LONDON (ShareCast) - French energy giant Electricitie de France (EdF) may take a stake in Centrica's wind farms and other assets as part of a deal to bring the UK into its planned £11bn-plus takeover of nuclear generator British Energy (BE), says the Telegraph.

EDF’s planned takeover of British Energy risks creating serious competition problems in the UK electricity market, rival companies and customers have warned, reports the FT.

Lawyers acting for BP could file legal proceedings against AAR, the investment group with which it jointly owns Russia's TNK-BP, as soon as this week after another weekend of claim and counter claim in the bitter dispute between the oil giant and its Russian partners, says the Independent.

The Times says Russian partners in the TNK-BP joint venture have hit back as confrontation threatens to turn into a diplomatic incident

BAE Systems is set to announce the take-over of Detica in a deal that will value the UK software company at about £500m, says the FT.

The Qatari Investment Authority has emerged as a potential new bidder for Land Securities' £1.4bn outsourcing arm Trillium, reports the Telegraph

Top Smiths Group executives are being offered a private equity-style incentive plan as part of restructuring the engineering conglomerate, writes the FT.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, one of the world's oldest and largest private equity firms, is resurrecting its plan to float on the New York Stock Exchange, despite the ravaging given to financial stocks since the credit crisis began, reports the Independent.

Beleaguered housebuilder Persimmon is threatening to rip up contracts with subcontractors unless they agree to a 15pc rate cut, according a letter seen by The Daily Telegraph.

Asda has overtaken its rival Sainsbury's for the first time to become the UK's second biggest online grocer, reports the Independent.

Tesco's US retailing venture looks set to bow to criticism of the at-times austere design of its stores and incorporate local and community design features for the first time, reports the Telegraph.

Two more Dawnay, Day Group companies have been taken over by BDO Stoy Hayward, the administrator that now runs 65 of the London-based investment group's operations, says the Telegraph.

Smurfit Kappa, Europe's largest packaging and paper group, has drawn up a shopping list of takeover and joint venture targets in China as it seeks to re-enter a market that it left in 2003, says the Telegraph.

British banks' profits are predicted to more than halve in the interim reporting season that starts on Wednesday as credit-crunch writedowns and rising bad debts take a toll on the record profits reported a year earlier, according to the Independent.

Unsolicited bids are running at their highest in almost a decade as companies use their cash-rich balance sheets to swallow weaker counterparts, writes the FT.

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