WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
HK IPO FOR SUNSHINE OILSANDS
Sunshine Oilsands, a Canadian tar sands company backed by Chinese state-owned enterprises, has shunned Toronto and will next month launch an initial public offering in Hong Kong that could raise as much as $600m. The company plans to sell a 25 per cent stake in the offering, according to people close to the deal, with the shares due to start trading by the end of February.
MANDELSON USES LORDS LOOPHOLE TO SHIELD CLIENTS
Lord Mandelson has sidestepped a new requirement for peers to disclose certain business clients after exploiting a loophole in the system. He had been expected to be among a wave of peers to publish a full list of their clients under new rules but the former Labour business secretary has avoided any need to do so after simply moving his advisory firm, Global Counsel, from one category to another on the Lords register.
CANON APPOINTS 76-YEAR-OLD BOSS
Fujio Mitarai, the 76-year-old chairman of Canon, is to resume day-to-day control of the Japanese camera and printer maker for the first time in six years, in a move the company said was designed to strengthen its leadership during a period of economic turmoil.
TESCO RETRACES ITS STREPS ON CARBON FOOTPRINT LABELLING
Tesco, Britain’s biggest supermarket and an early champion of the green revolution, is to ditch its plan to emblazon all its products with a carbon footprint label because the message is too complicated. The move is a blow to the “carbon labelling” movement, a relatively recent campaign designed to encourage consumers to buy products with a low environmental impact.
THE TIMES
DRUGS GROUPS UNITE TO DESTROY TROPICAL DISEASES
Deadly tropical diseases such as leprosy, sleeping sickness and guinea worm could be conquered by the end of the decade, under a pledge by a coalition of 13 global drugs companies brought together by Bill Gates. Pharmaceuticals chiefs from around the world promised yesterday to eradicate five neglected diseases and to bring a further five under control.
MAXWELL MAKES WAY FOR PROPERTY TYCOON’S DATA CENRTRE
The property tycoon Peter Beckwith has promised to rid Milton Keynes of the “monstrous presence” of Robert Maxwell with the redevelopment of a site once owned by the media mogul. The investor said that his PMB Holdings vehicle was investing £35m in the town as he makes his first foray into the data centre industry.
The Daily Telegraph
LEICESTER SQUARE ODEON SOLD BY IRISH DEBT AGENCY TO HOTEL GROUP
Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency has sold the Leicester Square Odeon, one of London’s most famous cinemas, to Radisson Edwardian. The hotel group is understood to have paid around €120m (£100m) for the site, which has planning permission to be redeveloped into a modern two-screen cinema, 245-bedroom hotel, restaurants and apartments.
FUEL POVERTY PROTESTERS OCCUPY BRITISH GAS OFFICES
Fuel poverty activists gained access to the headquarters of British Gas and occupied a room near the office of its managing director, Phil Bentley, for six hours to protest “profiteering” by energy suppliers. Protesters entered the offices in Staines just before 9am on Monday, before barricading themselves in two meeting rooms.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
ROCHE SKIN CANCER DRUG GAINS APPROVAL
The Food and Drug Administration approved a new type of drug developed by the US unit of Roche Holding to treat advanced cases of basal-cell skin cancer, the most common type of skin cancer. The drug, known by its generic name vismodegib, will be sold under the brand name Erivedge and will be marketed in the US by Genentech. The drug will cost $7,500 for a monthly supply.
CHINA LOSES WTO APPEAL ON RAW MATERIAL EXPORTS
A World Trade Organisation appeals panel ruled against China’s efforts to limit the export of raw materials used in the steel and chemicals industries, a decision that could provide the US and Europe with ammunition against similar limits on China’s rare-earth exports.