WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
ALLIANCE TRUST FORCED TO OFFER VOTE CONCESSION
Alliance Trust will make radical changes to its shareholder voting system in an attempt to fend off mounting pressure from activist investors, the Dundee-based company will say today. The £2.4bn investment company, which last month fell out of the FTSE 100, is expected to introduce a “one share, one vote” regime to avoid claims it benefits from a block voting system.
COPPOLA MAKES WINE EXPERT AN OFFER HE CAN’T REFUSE
Francis Ford Coppola, the oenophile film director, has lured a wine expert from Château Margaux, one of Bordeaux’s first growths, to reinvigorate his California winery.
The Daily Telegraph
ADVENTURER SIMON MURRAY IN FRAME TO CHAIR GLENCORE
Simon Murray, South Pole adventurer and former Vodafone Group board member, has said he is in the running for the role of chairman at Glencore, the commodities trading giant planning a roughly $10bn dual listing in London and Hong Kong.
GIGI LAVY STAYS AT 888 TO AVOID WINK BINGO CHARGE
Internet gambling group 888 has been forced to keep a board position for Gigi Levy, who quit as chief executive last weekend, to avoid a demand for £48m from the vendors of Wink Bingo. Levy has had various disagreements with the company’s founding shareholders.
THE TIMES
RAJARATNAM DID NOT NEED INSIDER INFORMATION
Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund manager at the centre of one of the biggest insider trading trials in the United States, read so many analysts’ reports that he did not need inside information to get ahead, a New York court was told yesterday on the opening day of the defence case.
PORT POWER MAY GENERATE BIGGER PROFITS FOR ABP
When Associated British Ports sold out to an international consortium of infrastructure investors five years ago for £2.8bn, the company was making annual profits of £132m. Last year it made pre-tax profits of £268 million, a 40 per cent rise from £192m in 2009.