Arsenal FC takeover battle looms as stake sold - papers

The Arsenal boardroom power struggle could heat up after the club's fourth-largest shareholder appointed a firm to find a buyer for her shares.

Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, who owns 15.9% of shares, has called in US brokers Blackstone to sell her shares, the BBC reports.

The move could start a bidding war between the two largest shareholders US billionaire Stan Kroenke, who holds 29.98% of the shares, and Alisher Usmanov.

Lady Bracewell-Smith's husband Sir Charles said an imminent sale was "unlikely".

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THE NUMBER OF UK retailers going to the wall in the wake of the credit crisis has fallen to the lowest number in any quarter for the past four years, the Financial Times reports.

Retail administrations were down 65% year-on-year, according to research from Deloitte.
UK retailers put into administration in Q1 2010 fell to 44, compared with 124 in the first quarter of 2009 at the height of the crisis.

The latest count is down 6% from the previous quarter, and administrations of all companies were down 46% in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the same period last year.

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MERGERS AND AQUISITION activity is set to intensify as the weak pound makes UK firms more attractive to overseas suitors in search of bargains, it has been predicted, the Scotsman reports.

But the recovery in western economies may run out of steam later this year, according to investment house Threadneedle, with growth estimates for next year pared back as a result.

Caution was also echoed by Barclays Wealth, which forecast a sluggish economic recovery over the rest of 2010.

Threadneedle's latest investment outlook cites a combination of high free cash-flows, low returns on cash and attractive valuations as drivers of M&A activity in the coming months.

Sarah Arkle, chief investment officer at Threadneedle, says: "Currency effects have made UK companies particularly attractive to overseas suitors and this market, with its constructive takeover laws, may be a focus of corporate activity."

M&A activity may also be boosted by strong equity performance, itself supported by a benign global inflation outlook that means any interest rate hikes in developed economies will be gradual, says Arkle.

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