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Thursday newspaper round-up: British Energy, Alliance & Leicester, Mitchells & Butlers

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Date: Thursday 10 Apr 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - RWE, the German power group, is believed to have tabled an offer for British Energy that values the company at as much as £11 billion, says the Times.

Alliance & Leicester is considering increasing the cost of its fixed-rate mortgages for the second time in a week, reports the Independent.

The private equity firms Blackstone Group and CVC Capital Partners are understood to have made a joint proposal to Mitchells & Butlers to buy a stake of up to 29.9 per cent in the pub and restaurant operator, writes the Times.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee faces one of its most difficult decisions over interest rates today, as calls grow for a cut to kick-start lending, despite inflationary pressures, according to the Telegraph.

Boeing announced a third delay yesterday to the launch of its new 787 Dreamliner, saying the aircraft would now be ready in late 2009. The Seattle-based aerospace group blamed supply and assembly problems for the latest postponement, says the Independent.

British oil giant BP, Tony Hayward and Lord Browne of Madingley have been named in a multi-million dollar lawsuit involving allegations of bribery of government officials in Kazakhstan, reports the Telegraph.

City of London job vacancies are almost a quarter lower than at the same stage last year and it is taking much longer to fill posts as the banking crisis has sapped employers confidence, writes the FT.

Yahoo suggested that it is considering outsourcing the advertising on its search engine to the market leader Google, resurrecting an idea that it hopes might help it fight off the unwanted take-over from Microsoft, according to the Independent.

Royal Bank of Scotland is cutting about 200 jobs in its corporate banking business after a drying up of deals caused by the credit crunch, says the Telegraph.

Private equity firms have started to invest again after months sitting on the sidelines, which some experts say could signal the bottom of the market, reports the Times.

Having already pumped $300m (£151m) of extra money into the US financial system, the Federal Reserve is making extraordinary contingency plans in case the credit crisis persists for so long that its own reserves dwindle, writes the Independent.

BHP Billiton has secured price rises of more than 200pc for its coking coal as supply shortages and increased demand for the steel-making material send prices soaring, according to the Telegraph.

Rules regarding how banks account for off-balance sheet interests are “irretrievably broken”, a senior group of international rulemakers has warned, says the FT.

The Government's forecasts for the economy are looking increasingly "foolish" and its key fiscal rules are about to be broken, according to some of the most respected independent observers of the scene, writes the Independent.

Roger Alton is due to be named editor of The Independent as part of a management shake-up at the newspaper's publisher, Independent News & Media, reports the Telegraph.

Oasis, the pioneer of £75 air fares to Hong Kong, has collapsed, raising fears that the era of cheap international flights is over, according to the Times.

Shell has threatened to halt investment in Europe if the EU pushes ahead with contentious plans to charge for carbon emission permits as part of a €60bn (£48bn) climate change programme, says the Telegraph.