Tuesday newspaper round-up: Greece, C&W Worldwide, Tesco windows,

5th Jul 2011 06:03

Efforts to rescue Greece hit a new roadblock after Standard & Poor's declared that a French plan to involve the private sector would constitute a default by Athens. S&P said that proposals from the Fédération Bancaire Française to participate in a rollover of Greek debt would lead to a downgrade in its rating on Greece's public debt to "Selective Default", says the Times.Cable and Wireless Worldwide faces the risk of a showdown with shareholders after a leading UK investor body raised concerns about the pay policy for top executives at the troubled telecoms company and its recent boardroom shake-up. The Association of British Insurers has issued a so-called amber-top alert to shareholders about C&W Worldwide, which is reeling from three profit warnings in less than a year and has its annual meeting on July 21, reports the Financial Times.The door-to-door double glazing salesman may finally have met his match: Tesco is inviting customers to add PVC windows and conservatories to their shopping baskets. In the latest chapter of Tesco's voyage beyond groceries, Britain's biggest supermarket group is to offer customers conservatories, windows and doors through a contract with Job Worth Doing, a home maintenance company, the Times reports.Banks should offer 'mates mortgages' to help groups of friends buy a home together, a Government minister will say today. Grant Shapps will urge lending giants to send a lifeline to the record numbers of first-time buyers struggling to get on the property ladder, reports the Daily Mail. The new owner of the Tote has become embroiled in a row with rival bookmaker William Hill for refusing to pay out on some bets after a £4m gambling coup last year by trainer Barney Curley. Fred Done, whose Betfred bookie won the race for the Tote with a £265m bid, is continuing to resist paying five punters who placed bets showing profits of £823,000 with its Gibraltar-based online wing, Betfred.com, reports the Telegraph.A rising number of US ­companies have moved to streamline operations this year through asset sales and spin-offs in a bid to remedy lacklustre stock ­market valuations for ­conglomerates. Divestitures have risen to a record share of global mergers and acquisitions activity so far this year, according to Dealogic data, the Financial Times reports.China's dominance of the production of rare-earth metals, which are used in everything from iPods and flat-screen TVs to missiles, could soon be at an end after Japanese researchers said they had found massive deposits of the minerals on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. China accounts for 97% of the world's production of 17 rare-earth elements, whose unique electrical, magnetic, optical and thermal properties make them vital ingredients for some of the most technologically advanced products, the Independent reports.The economic chill has prompted the bakery chain Greggs to jump into the freezer. The company is moving into frozen foods after striking a deal with the retailer Iceland to sell frozen versions of its sausage rolls for home-baking. Greggs is trialling the idea at 10 Iceland shops in the Merseyside area which will sell packs of the pastries, reports the Independent.China's Hsu Fu Chi International - which makes candies, pastries and puddings - is in talks with companies from Japan and Europe, including the world's largest food company Nestlé, a company spokeswoman said on Monday, according to the Guardian.Also in China-related M&A talk in the food sector, shares in Treasury Wine Estates, the world's second largest winemaker, rose by 9% on reports that a Chinese food company is considering making a bid for the Australian owner of the Wolf Blass and Penfolds brands, the Telegraph reports.