Tuesday newspaper round-up: T-Mobile, Cadbury, National Express

8th Sep 2009 06:12

Deutsche Telekom, the owner of T-Mobile, has decided to pursue a joint venture in the UK with Orange rather than an outright sale of its British division.A future with Orange, owned by France Télécom, would create a new market leader, pushing Telefónica's O2 off the top spot, with 37% of the UK mobile market and a combined 30m customers, excluding those of Virgin Mobile, which uses T-Mobile's network, the Times writes. Vodafone and Telefónica had tabled offers of about £3.5 bn for T-Mobile UK, which has 16.6m customers. Leading shareholders in Cadbury have comprehensively rejected Kraft's £10.2bn proposed bid. Legal & General, Cadbury's biggest investor, backed Cadbury management's decision to rebuff the 745p a share offer , saying it was too low, and lent its support to Cadbury's own cost-cutting initiatives,the Telegraph reports. Another leading shareholder called for an 800p all-cash offer or at least 850p in cash and shares.Northern Rock chairman Ron Sandler has been lined up as the new executive chairman of insurance group Pearl, The Daily Telegraph has learned. Mr Sandler, who was appointed to oversee the bank's rehabilitation last year, will join the "zombie" insurer - so-called because it consolidated closed life businesses - to oversee its restructuring.Regulators have agreed tough new rules for banks that flesh out proposals agreed by the G20 group of nations over the weekend that would force many in Europe to raise tens of billions of euros in capital in coming months. The rules will force banks to substantially improve the quality and extent of the capital buffers they hold to absorb shocks, the FT reports. At least half of the capital cushion of banks must comprise common equity and retained earnings under measures agreed by the powerful Basel committee of central bank governors and bank regulators.Building society leaders have called on the City watchdog to suspend the imposition of its planned new mortgage lending restrictions. They say that the proposed new curbs are unfair because they will apply to them but not to banks.The Financial Services Authority (FSA) argued that the changes were necessary to prevent a repeat of the problems suffered by some mutual lenders in the run-up to the credit crunch, the Times writes. National Express is working on a daring last-ditch plan to offer its UK bus and rail franchises directly to Stagecoach in a side deal that could save it from a takeover by CVC. The transport group, which is advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Greenhill, was weighing up last night whether to accept a £765m joint bid from CVC and Stagecoach or to sell assets, the Times reports.Two funds managed by Goldman Sachs opted to convert their bonds in Groupe Eurotunnel into shares. The two funds, together known as Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners, would hold about 21.2% of Groupe Eurotunnel immediately after the conversion took place, the FT reports.Tesco is continuing to invest in the future growth of its US Fresh & Easy stores, in spite of the UK supermarket group saying earlier this year that it had put the second stage of its US expansion in northern California 'on hold', the FT writes.The number of rental properties coming on to the market is falling quickly, leading to less choice and potentially higher rents for those priced off the housing ladder. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reported that 6% more estate agents reported a rise rather than a fall in new instructions from landlords in the three months to July 31, down from 21% in the previous three months, the Times reports. Royal Bank of Scotland has reduced its future overdraft charges before a decision is reached in the long-running court battle over the legality of the controversial fees levied by banks and building societies. The decision to lower the charges, which also affects customers of NatWest, the RBS subsidiary, will see the cost of a bounced cheque or an unpaid direct debit or standing order fall from £38 to £5, the Times reports.Retail sales slipped back in August after two months of robust growth, sparking fears over the strength of a recovery in consumer spending. Underlying retail sales fell by a worse than expected 0.1% last month, after a rise of 1.8% in July and 1.4% in June, the British Retail Consortium-KPMG Sales Retail Monitor revealed, the Independent reports.