WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
PARCOM CAPITAL TO SELL SEE TICKETS FOR £120M
See Tickets, one of the largest ticketing companies in Europe, is in the advanced stages of being sold by Dutch investment firm Parcom Capital for between £100m and £120m. The sale, which has reached second round bidding, has attracted interest from a handful of private equity parties and at least three trade participants. CTS Eventim, the largest ticketing company in Europe, is understood to be a frontrunner.
CANARY WHARF IN TALKS TO BUY CITIGROUP TOWER DEBT FROM RBS
Canary Wharf Group is in exclusive talks with Royal Bank of Scotland to buy more than £150m of debt that backs the Citigroup tower, one of the tallest skyscrapers on the Docklands estate, which is being sold by its private owners for more than £1bn.
US MIRRORS SLUGGISH GLOBAL TREND IN JOB CREATION
Job creation in the US will not accelerate in the third quarter of the year as confidence in hiring remains “tenuous and fragile”, according to a leading survey of employers. The Employment Outlook survey released today by ManpowerGroup, the global recruiting company, will be unwelcome news news for the Obama administration following the latest lacklustre payroll report.
GOLDMAN INTERN HAD LINK TO LIBYAN FUND
Goldman Sachs gave a paid internship to a top Libyan official’s relative while the bank was carrying out lossmaking trades on behalf of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Financial Times has learnt. Goldman confirmed that Haitem Zarti, brother of Mustafa Zarti, the Libyan Investment Authority’s former deputy head, worked for the bank in London and Dubai for almost a year.
THE TIMES
FIRST SEA LORD HINTS AT RETHINK OVER HARRIER AND NAVY CUTS IN WAKE OF LIBYA
The Government may need to rethink its security priorities and overseas commitments to free ships for Libya if the war with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi drags into the autumn, the head of the Royal Navy warned today.
Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, the First Sea Lord, said plans to retire a number of warships from Britain’s fleet as part of last year’s defence review had also been slowed down.
NHS REVIEW PUTS PATIENTS FIRST AND TELLS POLITICIANS TO KEEP OUT OF THE WAY
Patients must be given legal powers to shape the NHS, GPs should direct the purchasing of care, and politicians must stop using reform for point-scoring, a review of changes to the health service has concluded.
The Daily Telegraph
HMRC TARGETS EBAY TAX DODGERS
The tax affairs of small businesses using eBay and Gumtree as well as music and maths tutors and tradesmen are being targeted by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in its latest efforts to recover around £7bn lost to the Treasury each year. The taxman said it would mine its computer systems for anomalies, pinpointing people who have “failed to pay the right tax”. It said private maths tutors and fitness and dance coaches would be singled out for scrutiny because of their ability to hide second incomes.
BANK OF ENGLAND TURNS TO GOOGLE TO TRACK CONSUMER TRENDS
The Bank of England has begun tracking internet search terms on Google in an effort to better understand consumer behaviour as it admitted that tracking inflation expectations was proving difficult.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
H-P SHAKES UP EXECUTIVE RANKS
Hewlett-Packard made a series of senior executive changes – including the elimination of the chief administrative officer post – as the tech giant aims to position itself for growth in key markets including China and India. H-P veteran Ann Livermore has been elected to H-P’s board and will step down from her current day-to-day management of the company’s enterprise business.
CITI DEFENDS DELAY IN DISCLOSING HACKING
Citigroup waited as long as three weeks to notify credit-card customers of a hacking attack because it was conducting an investigation and producing replacement cards, according to a person familiar with the situation. The internal investigation took 10 to 12 days and began within 24 hours of the discovery by Citigroup.