PRESS DIGEST - British business press - July 26

The Sunday Times

TOP STORE LIBERTY PUT UP FOR SALE

Liberty, the Regent Street retailer, could soon have a new owner after starting a strategic review of the business. The firm is on the verge of hiring the services of the mergers and acquisitions firms Cavendish Corporate Finance and Leisure Partners. The board is this week expected to approve the appointment of the two firms; it may confirm the review in an announcement to the stock exchange. The retailer is 68 percent owned by MWB Group Holdings (MWB.L), the quoted property company. MWB will endeavour to bring in a new investor, possibly from abroad, to acquire all, or part, of its stake. A Source close to the retailer denied the reason behind the review was to decrease MWB's 358 million pound debt pile.

OCADO NEAR DELIVERY ON 40 MILLION POUND CALL

The online grocer Ocado is close to completing a 40 million pound fundraising with the backing of Jorn Rausing, the Tetra Pak billionaire. The website will use the funds to fuel expansion and pay down existing debt ahead of a possible flotation in 2010. Around 20 million pounds of the cash has been raised from some of Ocado's existing 100 shareholders, with a further ten million pounds provided as debt from the Middle East and the Bank of London. Existing financial backers Barclays (BARC.L) and HSBC (HSBA.L) have provided the final ten million pounds.

INDIAN TYCOON TO BID FOR COAL POWER STATION

GMR GMRT.BO, the Indian infrastructure giant founded by GM Rao, has started sounding out City bankers over making a bid for one of the UK's biggest coal-fired power stations. EDF Energy's (EDF.PA) Eggborough power station in North Yorkshire will be offered for sale next month, when hedge funds which hold the rights to acquire the station exercise the option. They then hope to make a quick sale of the station for a profit and have hired the services of Lexicon Partners to manage the auction. The European Commission allowed EDF to buy British Energy for 12.4 billion pounds last year on the condition that some assets were sold, including Eggborough.

Sharewatch

DMGT (DMGOa.L): ("It's probably best to sit this one out for a while.")

The Sunday Telegraph

ZAVVI CREDITORS FACE FIVE PENCE PAYBACK

According to the accountancy firm Ernst & Young, unsecured creditors to Zavvi, the music and video chain that fell into administration late last year, will receive between five and 10 pence in every pound. The forecast payout of one million pounds to two million pounds compares to the 3.2 million pounds in fees received by E&Y since its appointment as administrator to the failed retailer last December. E&Y stated in documents filed at Companies House that unsecured claims from employees in respect of pay in lieu of notice and redundancy is estimated at 4.1 million pounds, with claims from trade creditors totalling 4.3 million pounds, other unsecured claims at 7.6 million pounds and claims from voucher holders standing at 3.5 million pounds.

JURY'S INN HOTEL CHAIN RAISES 60 MILLION POUNDS TO EXPAND ITS BRAND INTO EUROPE

The 60 million pound capital raising by Jury's Inn has been backed by the Oman Investment Fund and Quinlan Private, the investment firm. 15 million pounds have been invested by each of the two investors, with Allied Irish Banks and Anglo Irish putting in a further 30 million pounds of debt between them. The mid-market hotel chain will use the funds to drive its growth in the UK and help it to establish itself on the continent. John Brennan, chief executive, viewed the fundraising as a "vote of confidence" in the company's business model and growth plans.

WS ATKINS SEARCHES FOR CHAIRMAN'S SUCCESSOR

WS Atkins has appointed headhunters Odgers to find a replacement for ED Wallis, the engineering consultancy's chairman. While the search is likely to focus on external candidates, Admiral Lord Boyce, a non-executive director, may be a candidate for the job. The company unveiled strong results in June, with profits ahead of market expectations. Pre-tax profits climbed almost 12 percent to 103 million pounds on an unexpected improvement in profit margins.

Sunday Questor

RPC Group (Buy)

United Utilities (UU.L) (Buy)

Cadbury CBRY.L (Buy)

The Independent on Sunday

INVESTMENT BANK MULLS LISTING

Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller, the investment bank that specialises in financial services, is thought to be studying a possible public listing later this year. The management, headed by the chief executive, Giles Fitzpatrick, and the private equity group JC Flowers, which spearheaded a buyout of the firm from reinsurance group Swiss Re in 2006, both would be in line for millions of pounds in the event of a public listing. It is thought that the bank is seeking advice about a potential flotation, likely to be in London, although a listing in New York remains a possibility.

COUPLE WITH MIDAS TOUCH OPEN NEW CONCESSIONS

Annoushka Ducas and John Ayton, the couple who two years ago sold Links of London for 50 million pounds, are opening their new jewellery concessions in 11 shops on Wednesday. After selling Links, the pair acquired the Pascal jewellery business - originally founded in Liberty's. The business is being rebranded as Annoushka and will have concessions in Belfast, Dublin, Manchester and Leeds. It will also have flagship concessions in Harvey Nichols, Harrods and Selfridges.

MOTORSPORT PROFITS RACE AHEAD

Profits after tax at MotorSport Vision climbed 12 percent to four million pounds for the year to 31 December 2008. The owner of five of Britain's most famous racing circuits, including Brands Hatch, experienced a surge in sales by eight percent to 41.1 million pounds, benefiting from the success of Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton and the extra interest in motorsport it has generated. The circuits the firm owns are its biggest cash generators, contributing 2.8 million pounds of its after-tax profit, 41 percent ahead year-on-year.

The Observer

LENDERS PLAN BREAK-UP OF GALA CORAL

Plans being drawn up by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), the leading lender to Gala Coral, proposing a break up of the debt-laden gambling group with parts sold off to secure urgently needed cash for the private-equity-owned business. The proposal comes in the middle of restructuring talks and ahead of a debt deadline for the gambling group which is jointly owned by Candover, Cinven and Permira. While RBS's loan exposure to Gala Coral's 2.7 billion pounds of debt is relatively small, the bank has an influential role as the agent for all the group's senior debt holders. RBS's proposal appears to have been drawn up without consulting Gala Coral, and the gambling group has told The Observer: 'We are not looking to sell off assets or break up the group.'

NEW ANGLO CHAIRMAN POISED TO SELL OFF TARMAC

Sources in the City say that the new chairman of Anglo American (AAL.L) will order the mining group to speed up plans for asset disposals, including the sale of Tarmac. Last month Anglo rebuffed a merger proposal from Xstrata (XTA.L) and the move is designed to bolster defences ahead of a possible takeover bid by its rival. It is understood that Tarmac has attracted attention from private equity group such as Cinven, CVC and Doughty Hanson. Anglo is also working with its financial adviser Goldman Sachs to sell off a 50 per cent stake in Minas Rio, its Brazilian iron ore operation, which could raise two billion dollars.

BANKS' ASSET PROTECTION STILL NOT FINALISED

The government's 585 billion pound scheme for loans at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) will not be finalised until September, nearly nine months after it was announced. The government has promised that an agreement will be signed by 'late summer'; however, a senior Whitehall source said that because of holidays there would be no sign-off on the asset protection scheme until the autumn. With both banks needing to hold shareholder meetings to endorse the scheme, there will be further delays to its completion and, in addition, the Treasury is unlikely to receive EU state aid approval for the plans for many weeks.

The Mail on Sunday

BA TO REPORT FIRST HIGH-SEASON LOSS

British Airways BAY.L will this week report a first-quarter loss for the first time since privatisation. The airline has been hit by the recession and a sharp drop in business travel across the Atlantic and will reveal a loss of around 100 million pounds, compared with a profit of 37 million pounds in the first quarter of the previous financial year. While BA posted a 401 million pound loss in the year to March, the three months to the end of June are normally a good time for the airline. In contrast, Ryanair (RYA.I) and EasyJet (EZJ.L) will this week demonstrate the strength of the no-frills sector by reporting increases in revenue and profits.

AVIVA IN 500 MILLION POUNDS DEBT ALERT

It is believed that the insurance giant Aviva (AV.L) has a 500 million pound exposure to Modus Ventures, the commercial property empire which has had various parts collapse into administration over the year. Aviva lent Modus funds secured on several shopping centres and administrator KPMG has revealed that the insurer is owed 143 million pounds secured on The Grand Arcade Shopping Centre in Wigan alone. Modus is thought to have good levels of occupancy and rent from many of its businesses, but it has been hit by new developments where funding has dried up. Aviva said that there are no plans to sell the Grand Arcade unless a good offer is made.

TESCO PLANS TO RENT OUT ALLOTMENTS

Tesco (TSCO.L) is to offer allotment spaces to rent next to some of its Dobbies Garden Centre outlets after seeing a rise in the sale of vegetable seeds and chicken coops. The supermarket chain has applied for planning permission for 30 allotment spaces in Southport, Lancashire, and hopes to start letting them in the spring. Others will follow. James Barnes, the chief executive of Dobbies, said that he wants Dobbies centres to become carbon negative and has drawn up plans to quadruple the chain to 100 outlets. Dobbies website will be relaunched in October to help feed demand.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants