THIS week, Google, a secretive private firm that is also the world's favourite internet search engine, reached a regulatory tripwire that forces firms with more than 500 investors to disclose almost as much information as firms listed on America's stockmarkets do.
The sale by New York-based Morgan Stanley, the world's biggest underwriter of property-backed debt in 2005, is almost as much as the firm raised in five Japanese transactions last year.
Among the legacies of Tony Blair's term as prime minister of Britain is the idea that the "services delivered" by government can be monitored almost as precisely as a firm's profits.And Britain's civil service got a jolt three years ago when Gill Rider a partner in Accenture, a management consultancy was given a wide-ranging brief to shake up the way personnel were used and rewarded.
In the first three quarters of this year Indian companies announced 115 foreign acquisitions, with a total value of $7.4 billion, a huge increase on previous years, and almost as much as foreign firms have invested in Indian purchases (see chart).The shopping spree spans industries from information technology (IT) and outsourcing to liquor.
South African firms are especially deft at judging risks in their continent: MTN, a big telecoms firm, makes almost as much money in Nigeria as in South Africa.In this section You don't have to be mad to work here Reporting from the edge Bursting point Trumped again Grey market A buyer for Shell?
But Wonga, a British internet firm, is almost as fast.
However, his firm was almost as fictitious as his claims to genius.
Since the beginning of the year, the gains in the market have been more evenly distributed than they were over the last five years, with financial firms rising almost as much as consumer staples.
Saudi investors joined with Americans to snap up Four Seasons and Fairmont, two posh hotel chains.In this section Lie back and forget the maple leaf Death or freedom A storm brews Dilma and the goat Reprints Related items Canadian business icons: A foreign invasionFeb 2nd 2006Less noticed was that Canadian firms gave almost as good as they got.
