Centrica and British Energy

Centrica (LON:CNA) may reduce the £3.1bn offer that it has made to EDF for a 25% stake in British Energy after European regulators placed strict conditions on the French group's takeover of the nuclear generator.

The European Commission and EDF

The European Commission gave EDF permission yesterday to proceed with the £12.5bn deal under stringent antitrust conditions, reports the Times.

The European Commission will force a sell-off of assets in return for approving Electricité de France's £12.5bn acquisition of British Energy. EDF must sell its non-nuclear power plant at Sutton Bridge and another owned by British Energy at Eggborough to overcome competition objections, the commission ruled yesterday, adds the Independent.

Whittard of Chelsea fends off administration

Whittard of Chelsea, the upmarket tea chain, stood on the brink of administration last night. The 122-year-old chain, which is backed by Landsbanki, the collapsed Icelandic bank, called in Ernst & Young as standby administrator after Landsbanki cut its funding lines, it is understood, reports the Times.

Global M&A tumbles

Preliminary numbers from data consultancy firm Dealogic showed global M&A tumbled by 29% in 2008 taking deals to a combined value of $3.3trillion. Banks refusing to lend to private equity firms and companies scared to take big steps amid market volatility were the main reasons for the fall, reports the Independent.

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca (LON:AZN), the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals group, is looking at developing lower-cost versions of its rivals’ expensive biological medicines as soon as they go off-patent. David Brennan, chief executive, said he was studying the launch of so-called “biosimilars” to build on AZ’s existing operations in biological medicines. “A company like ours with the capability like ours has capacity to do that,” he told the Financial Times.

Bernard Madoff case

One of the biggest investors in Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50bn fraud explicitly warned its clients of the danger that his brokerage “could abscond with those assets”, but still attracted $2.75bn, according to documents sent to investors.

Kingate Global, which channelled its money to Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities to manage, highlighted the risk of giving custody of its assets to its investment manager –Madoff, although he was not named in the documents – and said they would not check the accuracy of statements he provided, reports the FT.

Fairfield Greenwich Group sued for negligence

Fairfield Greenwich Group, the hedge fund that has potentially lost $7.5bn it invested with Bernard Madoff, has been sued by some of its own investors alleging negligence. In a class action led by Pasha and Julia Anwar, Fairfield’s fund managers are accused of failing to manage the investors’ money with due diligence, leading to “avoidable losses”. The investors also attack Fairfield for reaping “unjust” fees writes the Times.

Aer Lingus rejects Ryanair takeover

Aer Lingus, the Irish airline, has urged shareholders to reject the "rip-off" takeover offer from rival Ryanair in a fiery letter to shareholders. The Irish flag-carrier said it would achieve a profit overall in 2008, despite forecasting operating losses of €20m (£18.8m) in November, and told shareholders to "ignore Ryanair's threats, contradictions and insinuations," reports the Telegraph.

Barclays concern

Barclays (LON:BARC) has expressed concern that a £14bn (€15bn) European fund for smaller business loans has been mistakenly presented as a lifeline for firms with cash flow problems. Barclays, the first British bank to access European Investment Bank (EIB) fund, has made clear that the money is only available for firms that have sound trading prospects. Steve Cooper, head of Barclays local business banking, said: "My concern is that people don't really understand what the EIB is about," reports the Telegraph.

US banks struggle to handle mortgage application rush

US banks are having trouble handling a surge of mortgage applications spurred by dramatically lower interest rates, after record loan defaults and thousands of job cuts have stretched mortgage industry resources to the limit. Applications for home loans more than doubled in the two weeks after the Federal Reserve said it would buy mortgage bonds to help stabilise the market, prompting mortgage rates to fall by more than three-quarters of a percentage point, writes the FT.