Wednesday newspaper round-up: Amec, RBS, German coalition

27th Nov 2013 08:07

Amec is stalking its American rival Foster Wheeler with a view to potentially pulling off a deal to create a 5bn pound energy services group. Weeks after walking away from a £700m hostile takeover approach for Kentz, Amec is understood to be taking a serious look at a bigger transaction with the acquisition of a competitor that has long had a strong presence in the Scottish oil and gas industry. It is understood that Goldman Sachs investment bankers have been appointed to advise on a potential deal, The Times reports. Royal Bank of Scotland is facing the prospect of a criminal investigation into claims that it defrauded hundreds of small companies by forcing them out of business. The Serious Fraud Office said last night: "We are aware of the situation and we are monitoring it." The fraud agency is understood to have interviewed some businessmen who had contact with RBS's Global Restructuring Group, its controversial division that has been accused of profiteering from distressed businesses, according to The Times. Trucking down the M6 yesterday were rumours that plans to float Manchester-based online fashion retailer Boohoo.com had run into problems due to investors baulking at the potential £500m-plus price tag. Private equity outfit Zeus Capital, which helped mastermind the successful £64m flotation of bargain booze chain Conviviality Retail, was hired in June to explore strategic options. A flotation was deemed the best way forward, considering the London market's renewed enthusiasm for thriving entrepreneurial businesses, according to The Daily Mail. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative alliance on Wednesday struck a deal to form a coalition government with its arch-rival, the centre-left SPD, after weeks of negotiations culminating in an all-night session. But the agreement, which Ms Merkel and her partners will announce later on Wednesday, will not end the country's political uncertainty as the accord now must be put to a referendum of SPD members, the Financial Times reports. Standard & Poor's, the credit rating agency, estimates the banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, may need to pay between $56.5bn and $104bn on legacy mortgage settlements with investors and counterparties. Payments at the upper end of the estimates would wipe out about two-thirds of the $154.9bn litigation buffer estimated to be held by the banks but would not cut into their regulatory capital, the Financial Times writes. Banks may be ordered to hold more capital in the event of a crisis after the Chancellor asked the Bank of England to consider granting itself new powers to regulate lenders. George Osborne said the Bank should decide whether its Financial Policy Committee (FPC) be given control of the so-called "leverage ratio" that would require lenders to hold a greater amount of capital against their assets, The Daily Telegraph says. AB