PRESS DIGEST - British business - Nov 16

The Times

KING IS FACING BATTLE ON TWO FRONTS AS RIVALS LURE SHOPPERS FROM SAINSBURY'S

J Sainsbury(SBRY.L) has seen over 11 million pounds of spending move to competitors in the 12 weeks to November according to confidential industry "switching" data. Four million pounds switched to Waitrose, with 2.5 million pounds going to Aldi and two million pounds to Tesco(TSCO.L). The figures mean that chief executive Justin King is losing money both to upmarket competitors and more value-focused rivals. A spokesman for Sainsbury's said the supermarket continued to grow its market share.

BAKER AIMS AT MATALAN

Former Boots chief executive Richard Baker looks set to lead a 1.5 billion pound private equity bid for Matalan [MTLAN.UL] by Poundland owner Advent International. John Hargreaves, Matalan's owner, put the retailer on the market last month. Private equity funds including TPG and CVC are said to be interested.

VIRGIN MEDIA HITS THE PAUSE BUTTON ON SALE OF CHANNELS

Virgin Media has shelved its plan to sell its wholly-owned VMTV television channels as it considers other options to raise cash. The channels, worth 160 million pounds, include Living, Bravo and Trouble. Virgin is now considering offloading its channels in a package alongside its 300 million pound half-share in UKTV. Previously, the bidders for the VTMV channels had been narrowed down to Viacom, Time Warner and BSkyB(BSY.L), and Virgin is now asking these companies whether they want to buy UKTV as well. UKTV has been the most successful multichannel broadcaster in the sector recently.

The Daily Telegraph

CAZENOVE PARTNERS IN LINE FOR WINDFALL

JP Morgan is close to agreeing the one billion pound acquisition of The Queen's stockbroker Cazenove. Under the terms of the tie-up between the two five years ago, the American investment bank has until February 2010 to exercise an option to buy the remaining 50 percent of its investment banking partner. The 950 million pound windfall will be shared out amongst Cazenove's 15,000 shareholders, mostly comprised of current and former employees.