Below are the key morning press headlines, featuring the The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
The founders of Sophos Group (SOPH) will share a £460 million payday after their company was acquired by an American private equity fund. In the latest overseas takeover of a London-listed company, Thoma Bravo agreed to buy Sophos, the cybersecurity specialist, for $3.8 billion. The San Francisco-based fund has offered $7.40 per share, worth 583p when the deal was unveiled yesterday. The deal was recommended by Jan Hruska and Peter Lammer, Sophos’s founders, and Apax Partners, its largest investor. The likelihood of a counterbid appears remote.
The founder of Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) has accused the firm of failing in its duty to shareholders amid a row about political donations. Peter Hargreaves fell out with the investment platform last week over a planned shareholder vote on making donations to political parties. The 73-year-old billionaire made it clear he would use his 32% stake to oppose the motion, so Hargreaves Lansdown cancelled the ballot at the last minute before its annual meeting.
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct International (SPD) has called for wide-ranging investigation into the sportswear industry, complaining about the dominance of Adidas and Nike. The retailer said the ‘must-have’ brands hold a bargaining position which allows them to control supply and the price of their products. Adidas, for example, has blocked Ashley’s retail empire from selling some of its products, Sports Direct said. ‘Sports Direct believes that the industry as a whole would benefit from a wide market review by the appropriate authorities in both the UK and Europe,’ a spokesman said. Ashley’s grievance stretches as far back as 2013 when the German sportswear group withdrew replica Chelsea shirts from Sports Direct stores. The retailer said the dominance of Nike and Adidas allows them to ‘[refuse] to supply key products… with no apparent justification’.
Energean Oil and Gas (ENOG) has agreed to sell Edison’s North Sea oil and gas assets to private equity-backed Neptune Energy for up to £223million. Mediterranean-focused Energean struck a deal to buy Italian group Edison’s assets for £676million in July. This gave it access to projects in countries including Croatia, Italy and Egypt, as well as the UK and Norwegian areas of the North Sea. Energean chief executive Mathios Rigas made it clear when the Edison deal was inked in July that the company would sell divisions that were not in line with its goal of becoming a major Mediterranean oil and gas player.
Ferrexpo (FXPO) denied yesterday that its chief executive and biggest shareholder had been served with legal papers, amid reports that authorities in Ukraine have started a process to add him to an international wanted list. In the latest stage of a long-running saga, Ferrexpo said in a stock market statement that its board is “closely monitoring” the situation but has been informed that Kostyantin Zhevago “has not been served with any legal notice” and “strongly denies any allegations of wrongdoing”. A month ago, Ferrexpo denied reports that Mr Zhevago was suspected of embezzling about $100 million from Bank Finance and Credit. The Ukrainian lender, which he formerly controlled, was declared insolvent in 2015.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) was forced to develop its own digital bank after the failure of an audacious attempt to buy online lender Monzo, the Daily Telegraph can reveal. Senior executives from the taxpayer-controlled lender approached Monzo for talks before baulking at the price tag. Natwest owner RBS then decided it would be cheaper to set up a rival and designed mobile-focused Bó, which is gearing up to launch next month. It is the first time a large high-street bank is known to have made a move for a challenger firm, and highlights how seriously RBS and other major rivals take the threat posed by Monzo and fellow start-ups such as Revolut.
Ashmore Group (ASHM) led by one of the City’s wealthiest financiers attracted £1.9 billion of new money in the last quarter. Net inflows at Ashmore Group reached $2.4 billion in the three months to the end of September. However, assets under management edged up by only 0.1% to $91.9 billion after $2.3 billion of investment losses in the period offset the new business that the company had pulled in.
China has approved Ganfeng Lithium’s investment in miner Bacanora Minerals Ltd NPV (DI) (BCN) . The Chinese group owns 29.99% of Bacanora and a 22.5% stake in its Sonora lithium mining and processing project in Mexico. Bacanora has received £22million, and Ganfeng’s vice president Wang Xiaoshen has joined its board. Chinese firms have been buying lithium deposits as demand for the metal used in electric car batteries has boomed.