Friday newspaper round-up: Reddit, water suppliers, Britishvolt

The billionaire businessman Mike Ashley has claimed he was the victim of “abuse” by Morgan Stanley amid a high court dispute over the investment bank’s decision to impose a near $1bn (£790m) cash demand. Ashley’s Frasers Group is taking legal action against the US investment bank Morgan Stanley and Denmark’s Saxo Bank over the May 2021 move linked to bets placed on shares in the German retailer Hugo Boss. – Guardian

Reddit set the stage for its highly anticipated stock market debut, preparing investors for the largest initial public offering by a major social network in four years. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday disclosed the financial performance of the social media group, and revealed that Sam Altman, the OpenAI founder and CEO, is its third-largest shareholder, with an 8.7% stake. – Guardian

Water suppliers such as Thames Water are at risk of collapsing into administration if they are fined for bad behaviour, MPs have warned, potentially landing taxpayers with a multi-billion pound bailout bill. In a letter to Ofwat, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee indicated that the watchdog has been rendered powerless to crack down on misdemeanours because of suppliers’ financial instability. – Telegraph

Telefonica has written down the value of its stake in Virgin Media O2 by €1.8bn (£1.5bn) as the telecoms company grapples with soaring debt costs. The Spanish mobile giant said it had booked a €1.8bn goodwill impairment in its 50pc stake in VMO2, blaming rising interest rates and “broader macroeconomic conditions in the UK”. – Telegraph

Administrators for the collapsed battery factory project Britishvolt have said they are still chasing money from the Australian buyer of the site and are considering other potential deals. Recharge Industries is still “in default” a year after it agreed to buy the site in Cambois, Northumberland, where Britishvolt had previously said it wanted to build a factory, according to EY. – The Times