WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
TESCO ADVANCES IN CARREFOUR ASIAN AUCTION
Tesco is among the bidders through to the second round of the auction for Carrefour’s south-east Asian assets, which are for sale for up to $1bn (£642m). Tesco, the world’s third-biggest supermarket chain by sales after Walmart and Carrefour, was one of more than 10 first-round bidders for the stores in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
EDWARDS UP FOR SALE AS MARKET REVIVES
A rebound in the semiconductor industry has prompted the private equity owners of Edwards to hire investment banks to handle a £1.5bn auction of the company that supplies vacuum technology to the world’s biggest chipmakers. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs have been appointed by CCMP and Unitas Capital, the former US and Asian buy-out arms of JPMorgan, to advise on strategic options for Edwards.
NPS TO INVEST $1BN MORE IN PROPERTY
The National Pension Service of Korea, the world’s fifth-largest pension fund, has pledged to spend a further $1bn (£643m) on commercial property across Europe, having agreed a new mandate to invest with Rockspring, the UK property asset manager.
EVERCORE TAKES $20M BRAZIL BANK STAKE
Evercore Partners has invested in a boutique bank in Brazil as the independent advisory firm seeks to tap into rising mergers and acquisitions activity in the country. Evercore will pay $20m in cash and securities for a 50 per cent sake in G5, which is focused on M&A and investment management,
THE TIMES
NEW BANK RULES ARE TOO WEAK TO WORK, SAYS MYNERS
The new global deal on banks’ capital was “disappointing” and did not push financial institutions hard enough to become safer, Lord Myners said yesterday. The former City minister, a key figure in formulating the banking bailout in 2008, said that the rules agreed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on Sunday did not go far enough.
IPAD SHORTAGE CONTRIBUTES TO BEST BUY LOSSES
Shortages of Apple’s iPad tablet in the US after the product’s launch deterred customers away from Best Buy, the world’s biggest consumer electronics retailer, and contributed to a loss in its market share in the most recent quarter. However, the US-based retailer beat analysts’ expectations and raised its outlook.
The Daily Telegraph
CHINESE THINK-TANK WARNS US IT WILL EMERGE AS LOSER IN TRADE WAR
A State Council think-tank in China has warned Washington that the US will come off worst in a trade war if it imposes sanctions against Beijing over the two nations’ currency spat. Ding Yifan, a policy guru at the Development Research Centre, said China could respond by selling holdings of US debt, estimated at over $1.5 trillion (£963bn). This would trigger a rise in US interest rates.
WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION TO RULE BOEING $24BN SUBSIDIES ILLEGAL
The World Trade Organisation is expected to rule today that huge subsidies paid to Boeing since the early 1990s are illegal, equalising the score in the epic legal fight between the US planemaker and Europe’s Airbus. The ruling is symbolic as the WTO cannot issue legally binding decisions.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
IBM CHIEF SLAMS HP
International Business Machines’s chief sharply criticised rival Hewlett-Packard, saying it fell behind the technology curve and bungled the removal of its former chief executive, Mark Hurd. In a rare public broadside, IBM Chief Executive Samuel J. Palmisano said he doesn’t worry about companies such as H-P that have slashed their investments in core technologies and need to make expensive acquisitions to keep up.
MANAGEMENT SHAKE-UP AT WARNER BROS RECORDS
In a management shake-up at one of the nation’s biggest music labels, Tom Whalley, chairman and chief executive of Warner Bros. Records, is departing after nine years on the job.
Parent company Warner Music Group said yesterday that Mr. Whalley will be succeeded by Rob Cavallo.