PRESS DIGEST - British business press - July 3

Thursday, 3 July 2008

The Times

FIRESALE BECKONS AS TAYLOR WIMPEY FUNDRAISING FAILS

Taylor Wimpey(TW.L) said that it could not rule out a sale of the business as it revealed on Wednesday that it had failed to raise nearly 500 million pounds of fresh funding. Peter Redfern, chief executive, said that the company would continue to talk to its institutional investors and to potential backers and insisted that there was no short-term cashflow problem. Taylor Wimpey will not breach its lending covenant until February, but analysts say that there is a danger that the group could collapse at that point. Shares slumped 42 per cent to 35 pence.

REED ELSEVIER HOPES LOAN OFFER CAN KICK-START AUCTION

Unable to persuade banks to provide enough financing for would-be buyers of its business magazine division, Reed Elsevier(REL.L) has been forced to offer its own top-up loan to sweeten any deal. The decision to offer a loan demonstrates that the credit crunch has barely eased. Parties interested in the Reed Business Information division are dominated by private equity groups, such as Advent (ADV.L), 3i(III.L), Candover(CDI.L) and Cinven [CINV.UL], all of which would need financing to complete the deal.