NEW! Investment Companies Centre

Friday newspaper report: BP, British Energy, Taylor Nelson

Related Companies

Related Indices

Related Sectors

News for Spread Betters

PreviousPrevious
NextNext

There's a new Investor Edition of CMC Markets' spread betting platform... and it's exclusive to DigitalLook.com users...

Get full details about Marketmaker:Investor Edition here. Advertisement

Date: Friday 13 Jun 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - BP has for the first time openly criticised the Russian Government for its failure to intervene in the escalating dispute with its TNK-BP joint venture partners.

The group’s chairman, Peter Sutherland, yesterday accused the country’s leadership of being “unwilling or unable” to protect the company during what he described as a raid on TNK-BP, Russia’s third-biggest crude producer, reports the Times.

EDF, France’s electricity monopoly, could be prepared to nudge up its £11bn (€14bn) bid for British Energy, but only if the board of the UK nuclear group moves quickly to recommend the offer. The French nuclear power operator has signalled that it intends to walk away from the process if a deal cannot be reached by the end of the month, reports the FT.

Yahoo! last night sealed a joint advertising and online search deal with Google after rejecting plans to sell its search business to Microsoft. While Jerry Yang, chief executive and co-founder of Yahoo!, indicated that the deal would not block Microsoft from returning with another bid, Google and Yahoo! have devised an agreement which would trigger a $250m break-fee in the event that Yahoo! were acquired by another company within two years, reports the Times.

The European Union has named Gaz de France and Germany's E.ON in connection with alleged rigging of gas markets as it ratchets up a notch its two-year probe into gas supplies. The move is the latest attempt by EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes to break up Europe's vertically integrated utilities, which she accuses of using their hold over energy infrastructure to carve up markets, block new entrants and keep prices high, reports the Telegraph.

Barratt Developments, the debt-laden housebuilder, has yet to complete a vital £400m refinancing deal one month after telling shareholders it had struck an outline agreement with its main lenders. Mark Clare, chief executive of Barratt, and Mark Pain, the finance director, told shareholders a month ago that the new facility was likely to be in place by the end of this financial year, which ends in just under three weeks, writes the Times.

A rift has opened between regulators in Washington and London after the Americans called for restrictions on oil trading in the City. It is understood that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is resisting calls by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to introduce daily price limits on some oil futures contracts, reports the Times.

Sir Stuart Rose, the executive chairman of Marks & Spencer, has said that high petrol prices are deterring customers from driving to out-of-town retail parks, in the latest example of how the consumer economy is being affected by rising commodity prices. Sir Stuart said that M&S has noticed changes in shopping habits over recent months, writes the Telegraph.

Liz Nelson, one of the founders of Taylor Nelson Sofres, has spoken out against the UK market research company’s proposed merger with GfK of Germany, and backed a rival offer by Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP group. Ms Nelson, who left TNS 16 years ago and no longer has a meaningful shareholding in the company, told Research magazine that the proposed nil-premium merger with GfK would signal “that the men in grey suits are winning out,” reports the FT

Robert Tchenguiz, the property entrepreneur, has taken advantage of the recent slide in Mitchells & Butlers’ share price to shore up his economic interest in the pub and restaurant operator to slightly less than 30%, writes the FT

The British public believes prices are now rising at 4.9% a year, even though the official rate of inflation stands at only 3%, the Bank of England's latest survey of inflationary expectations revealed yesterday, reports the Independent.

Citigroup is closing its Old Lane hedge fund business just a year after buying it for $800m (£411m), in an embarrassing move for the bank's chief executive Vikram Pandit, one of Old Lane's founders. The banking conglomerate will essentially shut down the bulk of Old Lane's business, with Citi purchasing most of its assets, in the wake of heavy redemption calls, writes the Telegraph.

Digital Look have been voted
"Best Research and Information Provider"

4th Floor, Bankside House, 107 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 4AF.
Registered in England and Wales (registered no. 3678570).