PRESS DIGEST - British business - June 9

The Times

WOOLWORTHS PREPARES TO MAKE INROADS IN INDIA'S TOY MARKET

In an attempt to gain a foothold in the toy market in India, Woolworths WLW.L has forged a partnership with the Calcutta-based conglomerate RPG. The agreement will see Woolworths' Chad Valley toys sold at RPG's Spencer's Retail stores. There are also plans for the opening over the next 18 months of two standalone Woolworths outlets in India. Woolworths' Ladybird range of children's clothing is likely to be introduced in India by September.

BRITISH ENERGY

A French takeover of British EnergyBGY.L worth 40 billion pounds could be completed within weeks. British Energy owns most of the UK's nuclear sites. Electricite de France(EDF.PA) is having advanced talks with British Energy's advisers. It has now begun fundraising to formalise the bid. The company wants to raise about 115 billion pounds.

VODAFONE

In the telecoms industry, the mobile phone group Vodafone(VOD.L) is close to agreeing a deal to buy the Italian fixed-line broadband company, Tiscali for 1.2 billion pounds. It is a move that would put it in competition with BT(BT.L), Virgin Media and BSkyB(BSY.L) for customers in the UK.

The Daily Telegraph

BOOTS' BOSS FORGOES DIVIDEND PAYOUT

The executive deputy chairman of Alliance Boots [AB.UL], Stefano Pessina, said he will forgo a multi-million pound dividend payment as the company prepares to report its full year results after going private a year ago. Profits are expected to be well up. Banking sources are predicting as much as a 20 per cent rise to 770 million pounds. Mr Pessina said that he had never had a year without EBIT growth of less than ten per cent.

B&B CHARM OFFENSIVE TO PROMOTE 400 MILLION POUNDS RESCUE

Bradford and BingleyBB.L is to launch a charm offensive in an attempt to convince shareholders to support its 400 million pound fundraising. Management will meet investors to try to convince them that the deal with Texas Management Group is the best way to protect the company. The company made a deal to sell 23 per cent of the company to TPG for 179 million pounds. It is also raising 258 million pounds from a rights issue, the price of which was dropped from 85 pence to 55 pence per share.

CHARCOL JOBS TO GO AS LENDING SLOWS

It is expected that John Charcol will this week axe up to 50 of its 265 staff in a restructuring as it counts the cost of the slowdown in the mortgage market. Founder John Garfield will lead the restructuring and will install himself as chief executive, replacing Ian Kennedy. The last set of accounts from Charcol showed that the independent mortgage broker was making a loss and last year Mr Garfield and co-founder Charles Wishart tried to sell the company but rejected expressions of interest as short of the asking price of 50 million pounds.

The Independent

TESCO CAN WEATHER STORM WITH SOLID UK GROWTH

Tesco(TSCO.L) is due on Tuesday to publish a first quarter update. Analysts expect it to report a solid start to the year in the UK, despite evidence of declining sales performance. TNS data shows the company's sales performance has waned slightly since the March bounce back in relation to the rest of the industry.

SILVERJET RESCUE MISSION PREPARES FOR TAKE-OFF

A rescue deal for Silverjet is expected to be announced as early as today. Chief executive Lawrence Hunt has been in talks with Begbies Traynor and three groups interested in acquiring Silverjet. Swiss investment group Heritage said that they had tabled a formal bid for Silverjet. The company's shares were trading at 13 pence on suspension but had been up to 175 pence last summer.

UBS HOLDS TALKS WITH INFORMA ON THREE BILLION POUNDS MERGER

United Business Media(UBM.L) and Informa(INF.L) are holding talks over a merger to create a global business group worth 3.1 billion pounds. Both companies confirmed the talks on Sunday but said that there was no certainty that any transaction would take place. Informa has been vulnerable to bid approaches for several months as its share price has been depressed by concerns over its 1.1 billion pounds of debt.

The Guardian

M&S PLANS OLYMPIAN STORE IN EAST LONDON

Marks and Spencer(MKS.L) is planning a massive new store on the Stratford City shopping mall at the gateway to the Olympic site. Chief executive, Sir Stuart Rose, has signed a contract with Westfield for the 200,000 square foot outlet. On Sunday Marks and Spencer dismissed reports it is losing market share to rivals. TNS figures show Marks and Spencer's share of spending on womenswear down 0.4 per cent to 13.2 per cent.

CATHOLIC AND CHELSEA TO MERGE

Chelsea Building Society is to merge with smaller rival Catholic. This comes amid fears that the building society sector is feeling the pressure of the credit crunch. Catholic's 4,000 members are to expect a windfall payout as a result of the deal. It has just 40 million pounds of assets. Chelsea has been increasing its business in buy-to-let in the two years to 2007, with its lending rising to 35 per cent.

UK TRAILING IN GLOBAL BROADBAND LEAGUE

Representatives from the government, Ofcom and industry are to hold a crisis summit on Monday to discuss how to stop the UK slipping down the global broadband league. The Broadband Stakeholders Group is to tell the meeting that the long-term benefits of having the next generation of super-fast networks will outweigh the estimated 16 billion pounds that it will cost to introduce them. Bottlenecks are appearing in broadband networks due to the take-up of video over internet services and BT(BT.L) and Virgin Media (VMED.O) are already experimenting with faster services.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants