Thursday Newspaper Round-up: British American Tobacco, Xstrata, BP

Source from:  Thu 28 Feb 2008 sharecast.com LONDON (SHARECAST) 02/29/2008

British American Tobacco is in advanced negotiations with Scandinavian Tobacco to acquire its cigarette brands in a deal which could be valued at up to $4bn, says the FT. Vale's putative $85bn takeover of Xstrata was on Wednesday night on the brink of collapse after a major shareholder in the Anglo-Swiss miner refused to agree to the terms of the offer, writes the FT. BP could sell its $5bn-plus (£2.5bn) Alternative Energy division in a move that would undermine the oil giant's "green" credentials, reports the Telegraph. Marcel Ospel, the chairman of UBS, faced shareholder demands for his resignation yesterday as his controversial SFr13bn (£6.1bn) capital raising received approval from investors at a specially convened meeting, according to the Independent. Northern Rock bought the grounds of Newcastle Falcons rugby club for almost £15m three weeks before the bank had to appeal to the Bank of England for an emergency loan, says the Telegraph. The Independent adds that the Financial Services Authority has admitted its regulation of Northern Rock was inadequate. Hector Sants, the chief executive of the FSA, acknowledged yesterday that the FSA's own internal review, to be published next month, shows that "supervision of the company did not meet the standards I would expect of the FSA". Planned initial public offerings worth more than $21bn have been pulled from the global market in the first two months of the year, a figure almost double the amount raised through successful flotations, according to the FT. Sir Nigel Rudd has told Colin Matthews, his new hand-picked chief executive of BAA, that his top priority at the embattled airport group should be to overhaul operations at Heathrow, infamous for crumbling infrastructure, delayed flights and lost bags, says the Independent. O2 has just four months to avoid contract penalties that would cost it £40m following a warning shot fired across its bows by the telecoms regulator yesterday, writes the Independent. Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve's chairman, gave a renewed signal that it will order another interest rate cut next month to bolster the faltering American economy, but hinted at growing Fed anxieties over its ability to stave-off a severe US downturn, reports the Times. Guy Hands has admitted that his takeover of EMI has not gone to plan and has taken a far greater emotional strain than he had expected, according to the Telegraph. Unauthorised overdraft charges are falling as banks await the outcome of a High Court test case on the issue, writes the Independent. More than half of the £400 billion of commercial property across Britain is believed to be held by investors and companies in tax havens overseas, the Times has learnt. Enditem