Friday newspaper round-up: Poundland, Scotland, IMF

The battle for control of Poundland took a fresh twist after a voracious New York hedge fund raised its stake in the high street chain to nearly 25%. The board of Poundland has agreed to a £610m takeover by South African retail group Steinhoff, whose UK empire already includes furniture chains Bensons for Beds and Harveys. But the deal has been dogged by interventions from activist investor Elliott Advisors, which is run by Paul Singer, a self-made billionaire who has been criticised for presiding over a ‘vulture fund’. - The Daily Mail

A revived Scottish independence campaign unveiled today will bring “fresh uncertainty” to the country’s future and be a “major breach of trust” with voters from the 2014 referendum, a group of leading business figures have warned. Nicola Sturgeon will launch the nation’s “biggest ever political listening exercise” in Stirling to discover why “soft” No voters rejected independence two years ago. - The Scotsman

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for the leaders of the world’s leading economies to make a positive case for globalisation after voicing concern that prolonged slow growth and rising inequality is eroding support for free trade and open markets. In a report published before this weekend’s gathering of the G20 group of developed and developing nations in China, the fund warned that slower than expected growth in the US and the knock-on impact of Brexit were likely to result in a fresh downgrade of its forecasts for global activity in 2016. - The Guardian

Hillary Clinton’s presidential ambitions took a knock yesterday when it was alleged that her husband used taxpayers’ money to subsidise their family charity. The Clinton Foundation has cast a shadow over the Democratic nominee amid allegations that donors sought special government favours when she served as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. She denies any conflict of interest, but her poll numbers have suffered amid doubts over her trustworthiness, fuelled in part by the controversy over the private email server she used at the state department. - The Times

Ireland may have to revise its annual GDP figures for the past decade following the European commission’s ruling that the majority of Apple’s overseas profits should have been taxable in the Republic. “If the European commission have ruled this profit should be taxable in Ireland, it should be reflected in the GDP numbers,” said Seamus Coffey, lecturer in economics at University College Cork. He believes the revision, which could be required by the European statistics agency Eurostat, could show that the Irish economy was growing between 6% and 8% a year from 2010 onwards. This would represent a dramatic change, at least on paper: Ireland’s GDP shrank in 2012 and growth was recorded at zero in 2011. - The Guardian

A severe earthquake rocked New Zealand early on Friday, panicking thousands and triggering a low tsunami.The magnitude 7.1 quake shook the populous North Island shortly before dawn, prompting thousands of coastal residents to flee for higher ground. There were multiple reports of cracks in walls of houses and damage to some water supplies but none of death or serious injury. A tsunami warning was issued and later cancelled, with the largest recorded wave measuring just 30 centimetres. - The Times