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WEEKEND PRESS
* Tesco halts the rollout of Fresh & Easy, its chain of US convenience stores, while it reviews the performance of the fledgling business - Sunday Telegraph
* Tesco puts squeeze on music industry; supermarket giant wants to pay less for CDs but may not reduce prices - Mail on Sunday
* The 371 million pound takeover of GCap Media, Britain's biggest commercial radio group, thrown into question this weekend after the emergence of a potential liability relating to the phone-in scandals that last year cast a shadow over Britain's media industry; Ofcom continuing a probe into a profit-making phone-in competition called Secret Sound, broadcast on several of GCap's stations last year - Sunday Telegraph
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* The 371 million pound takeover of GCap Media hangs in the balance after a problem is uncovered during last-minute due diligence - Sunday Times
* Civil Aviation Authority this weekend demanding that British Airways presents a formal defence of its treatment of thousands of passengers delayed by the chaos at Heathrow's new Terminal 5 - Sunday Telegraph
* Weekend fliers face chaos at Terminal 5; 54 short-haul flights due for cancellation; British Airways forced to pull massive ad campaign - Saturday FT
* British Airways facing fines of up to 5,000 pounds per passenger for breaking European rules by misleading the hundreds of travellers stranded at Heathrow about their compensation rights - Saturday Times
* Douglas denies mystery payment from BAA; Tony Douglas, the man largely responsible for the construction of Heathrow's crisis-hit Terminal 5, at the centre of a mystery 1.11 million pounds compensation payment - Sunday Telegraph
* British Airways shelves plans to move all its long-haul flights to Heathrow's Terminal 5 after last week's chaotic opening - Mail on Sunday
* BAA's new chief executive, Colin Matthews, flew into a storm at Heathrow's Terminal 5 last week when he started his job early to cope with the airport hub's meltdown - Independent on Sunday
* Sweeping away of restrictive rules that govern transatlantic air travel could cost British Airways 250 million pounds a year in lost profits - Saturday Times
* German power group RWE and its compatriot E.ON thought to be frontrunners to buy the government's 35 pct stake in nuclear electricity generator British Energy - Sunday Express
* Government faces OECD bribery probe; anti-corruption experts alarmed by state of UK law - Observer
* Expectations of an interest rate cut next week may be dashed by a sharp rise in inflation, which could reach 3.6 pct over the next 12 months - Sunday Express
* House prices likely to fall by a quarter in two years, forecasters at Capital Economics warn - Observer
* Denis O'Brien, the Irish billionaire stalking Independent owner Independent News & Media, plans to buy the company and sell the paper within months - Observer
* Dreamliner is turning into a nightmare for Boeing; fears growing that the energy-saving aircraft, with nearly 900 orders, may be delayed for the third time - Sunday Telegraph
* JC Flowers, the US private equity group, makes a fresh 3.6 billion pounds approach to Friends Provident; life assurer could respond next week; shares change hands in expectation of move - Saturday FT
* Friends Provident will this week reject a revised takeover proposal from Christopher Flowers, the U.S. financier - Sunday Telegraph
* Troubled Woolworths will reduce its final dividend next week as it reveals the true cost of its recent refinancing; chief executive Trevor Bish-Jones expected to slash the final by as much as 50 percent - Sunday Telegraph
* Woolworths to explore the sale of its stake in 2entertain, a publishing joint venture with the BBC; analysts have previously valued Woolworths' stake in the company at up to 200 million pounds, now more than the capitalisation of the entire group - Saturday FT
* Robert Tchenguiz attack on Sainsbury over shareholder value; Mitchells & Butlers also under fire over property portfolio; entrepreneur suffers heavy losses on stakes - Saturday FT
* Buyout firms Blackstone and CVC considering plans to acquire jointly a significant minority stake in Mitchells & Butlers; Permira also reported to be interested in buying a minority stake - Sunday Times
* Marshall Wace, one of the City's biggest hedge funds, to continue pressing for a combination of the managed pubs businesses of Punch Taverns and Mitchells & Butlers - Sunday Telegraph
* Private equity groups expected to propose taking stakes in Mitchells & Butlers this weekend, but rival Punch Taverns has pulled its merger offer - Saturday FT
* Predators give up hope of taking over the United Kingdom's largest pub operator; Mitchells & Butlers considers other options as Punch pulls out; German bars division may be sold off - Saturday Guardian
* Goldman Sachs considering entering the 1.5 billion pound auction of Trillium, the outsourcing arm of Land Securities - Sunday Telegraph
* A financial storm is threatening to engulf the Icelandic economy as the value of the crown continues to fall amid worries about the health of its banking sector - Observer
* HSBC will this week face renewed pressure from activist investor Knight Vinke over demands that the bank's board explain its controversial share scheme for senior management - Sunday Telegraph
* HSBC comes under fresh attack from Knight Vinke, which is calling for the bank to consider jettisoning HSBC Finance Corporation, the U.S. sub-prime business that it acquired for $15 billion in 2003 - Observer
* HSBC faces being sued unless it disposes of its US sub-prime business, activist investor Knight Vinke warns - Sunday Express
* Severn Trent will this wee face charges in court over accusations that it lied to industry regulators about leakage to justify price rise - Mail on Sunday
* Soaring commodity costs and falling sales of its premium lager force Inbev, the Belgian brewing giant, to axe up to 250 jobs at two Stella Artois breweries in Lancashire and Wales - Sunday Telegraph
* John Duffield, the maverick City fund manager who runs New Star Asset Management, understood to have struck a deal with Tata Sons, the Tata family's holding company, to launch a fund management operation in Mumbai - Sunday Telegraph
* The high street is suffering a trading downturn far worse than has been revealed by quoted retailers, according to Sir Philip Green and Phil Wrigley, two of the country's biggest fashion entrepreneurs - Saturday FT
* Rate at which families are saving slumps to a 48-year low, fuelling fears about people's ability to cushion themselves against the deeper economic downturn - Saturday Telegraph
* Virgin Media looks set to become the first British internet company to crack down on customers who download music illegally - Sunday Telegraph
* Lloyds TSB dealt a blow as Terri Dial, the US executive who has revived its sluggish retail bank, resigns to join Citigroup - Saturday FT
* Britain's biggest banks and building societies looking to sell a stake in Vocalink, the cash machine and payments network, in a deal that values the business at about 500 million pounds - Sunday Times
* Pressure mounting on Marks & Spencer after Brandes Investment Partners and Fidelity, two of the retailer's biggest shareholders, privately say they are unhappy with the appointment of Sir Stuart Rose as executive chairman - Sunday Telegraph
* Marks & Spencer this weekend facing a gathering storm over the controversial elevation of Sir Stuart Rose to the role of executive chairman; shareholders accounting for more than 20 percent of the retailer's institutional base have voiced their opposition to the move, according to a poll carried out by The Sunday Times
* Marks & Spencer could face the ignominy of a 'red top' warning from the Association of British Insurers if it fails to provide a full explanation for the elevation of Sir Stuart Rose to executive chairman - Independent on Sunday
* Another of the City's leading fund managers, Richard Buxton, head of UK equities at Schroders, launches a stinging attack on Marks & Spencer over Sir Stuart Rose's appointment as executive chairman - Saturday Telegraph
* Investors in Marks & Spencer considering a range of demands before they agree to give their support to the controversial promotion of the retailer's chief executive, Sir Stuart Rose, to the role of executive chairman - Saturday Guardian
* Primark threatening to overtake Marks & Spencer as Britain's biggest clothing retailer by volume; Primark added 2 percent to its market share, according to the latest confidential TNS Worldpanel Fashion survey, giving it 10.1 percent of the UK clothing market; M&S still leads the pack after its share increased marginally to 11.4 percent from 11.3 - Saturday Mail
* Vincent Tchenguiz, the real estate tycoon, hires Citigroup and Merrill Lynch to advise him on a bid for the Australian-listed Challenger Infrastructure Fund - Sunday Telegraph
* Britain seeks loophole in EU green energy targets; government wants clean power projects abroad to count towards UK quota - Saturday Guardian
* Britain loses out on a bid to stage the 2010 Champions League final at Wembley because European football's governing body objects to its taxation policy - Saturday FT
* FSA welcomes Alistair Darling's plan to give immunity to whistleblowers who raise the alarm over market manipulation - Saturday FT
* Nationwide offers bleak outlook with forecast of house price fall; consumer confidence plunges to 15-year low; annual house price inflation fell to 1.7 pct, it lowest level in 12 years - Saturday FT
* Northern Rock accounts to turn spotlight on former chief executive Adam Applegarth; Monday's report to show chief's pay-off; fees to advisers will be outlined - Saturday FT
* Northern Rock forced into a raft of new sub-prime writedowns that will see its total impairment charge nudge 400 million pounds - Sunday Telegraph
* Northern Rock will reveal this week that it has dived into the red on the back of huge write-downs and interest payments made to the Bank of England - Sunday Times
* Fortune Brands of the U.S. and the French drinks giant Pernod-Ricard to stage a two-way duel to buy Absolut vodka, one of the world's biggest spirit labels - Sunday Telegraph
* Michael Grade paid 2 million pounds for first year at ITV; incentive payment of 967,000 million; total pay is 117 percent of basic salary - Saturday FT
* Centrica chief Sam Laidlaw pockets 1.87 million pounds after gas profits soar - Saturday Independent
* Sir Ken puts millions of shares in trust to save 100 million pounds in tax; 1 billion pounds Morrison stake restructured; move comes ahead of chancellor's CGT changes - Saturday Guardian
* A courtroom showdown between two of the media's most powerful executives ends as Delaware judge Stephen Lamb thwarts John Malone's efforts to prevent IAC chief executive Barry Diller from restructuring the internet group - Saturday FT
* Australian regulators launch an inquiry into the collapse of Opes Prime, a margin-lending and private-client broking firm forced into receivership - Saturday FT
* Laxey Partners, the corporate activist, emerges as the largest shareholder of West End property specialist Shaftesbury, with a 14.5 percent stake - Saturday FT
* Welcome Break, the UK's second-largest motorway services operator, sold by Investcorp to a consortium of investors led by the Netherlands' NIBC bank - Saturday FT
* Northwest Airlines seeks to press ahead with plans to merger with rival Delta Air Lines without first securing the support of their pilots, people familiar with the plan say - Saturday FT
* Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the US government-chartered mortgage financiers, could each raise up to $10 billion of new capital as part of an agreement that allows them to buy and guarantee more mortgages, their regulator says - Saturday FT
* BlackRock set for London fund move; U.S. manager looks to raise $500 million; growing sector offers low volatility - Saturday FT
* Thousands of Kenyans scramble to secure a stake in Safaricom in the country's largest mobile phone offering; Kenyan government offering 10 billion shares, reducing its holding to 35 percent from 60 percent; remainder owned by Kenyan arm of Vodafone - Saturday Times
* Peter Cullum, the insurance tycoon, abandons plans to sell part of his 3 billion pounds Towergate business to Candover - Sunday Telegraph
* Essentially Group poised this week to announce a boardroom shake-up that will see Dwight Mighty promoted to chief operating officer, and former cricketer Matthew Vandrau appointed as business development director - Sunday Telegraph
* Akzo Nobel puts its UK business Crown Paints up for sale for around 200 million pounds - Sunday Times
* Rival gaming groups Gala and Rank at loggerheads in a row over trademarks - Sunday Times
* 3i poised to reap a bumper profit on an investment in one of China's largest restaurant chains; the operation, known as Little Sheep, to be floated in Hong Kong this year for 125 million pounds - Sunday Times
* LGV Capital, the private equity arm of Legal & General, set to begin the sale of its care-home operator Craegmoor Healthcare that could fetch at least 300 million pounds next month - Sunday Express
* LGV, the owner of Jeyes -- maker of Wet Ones and Bloo toilet cleaner -- mulling a sale of the business - Sunday Express
* U.S. company Secure Fortress, which secures wiring for internet and telephone cables, seeking a nominated adviser to list on AIM; AIM-listed Skywest Airlines considering stepping up to the main list; Canadian group Ascot Mining seeking a UK listing on Plus Markets - Sunday Express
SATURDAY PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on Multi-strategy funds, Dirt cheap laptops - LOMBARD: British Airways (Walsh's fate lies with BA shareholders not passengers, Mitchells & Butlers (shareholders may wonder whether they would now have a deal if the board had enjoyed unambiguous leadership throughout this challenging time), Shaftesbury (it is not obvious what steps it could take to narrow the discount to net asset value further; so perhaps this is one investment where Laxey will remain passive; but Shaftesbury should not bet on it) - Weekend Share Watch: Ideal Shopping Direct (if bid talks fail then the shares could be hit; sit tight for the moment), Cyril Sweett (Brewin Dolphin has increased its forecast pretax profits for 2009 from 8 million pounds to 8.5 million, and has set a price target of 135 pence), Salamander Energy (KBC Peel Hunt estimates the shares are trading on a prospective price/earnings ratio of about 24 times, which could look reasonable if production levels can be maintained) - MARKETS - LONDON: DSG International (has little choice but to cut its dividend - Nick Bubb, analyst at Pali International); SMALL CAPS: Alizyme (talk of a deal with a major pharmaceuticals company for one of its key drugs), Somero Enterprises (Tuesday's results tipped to impress; traders also believe the company has received takeover approaches)
Telegraph
COMMENT: British Airways (Willie's not leaving on a jet plane just yet), Mitchells & Butlers (with private equity bidders eyeing property-rich companies, it doesn't take a huge leap of imagination to see leading shareholders, working with private equity finance, to push for M&B to use its shares to make an offer for Punch Taverns; it could be a cash and shares offer that would break up the Punch conglomerate and close the costly discount on its shares) - THE MARKET: ScS Upholstery (Stancroft Trust, the investment vehicle run by Nicholas Berry, lifts its holding to 8.7 percent), Silence Therapeutics (speculation its directors could look to buy some shares following this Thursday's full-year results) - DIARY OF A PRIVATE INVESTOR: James Bartholomew increases his holding in Telecom Plus
Independent
PRIVATE INVESTOR: Time to switch on to the power generators (Scottish & Southern Energy, International Power, Drax, Aggreko, BG Group) - NO PAIN, NO GAIN: Derek Pain re-recruits old faithful Mears; he has decided to stick with Rentokil Initial for the time being, but does not see the portfolio continuing as a long-term shareholder - MARKET REPORT: Shaftesbury (suggestions that Laxey is preparing to mount a bid, possibly offering up to 8 pounds per share)
Times
Large caps: Paypoint (strong cashflows mean it could be a bid target for the US payment processor Euronet Worldwide - Citigroup); Small caps: Anite (3i may look at buying its public-sector software unit - Kaupthing), Intec Telecom, eServGlobal, Kofax (other takeover candidates in the software sector - Numis), Alizyme (close to ending a five-year search for a big development partner - Investec), Silence Therapeutics (bid speculation) - Tempus: Dairy Crest (avoid), SThree (avoid), T Clarke (worth holding on) - Rumour of the day: Volga Gas (recent positive drilling report; four institutional Russian buyers said to be trying to obtain stock) - Deal of the day: Capital & Regional (outgoing founding chief exec sells 22 million shares at 5.43 pounds each into his personal trust before an increase in capital gains tax) - PERSONAL INVESTOR: 3i (now looks a good time to buy stock)
Guardian
Market forces: Tate & Lyle (traders hearing the company has ended a long-standing relationship with one of its beet suppliers, and with several rivals rethinking the size of their presence in the overstocked UK sugar market, it is unclear what Tate's plans are; it has not bought back shares since Feb 12), Moss Bros (Credit Agricole buys a 7.91 percent stake), Clapham House (Dresdner Kleinwort believes Capricorn will ultimately buy Clapham House to combine it with Nando's) - 10 stocks to beat the credit crunch: BT Group, GlaxoSmithKline, Wolseley, Xstrata, BP, PZ Cussons, Invensys, Rolls-Royce, Reed Elsevier, BAE Systems
Mail
INVESTMENT EXTRA Performance since October of Ian Lyall's investment portfolio, based exclusively on the buying and selling of boardroom wheeler dealers: GCap (+55 percent), Emap (+ 26), Robert Walters (+17), UTV (+12), Great Portland Estates (+12), Petmin (+3.7), Tui (-2.6), Helphire (-3.1), Genus (-3.2), Imperial Energy (-3.3), Taylor Wimpey (-5), Lancashire Holdings (-7.3), ARM Holdings (-9.3), Enodis (-16), Daily Mail & General (-20); his performance (+3.7); FTSE 100 (-15)
Express
TAKING STOCK: Tesco (resilient Tesco set to show growth qualities); ONES TO WATCH: Connaught (could be worth a look), Abcam (has delivered healthy returns to investors) - MARKET REPORT: BG (Tupi field off Brazil could contain up to 100 billion barrels-worth of oil)
SUNDAY PRESS COMMENT
Sunday Telegraph
THE REAL BUSINESS: STM Group (Revill's financial Jeeves provides Rock-solid service) - SUNDAY QUESTOR: Pennon Group (buy), Uniq (hold), Babcock & Brown (buy), Halma (hold)
Sunday Times
Will Woolies shut up shop? Most of the company's profits come from its media and distribution arms. As the 825-strong chain of shops goes deeper into decline, a break-up bid could be on the way (BUSINESS p.6) - Consumer arm peps up GlaxoSmithKline; sales of consumer products are up 11 pct at a time when the group's drug sales are falling (BUSINESS p.11) - Reuters ploughs into Indian farming; information put out on mobile phones could transform the fortunes of small farmers -- and eventually Reuters (BUSINESS p.14) - INSIDE THE CITY: Tate & Lyle (for the year now ending, T&L shares are trading at nearly 17 times forecast earnings; that looks quite high enough), Severfield-Rowen (buy)
Observer
MARKET FORCES: African Eagle (Seymour Pierce rates the stock a buy at up to 23 pence, excluding upside from a number of ongoing exploration projects that already look promising), Merrill Lynch (according to Gary Dugan at Merrill's wealth management arm, equities today represent good value), Private equity (there are rumours that private equity groups will struggle to refinance a number of high-profile buy-outs: Bupa Hospitals, and estate agents Foxtons and Countrywide are all at risk, say the soothsayers), GlaxoSmithKline (Jean-Pierre Garnier successor Andrew Witty, who takes over in May, needs something radical to revamp the share price)
Sunday Express
BROKERS' NOTES: Topps Tiles (Landsbanki maintains buy rating), AstraZeneca (JP Morgan maintains underweight), Rank (Evolution buy), Tullow Oil (Citi buy), Sainsbury (Numis hold)
Mail on Sunday
MIDAS: Whitbread (buy and hold); MIDAS UPDATE: Hamworthy (investors who bought last summer should hold on; new investors could take advantage of current weakness)
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