Japanese make £250m swoop for London Pride brewer Fuller’s. One of Britain’s oldest brewers is set to be taken over by a Japanese beer giant after being skewered by the burgeoning craft brewing sector. Fuller Smith & Turner (FSTA), famous for its pints of London Pride, has struck a £250m deal to sell its entire beer business to Asahi, the owner of Peroni, Grolsch and Estrella. The brewer has been making beer in Chiswick, west London, for centuries with its heritage dating back to the late 17th century. Real ale campaigners called it a “very sad day” for the sector. Chief executive Simon Emeny warned “there will be some redundancies” among its 600 brewing staff.
Vodafone ‘pauses’ use of Huawei kit in core networks amid espionage concerns. Vodafone Group (VOD) will pause installation of hardware created by Chinese technology business Huawei in its core networks, the company’s chief executive said on Friday. The decision by Vodafone places more pressure on Huawei, which has seen its hardware blocked by several phone networks around the world in recent months following growing concern over the business’ closeness to the Chinese government. Nick Read, Vodafone’s chief executive, said during the business’ earning call on Friday that Vodafone was communicating with security agencies in the UK, but said that he chose to pause the installation of new hardware in Vodafone’s core network due to “general noise” about the subject. The “noise level is at an unhealthy level across Europe,” Mr Read said of the ongoing debate about the Chinese business. The debate around Huawei risks becoming a “tailspin into more emotion rather than facts,” he said.
Mastercard crashes Visa play for Earthport with £233m bid. Mastercard has made a £233m offer for struggling payments minnow Earthport (EPO) in a bid that scuppers rival Visa’s move for the business. Shares in Earthport soared 29% to 35.9p on Friday after it emerged that Mastercard had trumped Visa’s £200m offer. Visa had hired Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs to advise it on its move and announced its bid last month. Earthport is now urging shareholders to instead vote in favour of a takeover by Mastercard, which at 33p a share is 342% higher than Earthport’s closing price of 7.45p before Visa’s deal was announced.
Barclays banker feared being ‘rumbled’ when sealing deal with Qatar, court hears. Barclays (BARC) bankers allegedly lay a “misleading audit trail” when sealing a deal with Qatar during the financial crisis to avoid being “rumbled” and ending up in jail. In a phone call from 2008 discussing disclosures related to the deal, the bank’s former divisional head Richard Boath was heard telling ex-wealth boss Tom Kalaris there was a risk of being “rumbled” and people saying “well that was b*llshit, [..] this is just a fee in the backdoor”. Mr Kalaris, who is on trial alongside Mr Boath, later responded: “This is one of these things where you know, if you go down, the whole place goes down with you, right?”
Rentokil told to sell contracts to seal merger. Rentokil Initial (RTO), one of the country’s biggest suppliers of soap and hand dryers for public toilets, has been told to sell a number of contracts to secure its merger with Cannon Hygiene, after the competition watchdog warned the deal could lead to higher prices. The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) said it must sell off all of its contracts with national and multinational regional customers that Cannon Hygiene previously served to tie up the deal. The watchdog warned that merger could result in “higher prices or a worst deal for customers”.
Irn Bru maker AG Barr fears more regulation in wake of sugar tax. The maker of Irn Bru has warned on further regulatory invention in the soft drinks industry and Brexit uncertainty despite predicting higher full-year revenues. Barr (A.G.) (BAG), which also makes Rubicon, Stathmore and Funkin, said the sugar tax that came into force in April last year was affecting sales with margins also under pressure. “Further regulatory intervention is on the horizon” and consumer habits were changing, the Scottish soft drink manufacturer said. Last year AG Barr overhauled its range of drinks to reduce sugar content and changed the recipe for its Irn Bru range.
