WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
LIVERPOOL FC AUCTION ATTRACTS GLOBAL INTEREST
Global interest in the auction of Liverpool Football Club intensified on Monday with prospective bidders emerging from Hong Kong and the Middle East.
Chinese sports entrepreneur Kenneth Huang has made an approach to Liverpool’s bankers Royal Bank of Scotland and US-based Wachovia seeking support for a deal, according to people close to the situation.
FLEXIANT FOUNDER’S EU CLOUD COMPUTING COUP
A young entrepreneur who set up his first internet company at 17 has been awarded a share of two EU contracts to help to develop cloud computing alongside companies such as Telefonica, Nokia and SAP. Cloud computing allows firms to lease computing power when they need it.
BERKELEY EYES CITY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
Berkeley Group, the housebuilder, has made an unusual acquisition in the City of London, exchanging contracts to acquire Roman House, an office building near London Wall.
The company, which is focused largely on the more resilient housing markets of London and south-east England, is to pay close to £10m ($16m) for the building, with the possibility of turning it into an upmarket residential and commercial scheme.
NYT PUSHES FOR DIGITAL LICENSES
The New York Times will license its technology to develop applications for Apple’s iPhone and iPad digital devices to other publishers as part of a plan to boost revenue from digital services. Although the NYT, which publishes the eponymous daily and the Boston Globe, has licensed its data and online technology on a limited basis in the past.
THE TIMES
INEOS FORGES £83M DEAL WITH INDIA TO CUT ITS DEBT MOUNTAIN
Ineos will sell its packaging business to help reduce its €7.4 billion debt mountain, the chemicals giant said yesterday. Britain’s biggest privately owned company said that it would sell its Global Films business for €100m (£83m) to the Indian company Bilcare, which also makes packaging for the pharmaceuticals industry.
NESTLÉ SNAPS UP MEDICAL MINNOW VITAFLO
One of the world’s largest food businesses has taken a gamble on a new market by purchasing a small medical nutrition company based in Liverpool. Nestlé has bought Vitaflo for an undisclosed sum. The company, which will continue to operate as a stand-alone business, specialises in treatments for metabolic diseases.
The Daily Telegraph
FED TO START THE DEFLATION FIGHT NEXT WEEK, EXPERT CLAIMS
Paul Sheard, Nomura’s chief global economist, argues that the conditions are ripe for the US central bank to take action to put the recovery back on track. In the first call of its kind from a Wall Street economist, Sheard says that given subdued growth and concern about inflation, the FOMC will act when it meets a week today.
SMARTPHONES POSE A THREAT TO DEBIT AND CREDIT CARDS IN THE US
Debit and credit cards may become a thing of the past if a new trial involving Barclays and a host of US mobile phone companies bears fruit. The British bank has reportedly teamed up with AT&T, Verizon and TMobile to test out technology that would allow US consumers to buy products and services simply by waving their phone at a reader.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
SKY DEUTSCHLAND IN FRESH CAPITAL INCREASE
German pay-TV company Sky Deutschland AG yesterday reported its second-quarter net loss narrowed, but it reduced its guidance due to slower-than-expected subscriber growth and said it will raise at least €340m (about $448m) in fresh capital to strengthen its balance sheet.
SANTANDER PLOTS LOCAL LISTINGS
Banco Santander appears to be moving forward on a strategy of giving more autonomy to local units by listing subsidiaries in its main markets, boosting their independence from headquarters in Spain.
Europe’s second-largest bank by market capitalization did that in Brazil last year by listing a 15% stake in its fast-growing subsidiary there. Santander is considering doing it in now the UK.