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: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) had been sidelined and that EMI was edging closer to winning the auction for Chrysalis (CHS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), 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: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) 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