Sunday newspaper round-up: Bwin.party, Scotland, Greece
The owner of Sportingbet has teamed up with an aggressive American hedge fund to roar back into contention for Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment with a £1bn takeover bid. GVC, an online gambling company listed on AIM, the junior London stock market, is understood to have joined forces with Cerberus Capital Management to launch a new offer for Bwin, the owner of Foxy Bingo. Bwin agreed to sell itself for £900m to its bigger rival 888 Holdings this month, despite a higher bid from GVC. - The Times
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FTSE 100
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Alex Salmond says that a second Scottish independence referendum is now “inevitable” and the timing is in the hands of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. In comments which go against his promise during the referendum campaign that it was “a once in a generation” event, the former First Minister appeared to add to growing pressure on his successor to push for a second go at winning independence. - The Scotsman
Talks between Greece and its international creditors over a new bailout package should go ahead after logistical issues that delayed meetings this week are resolved, a Greek official has said. The finance ministry official said on Saturday that talks were now expected to get formally underway on Monday after the logistical issues had been resolved. The official denied that the government was trying to keep the lenders’ team away from government departments. “We don’t have any problem with them visiting the general accounting office,” the official said. - The Guardian
The new chief executive of Centrica will unveil up to 2,000 job cuts, asset sales and cost reductions this week in one of the biggest shake-ups at the owner of British Gas since the former monopoly was privatised by Margaret Thatcher. Iain Conn has taken drastic action since he took the reins in January. The former BP executive has slashed the dividend by 30%, warned of a fall in profits and launched a strategic review. He is set to unveil the outcome on Thursday. - The Times
The groundswell of support for Jeremy Corbyn, the leading candidate to head the Labour Party, is challenging the assumption that the party can win an election only from the centre ground. - Financial Times
Jaguar Land Rover is closing in on Poland as the site for a factory in eastern Europe. Executives have been sifting through bids from Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Turkey for the plant, which will make about 200,000 cars a year. Senior industry sources said Poland had offered “huge” incentives. Jaguar produced about 450,000 vehicles last year, but plans to expand to 1m. - The Times
Tesco has abandoned three times as many new supermarket sites as all of its rivals put together over the last five years in a fresh sign that the “space race” is over. The grocer has slammed the brakes on 62 development sites across the country over the period as part of its efforts to cut costs while it struggles to turn the business around, according to figures complied by Barbour ABI. - The Daily Telegraph
Extended restructuring talks on Ukraine's $70bn debt pile are due to come to an end, with Kiev facing a decision to pay up or default. The trigger is a $120m interest payment due today for a cash-strapped Ukrainian government that has been trying - so far in vain - to convince creditors to restructure their holdings. - Financial Times