Word: firma
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...Business was brisk today. Hands, whose London-based private equity company Terra Firma picked up EMI for $6.5 billion last year, told his staff that as many as 2,000 of them would lose their jobs over the coming months as part of a plan to pare EMI's costs by around $400 million a year. More effort had to go into finding fresh acts, Hands said, as well as into getting more out of those the firm already has. Out will go diverse sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution units, to be replaced by a single division. "We believe...
...company; and one that operates in the decadent music business ought to be easier than most. But ensuring that company has a long-term future is trickier. On that score, Hands has a decent back catalogue. First with Japanese bank Nomura, and more recently at Terra Firma, the 48-year-old boosted the fortunes of a slew of companies, from a waste-recycling group to a chain of pubs...
...Shiva, speculates on Neolithic burial rites and toys with the idea that "human consciousness is changed by the experience of living above clay, rather than above chalk." The book never quite recovers from these tributary explorations, but like the Thames, Ackroyd flows on. Once he's on the terra firma of London's recorded history - the troves of which he is a voracious plunderer - he is in full flood. The fancy word for his approach is psychogeography, a philosophical attempt to reimagine the life of cities that was dreamed up by France's Situationists in the 1950s and dusted...
...halved - or already fallen: last year, retail giant Tower Record sclosed its stores and in June the U.K. music chain Fopp shut up shop. Meanwhile, record labels are looking for solutions in mergers and takeovers - any day now, British firm EMI could be bought out by investment group Terra Firma. Says McNicholas: "With the pace of change, you just have to be very quick on your feet and rework your business model every six months - that's the challenge...
...with precision and vigor, the film never forgets to entertain, packing its 2-hr. 33-min. length with cool visions (like Krypton's crystal cathedral) and spectacular set pieces. Want some pure exhilaration? Check out Superman's midair wrangling of an Air Force jet, maneuvering it back to terra firma to make a gentle belly flop onto a baseball field during a game. And for an intimate intensity not often found in action films, stick around for the creepy encounter involving Superman, Luthor and a stiletto of kryptonite...