WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
NATIONAL EXPRESS IN DEBT TALKS
National Express is in talks with bankers to renegotiate terms on part of its £1.2bn debt amid fears that the bus and rail operator will breach loan conditions in December. The group is expected to pass a key test of whether it is meeting the terms of its debt at the end of this month. But it is still seeking greater flexibility as it struggles with a slowdown in passenger revenues on its East Coast franchise.
RESOLUTION TARGETS LARGE BUYOUT
Clive Cowdery’s Resolution investment vehicle is targeting a larger-than-expected initial acquisition in the £5bn-£7bn price range, using its shares to help fund part of the deal. The price range would put most of the UK listed life and pensions sector apart from Prudential and Aviva, the two largest, within reach of Resolution, which raised £600m last year.
LSE REFRESHES BAIKAL “DARK POOL”
Exactly a year ago, the London Stock Exchange unveiled plans for a new type of share trading facility known as a “dark pool”. The LSE picked Lehman Brothers – the single biggest provider of orders on the exchange – as its partner in the venture. But three months later Lehman collapsed. Now, a year on, Baikal has been revived and the LSE is determined to press ahead with a new set of investors and a new chief exec: John Wilson, a former Lehman head of equity and fixed income research.
ESPN EYES SETANTA FOOTBALL RIGHTS
ESPN, the US sports cable channel owned by Walt Disney, will bid for the Premier League rights held by Setanta in the event that the struggling media company is forced to relinquish them, according to a person familiar with the process. ESPN missed out on the rights when they were auctioned in February, with BSkyB picking up five of the packages.
THE TIMES
RIPPLEWOOD READY TO RETURN WITH NEW BID FOR GM EUROPE
Ripplewood, the private equity group, is understood to be ready to return with a bid for General Motors Europe should the carmaker’s Canadian suitor fail to complete its acquisition, The Times has learnt. About 5,000 British jobs hang in the balance at Vauxhall as Magna International, the Canadian car parts supplier, trawls through the carmaker’s accounts.
BARCLAYS IT FAULT IS FIXED
A technical fault at Barclays that left millions of customers unable to access their money this afternoon has been fixed. Barclays customers could not use internet or telephone banking, or use some cash machines, due to a “hardware failure” that occurred at 1pm yesterday. Some customers also reported being unable to use their debit cards in shops.
The Daily Telegraph
UK BOSSES CAUGHT UP IN POSSIBLE SOUTH AFRICA FRAUD
Leading British businessmen are feared to have lost millions of pounds in what has been described as South Africa’s largest ever Ponzi scheme. Peter Long, the chief executive of Tui Travel, and Richard Kirk, his counterpart at Peacocks, are among a group that invested in Frankel International. Monaco-based Russian investors are also said to have become entangled.
WEST BROMWICH NOT OUT OF WOODS
West Bromwich Building Society still faces “significant risks to its financial fundamentals” after last week’s debt-for-equity swap, according to Moody’s, the credit rating agency. But the agency did not downgrade the mutual, changing its rating to “stable”, it said West Brom’s efforts to reduce risk in its loan book had yet to produce tangible results.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
US CHOOSES FOUR NUCLEAR FIRMS
Four power firms are expected to split $18.5bn (£11.3bn) in federal financing to build the next generation of nuclear reactors — the biggest step in three decades to revive the US nuclear industry and one that could vault the utilities ahead of some of the sector’s strongest players. UniStar Nuclear Energy, NRG Energy Scana and Southern are expected to share a set of federal loan guarantees.
BEST BUY ISSUES CAUTIOUS OUTLOOK
Best Buy said yesterday fiscal first-quarter earnings fell 15 per cent and executives offered a cautious outlook for the remainder of the year, underscoring the struggles of even stronger retailers. The largest consumer electronics chain by sales in the US reported yesterday that its market share increased by two percentage points