O2 chief executive Ronan Dunne is exploring an £8.5bn management buyout bid for the Telefonica-owned mobile telecoms company following regulators’ decision to block Three’s attempt to buy it, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Potential private equity sponsors are said to have approached Dunne, 52, in the last few weeks about carrying out what would be the largest debt-backed buyout since before the financial crisis.
After facing a hike in the price of TV sports rights in the UK following BT’s entry into the market, Sky PLC (LON:SKY) is now looking at a possible 70% rise in the cost of German football rights, the Telegraph also reports.
The broadcaster currently pays €645mln per season for exclusive rights to Bundesliga matches but stronger competition in the German pay-TV business, could force up the annual bill as high as €1.1bn, Ampere Analysis reckons.
The Church of England is investing millions of pounds in Google despite its promise to confront companies that are accused of tax avoidance, according to the Times.
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) , Google’s parent company, is listed in the report as being among the church’s “20 most valuable equity holdings.”
Meanwhile, the controversy over BHS shows no signs of waning with a report claiming a Goldman Sachs banker, who informally helped the chain’s former owner Philip Green to sell it, is set to face MPs.
Anthony Gutman will be quizzed over his advice before Green offloaded BHS to Retail Acquisitions, a little-known outfit led by former racing driver Dominic Chappell.
On the international front, the Financial Times reports that Norway’s US$850bn oil fund plans to sue Volkswagen in a rare legal action that underscores investor anger over the emissions scandal at the German car maker.
And the paper says leading European corporate chiefs have warned that they would reduce investment in the UK if it voted to leave the EU.
The warning has echoes of a report from investment bank Berenberg earlier this year showing that continental European investment in the UK was lacklustre before it joined the bloc in 1973, but soared afterwards.
On the same theme, the Guardian reported that none of the UK’s tech firms worth more than US$1bn back a UK departure from the EU.
Of the 14 companies surveyed by the newspaper, five have come out as explicitly against Britain’s exit from the EU, while the rest either remained officially neutral or declined to comment on the matter.
The newspaper also looked ahead to an announcement from the Competition & Markets Authority on Tuesday in which the regulator is expected to publish initial recommendations from its delayed probe into retail banking.
High street banks will learn whether the CMA intends to press ahead with proposals to cap overdraft charges in an attempt to make it easier for customers to switch current accounts.