WHAT THE OTHER PAPER SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
BERMUDA LOOKS TO BECOME HUB FOR CAT BONDS
Bermuda is making a push to become a leading centre for catastrophe bonds and other forms of specialist insurance investment by creating a special type of regulatory regime. Matthew Elderfield, chief executive of the Bermuda Monetary Authority, expects the next wave of capital that enters the insurance sector will come through the capital markets and so has a new supervisory approach for Special Purpose Insurers, was set to be unveiled today.
PRIVATE EQUITY INDUSTRY IS STILL ON THE SIDELINES
A stock market rally and signs of an economic recovery failed to empt private equity dealmakers out of their shells in the third quarter as they completed the fewest buy-outs for a quarter of a century. There were 31 UK private equity deals in the three months to September, the lowest since 1984.
AUCTIONS SHOW DEALMAKERS’ CREATIVITY
A KKR-led consortium is leading the bidding for the $1bn – plus services unit of Northrop Grumman in one of two auctions being watched by dealmakers to judge the health of the private equity industry. In the other auction, for TravelChannel, which is owned by Cox Communications, bids from Providence Equity Partners and others are pushing the expected price towards $800m.
DEUTSCHE BANK AND CZARNIKOW CUT PHYSICAL SUGAR TRADE DEAL
Deutsche Bank and sugar merchant Czarnikow will announce today an alliance that will allow the bank to trade physical cargoes of the commodity as sugar prices hit a 28 and a half year high and amid growing price volatility.
THE TIMES
WASTE STUDY DUMPS LONDON AT BOTTOM OF EUROPEAN PILE
London has emerged as the dirty man of Europe, with one of the highest rates of rubbish dumping in a new study of the municipal waste habits of the European Union’s biggest cities. The capital still sends more than half its waste straight to landfill sites — about 2.2m tonnes of the 4.2m collected from pavements. It is the highest volume of any of its peers across the EU.
HUNGER FOR BIOFUELS WILL GOBBLE UP WHEAT SURPLUS
Britain’s self-sufficiency in wheat will end next year, because a giant new biofuel refinery needs so much of the staple crop that home-grown supplies will be exhausted feeding both the factory and the nation. The £300m plant at Wilton, will be the largest bioethanol refinery in Europe.
The Daily Telegraph
VIVENDI TRIAL TO START IN NEW YORK
Seven years after the crisis that shook French group Vivendi, a trial will begin today in New York which could lead to fines for the media giant and its former management. The class action case will centre on the actions of Jean-Marie Messier, the former chief executive of Vivendi, who has been accused of embellishing the company’s accounts until 2002.
BNP PARIBAS TO RAISE £150M TO SPEND ON UK PROPERTY
The independent property arm of BNP Paribas is to raise a £150m fund to spend on UK property. The fund will target a broad range of properties across office, retail and industrial, providing a new example of increasing appetite among investors to take advantage of a 45 per cent decline in asset values.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
TURKISH PREMIER DEFENDS MEDIA TAX BATTLE
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended his government’s crippling $3.2bn demand in fines and penalties against the country’s largest media business, comparing the case with the US pursuit of gangster Al Capone on tax-evasion charges in the 1930s. Erdogan also said his country had resolved its dispute with the International Monetary Fund over the fund’s demand he should make Turkey’s tax authority independent.
CARLSBERG FIGHTS BEER TAX IN RUSSIA
Carlsberg has said it will continue to fight Russia’s proposed beer tax, saying it would hurt beer sales. The measure calls for an increase of 200 per cent next year and increases of 11 and 20 per cent in 2011 and 2012.