’s primaries. However, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been gaining momentum; one poll out this weekend had her leapfrogging ahead of him in Iowa. 

Iowa’s Feb. 3 caucus will be the first contest of the 2020 season followed by New Hampshire’s 2020 primary vote on Feb. 11.

Has Poland’s Government Become a Threat to Business?

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An accusation had been made against Przemyslaw Krych, and, at about 9 on the morning of Dec. 19, 2017, he was arrested at his home in Warsaw. The financier was sure there had been a misunderstanding, and, as armed agents of the Polish government took him away in handcuffs, he confidently told his wife he’d be back later in the afternoon.

How could it not be a mistake? Krych was the founder and co-managing director of Griffin Real Estate, which had more than $5.6 billion in assets under management and was a partner in huge local projects with global investment luminaries Pacific Investment Management Co. and Oaktree Capital Group LLC. He carried his success with a swagger, typically explaining his business this way: “Griffin doesn’t develop real estate. We buy real estate developers and become the biggest player in the markets we enter.” He hobnobbed with powerful politicians and knew what made the government tick. This arrest, he was certain, would be cleared up quickly.

Have you been affected by the collapse of Thomas Cook? Share your stories

Thomas Cook has ceased trading after talks failed to save the travel company, placing 9,000 British jobs at risk and triggering a huge repatriation effort to bring home 150,000 UK holidaymakers overseas.

The Guardian understands that airlines including British Airways and easyJet will be involved in the repatriation – codenamed Operation Matterhorn, for holidaymakers using Thomas Cook, whose destinations range from mainland Europe to north Africa, the Middle East, the US and the Caribbean.

The foreign secretary Dominic Raab said on Sunday that the government would ensure no one would be left stranded overseas.

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