Friday newspaper round-up: Smith & Nephew in Biomet talks, Goldman Sachs...

14th Jan 2011 06:38

US orthopaedics giant Biomet is set to begin informal talks with Smith & Nephew (S&N) about a potential £15bn merger.A merger of the private equity-backed company and S&N, which advisers have been working on, would scupper the ambitions of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) which has been stalking the UK group with a possible cash offer. The Biomet deal would see the combined group relist on the London market, with S&N shareholders taking the lion's share of the equity, the Telegraph reports.Goldman Sachs has revealed details of about $5bn in investment losses suffered during the crisis for the first time this week, in a move that will deepen the debate over companies' financial disclosures. The figures, issued as part of internal reforms aimed at silencing Goldman's critics, show that the bank suffered $13.5bn in losses from "investing and lending" with its own funds in 2008, the FT reports.EU authorities fear that China's purpose in buying eurozone debt may be double-edged, intended to push up the euro exchange rate against the yuan and gain advantage for exports. Herman Van Rompuy, Europe's president, said during a visit to Downing Street that the Chinese may have "political" thoughts in the back of their minds for coming to Europe's help, and gave a strong hint that they are also engaging in currency manipulation, the Telegraph reports.The European Central Bank has signalled that the growing threat of inflation could prompt it to raise interest rates across the eurozone sooner than expected. The bank's president Jean-Claude Trichet said evidence of "short-term" upward pressures on prices, mostly due to the cost of energy, had not "so far" affected the bank's view on price stability but required "very close monitoring", the Telegraph reports.David Cameron is under mounting pressure to introduce a fuel price stabiliser after it emerged that rising oil prices are set to earn the Treasury a windfall of at least £2bn. The Government will collect about £12bn in tax on North Sea oil revenues - 20% more than ministers had forecast, according to latest figures, the Telegraph reports.Labour won the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election late on Thursday night in a blow to the coalition government in its first electoral test. Labour took 42% of the vote, the Lib Dems got 32% and the Conservatives gained just 13%, half their level in May's election, as their supporters voted tactically for their coalition partners, the FT reports.Sales of personal computers are falling short of expectations, as the buzz around Apple's iPad draws consumers to alternative tablet devices. International Data Corporation, which publishes the Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, said sales were up 2.7% to 92.1m in the quarter, below the 5.5% growth expected. David Daoud, research director at IDC, said growth had steadily slowed throughout last year, as low-cost netbooks lost their allure, the Independent reports.School-leavers could be paid upwards of £20,000 a year while they study at university, in a landmark scheme launched by KPMG yesterday. The programme is the latest attempt by Britain's leading accountancy firm to capitalise on anxiety over rising university fees. High-achieving school graduates who commit to a six-year training contract will be put through an accountancy degree at the University of Durham Business School and receive a professional practising qualification from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Times reports.A former City analyst was fined £50,000 yesterday for misleading investors by passing on a false "hot" tip about a company when he had no inside knowledge of the business. The Financial Services Authority said that Christopher Gower, who worked at the broker MF Global, had failed to meet expected standards of conduct after sending a "careless" message on his Bloomberg terminal that sent shares in Enterprise Inns, the pubs operator, soaring, the Times reports.Ferrovial is to sell a stake in BAA in an attempt to cut the enormous debt burden that it took on when it bought the airport operator. The Spanish infrastructure giant is in talks with several pension and sovereign wealth funds to sell a 10% stake in BAA, which owns Heathrow, Stansted and four other airports in Britain. The company might raise only €200m (£168.6m) from the sale, however, because whoever buys the stake will have to assume a share of BAA's £11bn of debt, the Times reports.