Wednesday newspaper round-up: BP, Tesco, Tchenguiz

18th May 2011 06:01

Investors have rounded on the BP chief executive Bob Dudley, architect of the "shambolic" Rosneft deal that finally collapsed yesterday, demanding that he carry out a fundamental strategic rethink. BP insisted yesterday that a deal with the Russian state-controlled company could still be revived and that talks would continue, though no date has been set for their resumption, reports the Times.The Telegraph reports that the threat of wildcat strikes engulfing Iraq's oil industry spread to BP's Rumaila field on Tuesday - on the day that the British energy major got its first payment for boosting production at the site. Iraqi state oil workers tried to stop foreign workers entering the site at Rumaila, the country's biggest oil field amid a country-wide dispute about pay.Sir Terry Leahy, the man who turned Tesco into an international supermarket giant, has been appointed as a senior adviser to a leading American private equity firm. The former Tesco chief executive has taken a role as a part-time adviser to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, primarily advising portfolio companies on operations and "related issues" and weighing up investment opportunities, according to the Times.Meanwhile, Tesco has appointed the head of its Japanese operation as group strategy director shortly after Philip Clarke, its new chief executive, hinted the grocer was considering exiting the Asian country. Michael Fleming, who was the chief executive of Tesco Japan for three years, started back in the UK in the first week of May in the newly created role that has a global remit, the Independent reports.Robert Tchenguiz, the Mayfair-based entrepreneur, has challenged his arrest by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) under a judicial review filed at the High Court on Tuesday. The businessman, who made millions in the property boom leading up to the crash of 2007, has branded his arrest "unlawful, aggressive and disproportionate," reports the Telegraph.Thousands of families face wrecked summer holidays after pilots from Virgin Atlantic announced yesterday they are to ballot for a strike in July. The planned action by up to 750 pilots will hit key long-haul routes during the school holidays, the Daily Mail reports.The two remaining runners in the race to buy the Tote yesterday set out details of their offers, each of which values the state-owned bookmakers at about £200m. Britain's fourth biggest bookmaker Betfred, run by founding chairman Fred Done, is up against Sports Investment Partners (SIP), the investment firm led by British Airways chairman Sir Martin Broughton, the Daily Express reports.---RG