LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Here are the top stories on Thomson Financial News OFT recommends Competition Commission inquiry into BSkyB's ITV stake buy
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Britain's Office of Fair Trading said British Sky Broadcasting's controversial purchase of a 17.9 pct stake in ITV late last year should be referred to the Competition Commission for further investigation.
In a report that has been handed to the Department of Trade and Industry, the OFT said BSkyB's November swoop on ITV had caused 'a substantial lessening of competition' within the UK TV industry. Sulzer drops Bodycote takeover ambitions
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Swiss engineering group Sulzer said it will not pursue its attempted takeover of Bodycote International after its UK rival knocked back an indicative 344.5 pence per share offer earlier today.
Earlier today, Bodycote rejected the improved 1.1 bln stg bid, saying it was short of the figure Bodycote told Sulzer would be enough to allow them access to Bodycote's books. Royal Bank of Scotland consortium says intends to make public offer for ABN
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - A consortium of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Banco Santander Central Hispano and Fortis NV has said that it intends to make a public offer for 100 pct of ABN Amro Hldgs NV.
The banks said that under Dutch regulations they cannot disclose full terms of the offer for seven days, but on Wednesday the consortium indicated that it may offer 39 eur per share for the Dutch bank, providing that the sale of LaSalle to Bank of America Corporation does not go through. India clears Vodafone 11.1 bln usd bid for Hutchison
NEW DELHI (Thomson Financial) - India's foreign investment body today cleared Vodafone's 11.1 bln usd plan to buy mobile phone operator Hutchison Essar.
The decision had been delayed three times by the government as it scrutinised Vodafone's deal to purchase India's fourth-largest mobile company to see whether it complied with the country's foreign investment limits. Friends Provident Q1 total new business sales up 12 pct at 1.497 bln stg
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Friends Provident PLC said new business sales for the three months to end March 2007 rose by 12 pct to 1.497 bln stg, up from 1.331 bln stg in the same period last year.
The result was marginally higher than analysts' expectations of 1.482 bln stg. Cross Shore agrees to reverse takeover of ReSearch Pharmaceutical
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Cross Shore Acquisition Corp said it has agreed to a reverse takeover of Pennsylvania-based ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services Inc for about 39.1 mln usd cash plus shares and warrants.
'It provides us with the resources to aggressively expand our operations into China, India, Eastern Europe and other key markets,' Daniel Perlman, chairman and chief executive of ReSearch Pharmaceutical, said in a statement. British Airways says to increase long-haul fuel surcharges on higher oil price
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - British Airways has announced it is increasing its long-haul fuel surcharge from May 2 in reaction to rising oil prices.
The surcharge on long-haul flights of less than than nine hours will rise 10 pct to 33 stg per flight (66 stg return), the company said. The charge for fights longer than nine hours increases from 35 stg per flight to 38 stg (76 stg return). Taube Hodson Stonex further cuts stake in Alliance Boots to 0.672 pct
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Taube Hodson Stonex Partners Ltd said it has sold a further 7.9 mln shares in takeover target Alliance Boots PLC at 1121 pence each, cutting its stake to 0.672 pct from 1.49 pct.
Taube Hodson Stonex Partners now holds 6.5 mln shares in Alliance Boots. Tesco could make joint bid for Coles with Australia's Woolworths - report
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Tesco PLC could team up with Australia's biggest retailer, Woolworths, to mount a bid of at least 7.9 bln stg for Coles Group Ltd, the country's second biggest retail group, reports The Times.
It says Woolworths is considering a partnership with Tesco as one of several options as it plans the carve-up of its rival. John Lewis week to Apr 21 dept store sales up 11.9 pct, Waitrose up 24.8 pct
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - John Lewis Partnership, the employee-owned retailer, said week to April 21 sales at its 26 UK department stores increased by 11.9 pct to 45.55 mln stg, while sales at its chain of 183 Waitrose supermarkets rose by 24.8 pct to 74.84 mln stg.
Total sales grew by 19.6 pct to 120.55 mln stg. Dassault Systemes acquires UK's ICEM for 51.4 mln eur cash
PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Dassault Systemes DS said it has agreed to acquire ICEM, a UK group specializing in styling, surface modelling and rendering software, for about 51.4 mln eur in cash.
The purchase, which is subject to closing conditions, is not expected to be dilutive to non-GAAP earnings, the group said in a statement. It gave no indication on the impact under IFRS earnings. COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.