Below are the key morning and weekend press headlines, featuring the The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
Cobham (COB) is to be loaded up with debt after a controversial £4bn takeover by US private equity firm Advent. The 85-year-old British pioneer of air-to-air refuelling is expected to issue more than £1bn of bonds following the deal, which was waved through late on Friday night by Andrea Leadsom, the Business Secretary, in the face of a furious backlash from its founding family. Advent is funding the takeover with £1.2bn of its own money and using short-term loans arranged with banks including Credit Suisse, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs for the remainder. - The Telegraph
Boris Johnson has defended the controversial £4bn takeover of UK defence and aerospace company Cobham (COB) by a US private equity firm. The government approved the sale of Cobham to Advent International after the deal was delayed because of national security concerns. When asked during a visit to see British troops in Estonia how comfortable he was with the takeover, Mr Johnson said: “I think it’s very important that we should have an open and dynamic market economy. “A lot of checks have been gone through to make sure that in that particular case all the security issues that might be raised can be satisfied and the UK will continue to be a very, very creative and dynamic contributor to that section of industry and all others.” - The Times
Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) said it will miss targets for the fourth quarter and take a $2.3bn hit on poorly performing operations in a disappointing end to a difficult year for the oil giant. The company forecast “materially lower” margins in its chemicals business and cut back projection for quarterly sales of oil products, which include gasoline, aviation fuel, and lubricants. It also highlighted impairment charges of nearly $2.3bn but did not specify what the costs related to. However, they are likely to pertain to Shell’s shale operations in the US. In recent months, oil majors have written down close to $20bn, mainly in their US shale assets, as an oversupply of gas pushes down prices. - The Telegraph
Tesco (TSCO) says it has suspended production at a factory in China alleged to have forced foreign prisoners to help make charity Christmas cards and also withdrawn them from sale. The allegations came to light after the Sunday Times reported that Florence Widdicombe, aged six, from Tooting, south London, opened a box of charity Christmas cards from the supermarket and discovered a plea for help inside one of them. The message read: “We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qinqpu prison China. Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organization.” It also urged the reader of the message to contact Peter Humphrey, a former journalist who spent 23 months imprisoned at the same Qingpu prison. Florence’s father, Ben Widdicombe, contacted Humphrey, who took the story to the Sunday Times. - The Guardian
The US private equity giant behind Addison Lee is expected to unveil a swoop on Aim-listed Harwood Wealth Management Group (HW.) tomorrow amid ongoing consolidation across the financial planning sector. Carlyle Group, which has held a majority stake in Addison Lee since 2013 and which also bankrolled Taylor Swift’s former record label, has reportedly struck a £100m deal for Harwood, a price in line with the company’s market capitalisation at the close on Friday. Over the past two months, shares in Harwood have surged by 24%. According to Sky News, which reported the acquisition, the deal will be unveiled when the London Stock Exchange opens tomorrow morning. - The Telegraph
Babcock International Group (BAB) believes it has identified the anonymous analyst behind a damaging attack on the company. Babcock, one of the Ministry of Defence’s biggest suppliers, was blindsided in October last year when a previously unknown organisation, Boatman Capital Research, published a highly critical dossier. The report claimed the company had “systematically misled investors by burying bad news about its performance”, and called for the departures of chief executive Archie Bethel and then chairman Mike Turner. The 23-page attack wiped more than 5%, or £130m, from the company’s market value. Babcock published a rebuttal, claiming the report contained “many false and malicious statements”. The board hired the investigative firm Kroll to trace the author. It is believed to have identified David Robertson, a former journalist at The Times who worked at the corporate intelligence firm K2 and now runs his own company. Babcock is believed to have written to Robertson, 46, warning him to cease and desist, but is not thought to be taking further action. - The Times
M&C Saatchi (SAA) has been hit by a row with a contractor who alleged it had overcharged a client by inflating the number of hours he and other staff had worked. The advertising agency launched an investigation after the contractor claimed that one of its South African subsidiaries, Creative Spark, was overcharging a client in the healthcare sector by hundreds of hours. M&C Saatchi disputed his claims and said the investigation had found no evidence of wrongdoing, with the client reappointing the agency. It said the allegations were an attempt to damage the agency and ensure it lost the contract to service Medscheme. However, The Sunday Times has seen WhatsApp messages in which staff in South Africa appear to discuss how to inflate the number of hours billed. - The Times
A boardroom row has erupted at Aviva (AV.) over its refusal to trigger a radical break-up plan designed to drag the insurer out of its prolonged stock market slump. It is understood that some of its top directors have been pushing for the struggling insurer to consider splitting itself in two amid concerns that it could become the target of an aggressive activist investor. Senior City sources say such a bold move could boost Aviva’s flagging stock market value by as much as £3bn and see off the possible threat of an activist campaign from a powerful Wall Street agitator such as Elliott Management or Carl Icahn. The company is currently valued at £16.3bn on the London stock exchange. - The Telegraph
Britain’s largest grocers are cutting prices to the bone in a tense festive stand-off with shoppers that has left stores facing a Christmas ‘bloodbath’. Food industry sources said sales at major supermarket chains, which have been poor for weeks, have crashed in the past ten days and left many stores struggling to match last year’s festive period. Bosses at some major names are said to have been left reeling by declines of as much as 10% on the weakest days compared to last year – possibly made worse by recent bad weather. Experts suggested ‘subdued’ consumers have snapped up essentials in shops while cutting back on treats. They also said the relentless growth of Aldi and Lidl means spending is spread more thinly across more shops across the UK. The result has been a pile-up of fresh stock for some stores. The market is awash with huge discounts including Tesco’s price-leading 500g of sprouts at 19p – less than a penny per sprout. It is also selling whole salmon at £5.50, half the previous price. Asda, Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) , Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) –which together with Tesco (TSCO) are the country’s four largest retailers – all have similar discounts on fresh produce. That includes drastic cuts on loose vegetables, but also lamb, beef joints and fish. - The Mail