LONDON (ShareCast) - Microsoft Corp walked away from its bid to buy Yahoo Inc last night after the Internet company turned down its offer to raise the price by $5 billion to $47.5 billion, says the Independent on Sunday.

Barclays is under growing pressure to explain its capital-raising strategy as fears grow that the bank may have to make further writedowns of up to £3bn, reports the Independent on Sunday.

The do-it-yourself retail group Kingfisher is conducting a secret search for a new finance director to replace Duncan Tatton-Brown who has decided to step down after seven years with the company, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

Spain's Bankinter has asked Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) about a buyout of their insurance joint venture, in a move that values the business at up to £700m, writes the Sunday Times.

Secret negotiations to settle a multimillion-pound dispute between the Total oil company and London-based businessman Nadhmi Auchi have broken down, the Independent on Sunday has learnt.

Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, was the whistleblower behind the Office of Fair Trading's current probe into alleged price fixing of food and toiletries, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

The auction of the Tote, the Government-owned betting group, has been put back to June after delays at Goldman Sachs, which is handling the sell-off, says the Independent on Sunday.

Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecoms billionaire and world’s second-richest man, has waded into the battle for control of The Independent by taking a stake in the newspaper’s parent company, reports the Sunday Times.

Two months after Heathrow Terminal 5's disastrous opening, its operator, BAA, is set to compensate angry retailers and caterers at the airport, with the bill totalling millions of pounds, writes the Independent on Sunday.

The engineering and construction group Sir Robert McAlpine is selling off its North American windfarms business in a deal estimated to be worth up to $1 billion (£506m), according to the Sunday Times.

Silverfleet Capital, the private equity group, is to make its first major disposal since its management buyout from insurer Prudential last November, says the Independent on Sunday.

A group of Britain's most powerful chairmen and chief executives has held a crisis summit to discuss the Government's controversial proposals to bring companies' foreign earnings into the UK tax net, reports the Sunday Telegraph.

Fears are growing that the price tag for the 2012 Olympic stadium in east London has risen nearly 10 per cent to £540m, in yet another financial blow for the troubled games, writes the Independent on Sunday.

New Star Asset Management faces losing nearly 10 per cent of its assets if the performance of its funds doesn't improve, a leading institutional investor has indicated, according to the Independent on Sunday.

Hedge Funds are beginning to bet that shares in Britain’s biggest banks have hit rock bottom, in spite of mounting speculation about further multi-billion-pound rights issues and fresh concerns about the mortgage market, says the Sunday Times.

Charterhouse, the private equity owner of the Times Educational Supplement (TES), has emerged as a possible bidder in the £1.25bn race for New Scientist publisher Reed Business Information (RBI), reports the Independent on Sunday.

Jarvis, the quoted rail contractor chaired by former London mayoral candidate Steven Norris, is preparing for a sale this year, writes the Independent on Sunday.

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