PRESS DIGEST - British business - March 14

The Times

EMI FAVOURITE TO BUY CHRYSALIS AS WARNER DROPS OUT OF RACE

On Thursday, it emerged Warner Music (WMG.N) had been sidelined and that EMI was edging closer to winning the auction for Chrysalis (CHS.L), one of Britain's last big independent music groups. Chrysalis owns the music publishing rights to artists such as Blondie, David Gray and much of David Bowie's early work. It is understood a few others are also involved in the auction, but sources said Terra Firma-owned EMI was a strong contender.

UTV COMMITMENT TO BUYING VIRGIN RADIO

UTV (UTV.L) has announced its commitment to buying Virgin Radio, saying it has a similar demographic to its national radio station. The owner of talkSPORT said although the television market was still challenging, this decline was offset by its radio division. SMG is understood to want at least 60 million pounds for the assets.

GALA WARNS THE TREASURY

Gala Coral, the gambling operator, has said that if the Treasury's failure to get rid of VAT on bingo was "the end of the line" on the matter, it would be obliged to "decide on the optimum size of our bingo estate".

The Daily Telegraph

CHANNEL 4 PITCHES FOR PUBLIC SERVICE

Channel 4 has begun another campaign to get more money from the taxpayer by highlighting its public service credentials. The broadcaster has also made a commitment to cut spending on U.S. imports and put more money into news, regional production, British films and shows for older children. Channel 4 is asking for 150 million pounds worth of help from the public purse, but attempts to get it have so far been stalled by premium rate phone-in scandals and the Celebrity Big Brother racism row last year.

GPG SENDS FORM FOR SIEFF TO SACK HIMSELF

The former Marks & Spencer director who chairs Newbury Racecourse (NYR.PZ), Sir David Sieff, has been sent an already filled-in proxy voting form inviting him to sack himself. The sender, Guinness Peat Group, is using some controversial tactics as the race towards Wednesday's extraordinary meeting reaches its final furlong. Sieff said: "The proxy form can only confuse shareholders and muddy the waters. This is the first time I have come across this approach when running the board of a public company."

PATRICIA HEWITT AND LLOYDS TSB CHIEF JOIN BT BOARD

BT (BT.L) has appointed former Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt and Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L) chief executive Eric Daniels to its board. Both Daniels and Hewitt will be paid 60,000 pounds for their role as non-executive directors, but BT also said their salary could rise as they took on additional committee responsibilities. BT non-executives are expected to attend nine board meetings every year.

The Independent

NAPSTER AND O2 LINK UP TO OFFER FIVE MILLION TRACKS