WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
DEUTSCHE BANK BACKS €300M SAL OPPENHEIM INJECTION
Deutsche Bank has backed a €300m ($423m) injection of capital for Sal Oppenheim as the two banks continue their talks over a possible equity shareholding. Sal Oppenheim, a 220-year-old institution that claims to be Europe’s largest biggest independent private bank, said the equity injection was made by its shareholders and financed by Deutsche Bank .
ABF SELLS POLISH SUGAR UNIT IN EUROPEAN TIDY UP
Associated British Foods has agreed to sell its Polish sugar business to Pfeifer & Lagen. No price was disclosed for the deal but John Bason, ABF finance director, said the Polish unit had sales of about £100m a year and was profitable. It also had gross assets of £200m at 31 August 2008. Analysts estimate proceeds could be £120m.
ANSCHUTZ $60M JACKSON FILM DEAL APPROVED
Anschutz Entertainment Group has begun the process of recouping some of its losses after Michael Jackson’s death derailed plans for a lucrative 50-night series of concerts at its O2 Arena in London. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Beckloff this week approved a $60m deal in which Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony, is paying AEG and the Michael Jackson estate to produce a feature-length film from footage shot of the singer as he rehearsed.
CEMEX SEALS DEAL WITH CREDITORS ON $15BN DEBT REFINANCING
Shares in Cemex, the Mexican cement manufacturer, leaped to a two-month high yesterday morning after the company confirmed that it had secured 100 per cent support from its bank creditors to refinance about $15bn of company debt. In New York Cemex shares jumped almost 2.6 per cent to $11.2.
THE TIMES
WPP CLOSE TO VODAFONE’S £800M PURSE
WPP is closing in on a deal to handle Vodafone’s global media planning and buying account as the mobile phone group looks to consolidate its advertising strategy across 20 key markets. WPP’s Team Vodafone division is understood to be in pole position to win the contract, although Omnicom’s OMD unit is still in the running. Carat, a division of Aegis Group, is thought to have dropped out of the bidding.
MANY COUNCILS LACK IMAGINATION TO DEAL WITH RECESSION
According to a new report, “When It Comes to the Crunch” by the Audit Commission one in five local authorities is doing nothing whatsoever to get the workforce and local infrastructure ready for the end of the recession.
The Daily Telegraph
RUSSIA’S ECONOMY CONTRACTS 11PC AS PUTIN MODEL HITS ‘DEAD END’
Russia’s economy shrank at an annual rate of 11 per cent in the second quarter and has yet to show any signs of durable recovery, despite the rebound in the price of oil. President Dmitry Medvedev blamed the country’s reliance on energy and commodity exports, saying the economy “crumbled” as the global crisis hit.
INQUIRY INTO WHY SO MANY JOBLESS FAIL TO CLAIM BENEFIT
Yvette Cooper, the Work and Pensions Secretary, has ordered an investigation into the large gap between the number of people out of work and those claiming unemployment benefit. The ONS reported in July there was the biggest quarterly increase in unemployment since records began in 1971 in the three months to May, taking the jobless rate to 7.6 per cent.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
MICROSOFT REACHES DEAL WITH NOKIA ON MOBILE VERSION OF OFFICE
Microsoft has reached an agreement with Nokia to make a mobile version of Microsoft’s Office suite of software that works on Nokia mobile phones, according to a person familiar with the matter. The deal with Nokia, could help Microsoft play a broader role in mobile devices while fortifying its Office business in the face of competition.
WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE STREETS FALL IN VALUE
According to the Wealth Bulletin’s latest list of the World’s Expensive Streets, the overall value of prime residential property on the 10 most expensive streets in the world fell 12 per cent in the past year, with European streets faring better than those in the US and in emerging markets. London has fallen by 20 per cent..