Sunday newspaper round-up: Reckitt Benckiser, Virgin Money, Booker's
Reckitt Benckiser Group
4,139.00p
17:15 18/04/24
Reckitt Benckiser is lining up a sale of its food business to help fund the £14.3bn takeover of baby food maker Mead Johnson Nutrition. Reckitt has informed banks of a plan to dispose of its £2bn food division, according to senior sources. The FTSE 100 maker of Durex condoms and Nurofen painkillers has held a beauty parade of advisers. The deal would see the sale of French’s, the bestselling mustard brand in America, and Frank’s Red Hot sauces. - The Sunday Times
Banks
3,882.59
17:14 18/04/24
Booker Group
224.00p
16:40 02/03/18
Food & Drug Retailers
3,682.87
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE 100
7,877.05
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE 250
19,450.67
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE 350
4,334.00
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,290.02
16:54 18/04/24
Household Goods & Home Construction
12,423.35
17:14 18/04/24
Tesco
282.70p
17:05 18/04/24
Virgin Money Holdings (UK)
349.30p
16:34 12/10/18
Virgin Money is poised to table a takeover bid for the ailing Co-operative Bank. Sir Richard Branson’s banking arm is expected to go head-to-head with private equity giants Cerberus and JC Flowers in the first round of bidding for the bank, which closes this week. The Co-op bank said it had received interest from “credible” bidders after it put itself up for sale in February. - The Sunday Times
Several of Booker’s biggest shareholders have sold down their stakes since the food and drink wholesaler announced a £3.7bn takeover by Tesco, amid mounting doubts over the deal. The hedge fund Lansdowne Partners and the fund managers Axa and Jupiter are among institutions that have aggressively reduced their holdings in Booker, whose planned purchase by Britain’s biggest supermarket astonished the City in January. - The Sunday Times
David Green, the director of the Serious Fraud Office, has warned that British businesses should not consider deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) the “new normal” if they are caught misbehaving. Green was speaking to the Observer after Tesco and the SFO announced they had reached a DPA over the accounting scandal that rocked Britain’s biggest retailer in 2014. The settlement includes a fine of £129m to be paid by Tesco. - The Sunday Telegraph
Philip Hammond and Mark Carney will lead a delegation of top policymakers to India this week to “bang the drum for British business” as the country seeks to strengthen ties outside the EU. The Chancellor will travel to Delhi and Mumbai to promote Britain as India’s “financial partner of choice”, as the world’s seventh largest economy continues its rapid rise. - The Sunday Telegraph
David Green, the director of the Serious Fraud Office, has warned that British businesses should not consider deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) the “new normal” if they are caught misbehaving. Green was speaking to the Observer after Tesco and the SFO announced they had reached a DPA over the accounting scandal that rocked Britain’s biggest retailer in 2014. The settlement includes a fine of £129m to be paid by Tesco. - Guardian on Sunday
Chancellor Philip Hammond is facing pressure in both Houses of Parliament to reveal how many special tax deals UK authorities have struck in the last two years with large corporations. The Advanced Thin Capitalisation Agreements have been used by global groups to reduce UK tax liabilities by offsetting their profits against loans from international parent companies. - The Mail on Sunday
The pension scheme deficit at Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group has risen to nearly £1bn, which means another headache for the former BHS owner. Documents to be published on Sunday by MPs investigating the demise of BHS and pensions regulation, reveal that the Topshop to Dorothy Perkins group’s two pension schemes – one for senior executives, another for the rest of the staff – had a combined deficit of £993m in March last year on a buyout basis. - The Guardian on Sunday
Theresa May would go to war to defend the sovereignty of Gibraltar just as Margaret Thatcher did with the Falklands, a former Tory leader has suggested. Lord Howard said the British Government will stand by Gibraltar during Brexit talks amid claims of an EU “land grab” for the territory by Spain. It came as Spain confirmed that it would not initially block an independent Scotland's attempts to join the European Union (EU). - The Sunday Telegraph
Sir Michael Fallon said it is "very important to link trade and security" in the negotiations with the European Union over the UK's future deal with the bloc. The Defence Secretary said he was proud of the link and insisted the UK would go on “playing our part” in the security of the continent, but stressed some elements of that cooperation would require a new deal. He claimed it was not a “bargaining process” but that all sides would be “worse off” if there was not a deal. - The Sunday Telegraph