Ryder Cup – Assault – RBS sell part of Direct Line Insurance – Royal Blind Week 2014 – Edinburgh Choir Cadenza auditioning
The Ryder Cup came through Edinburgh on its way to Gleneagles today. There are some superb shots of the two Ryder Cup captains here and we have our video here.
***
Police in Edinburgh are appealing for witnesses following an assault in Edinburgh yesterday.
The incident took place on Easter Road around 1am on Sunday morning when the victim and his partner had left the club CC Blooms to walk home.
They walked along London Road turning left onto Easter Road and on reaching the first bus stop they saw a male walking towards them holding a bottle.
After a confrontation, and remarks of a homophobic nature, the male threw the bottle at the victim hitting him on the face, the bottle then smashed on the ground. The male then made off towards London Road.
The suspect is described as male, white, 5ft 10in, broad shoulders, light dirty blonde hair, early 20’s, clean shaven, round face, Scottish accent, and wearing a dark woollen round neck jumper.
DC Chris Harding from Police Scotland said: “This attack left the victim with cuts to his face and the possibility of permanent scarring. We are treating it as a homophobic attack and are keen to trace any witnesses to this incident, or anyone who recognised the description of the attacker.”
Anyone with information should contact Police Scotland on 101, or make an anonymous report through the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
***
RBS has raised £630m after selling 300 million ordinary shares in Direct Line Insurance Group at a price of £2.10 pence per share.
The sale marks the continuation of RBS’s EU-mandated disposal strategy, with cash proceeds being used for general corporate purposes.
The bank now holds 427.4 million ordinary shares in Direct Line Group, representing 28.5% of the issued ordinary share capital.
Bruce Van Saun, RBS Group Finance Director commented, “This successful sale keeps RBS fully on track to meet its obligation to divest its stake in DLG by end-2014”.
Direct Line Group is a financial services provider which sells and underwrites personal and SME business insurance over the phone, online and through brokers. Its businesses include: Direct Line, Churchill, Privilege, Green Flag, NIG, TRACKER, and Brand Partners.
For the year ended 31 December 2012, the insurer reported an IFRS profit before tax of £249.1m and total assets of £12,697.9m.
RBS announced on Thursday, 19 September, that it was putting 272.7m shares – or 18.2% of Direct Line’s shares – up for sale, and was making an over-allotment option of a further 27.3m shares- or 1.8% – available should demand be high. The process began after the market closed, and was completed overnight.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, RBC Europe and UBS were joint bookrunners for the placing.
The latest sale is the third such reduction in RBS’s holding in Direct Line in less than a year. The bank sold 34.7% in October 2012, and a further 16.8% in March 2013.
***
***
Edinburgh Choir Cadenza seeks Singers
New session = annual recruitment drive for new singers. To give potential recruits an opportunity to find out what it’s like to sing with one of Scotland’s most exciting and versatile mixed voice choirs, we are holding an Open Rehearsal Wednesday 2nd October from 7.30pm St Peter’s Church, Lutton Place, Edinburgh EH8 9PE
Cadenza was founded in 1992 and is now considered to be one of Scotland’s top amateur mixed voice choirs, attracting members not just from Edinburgh, where we are based, but from across the central belt. We have a wide age range within the choir, from students upwards, and we always welcome good singers of any age and of ALL voices. The Open Rehearsal is an ideal opportunity to “try us out first” with no strings, no commitment and no charge, singing a representative selection of our repertoire – their chance to audition us, if you like. No advance notice is required either – just turn up on the night and join in, though everyone is welcome to contact our Membership Secretary, tel 0131 662 8721, or membership@cadenza.org.uk if they have any questions.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
