Sunday newspaper round-up: Aviva-Friends Life, Coutts, Quindell

Clive Cowdery, whose Resolution acquisition vehicle bought Friends Provident in 2009, will make about £160m from Aviva's takeover of Friends Life, the Sunday Times said. The roles of chairman, chief executive and finance director at the combined company will go to the Aviva incumbents, according to the Sunday Telegraph. Aviva is trying to persuade its own shareholders about the wisdom of the deal, the Mail on Sunday said.

Italy's leading domestic bank, Intesa SanPaolo, is studying a possible offer for Coutts, the wealth management arm of RBS. That would come as part of a strategy to deploy €16bn in excess capital, Intesa's chief Carlo Messina told the Financial Times in a video interview. Asset managers, insurers and private banks are all in his sights, with expansion in the UK a top priority, he told the newspaper. However, the question remains whether RBS can be persuaded to sell the entirety of Coutts, including the prized UK business.

A veteran technology analyst gave Quindell's stockbroker Cannaccord Genuity a list of concerns about the company shortly before it was attacked by a US short seller, the Sunday Times alleged. In expressing his concerns on April 22nd, Kevin Ashton also recommended Cannacord quit as Quindell's broker, the paper said. Cannaccord told the paper Ashton had a personal dispute with Quindell's founder, Rob Terry. The broker said it was confident in the integrity of its research.

Quindell is likely to consider selling peripheral businesses after the departure of founder and former Chairman Rob Terry, the Sunday Telegraph reported. It is understood the company does not need cash, the paper said, but it will take stock of its activities after rapid growth through acquisition in recent years.

More than a dozen companies have grouped together to denounce BT as a monopoly power and to accuse the industry regulator of going soft on competition issues, the Sunday Telegraph said. BSkyB, TalkTalk and Vodafone are among providers that will attack BT's position in the business broadband market under the banner of the UK Competitive Telecoms Association. They will call on Ofcom to let them lay their own cables in BT ducts and use their equipment to control BT's cables.

Hedge funds have bet £260m against Asos by short-selling the online fashion retailer's shares, according to the Sunday Times. Short positions in Asos have jumped from 0.7% of the shares to 13.1% since the start of this year, according to data provider Markit. Asos told the paper the amount of shares out on loan was closer to 11%.

The war between some of Britain's estate agents and online portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla is heating up, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Agents' Mutual, founded by agents such as Savills and Knight Frank, will ask member firms using its portal OntheMarket to delay putting homes fresh to the market on Rightmove and Zoopla. One of OntheMarket's rules is that member firms cannot use both Rightmove and Zoopla in addition to the new portal, which will launch early in 2015.

Germany's Braas Monier and US private equity firms have expressed interest in buying the clay brickwork arm of CRH, the FTSE 100 building company headquartered in Ireland, the Sunday Times said. The company is auctioning the business as it considers a £4bn bid for assets owned by Switzerland's Holcim and Lafarge of France.

Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks are preparing for a stock market listing as National Australia Bank (NAB), which bought Clydesdale in 1987, gets ready to pull out of Britain, the Sunday Times said. NAB has appointed Morgan Stanley to lead the flotation, which could value the combined banks at more than £2bn.

Poundland is set to pay its first dividend, the Sunday Times said. The retailer is expected to announce a payout to shareholders with its half-year results on November 27th, underlining the increasing popularity of bargain retailers.

Gail's Artisan Bakery has shelved plans for a stock market listing until the New Year to allow more time for the business to grow, the Sunday Telegraph said. The London-based chain's owners have decided to delay sale plans until 2015 following a period of stock market turbulence.

Marstons will tell investors that a vote by MPs to end the beer tie system will not damage its business, according to the Sunday Express. Analysts expect annual profit to have fallen by 3% when the brewer announces results on November 27th. It has been selling off tenanted pubs, which will be affected by the end of the beer tie, in favour of managed pubs.