Sunday newspaper round-up: BAE Systems, Smurfitt Kappa, Marks & Spencer

While a change of government remains a distinct possibility, defence and aerospace giant BAE Systems has recently approached senior government figures to ask permission to hire a foreign chief executive for the first time. According to the Sunday Times, the FTSE 100 group has petitioned defence secretary Michael Fallon and Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood in recent months as it wants to appoint an American chief. It is understood both were receptive to the idea, but that David Cameron was lukewarm on national security grounds.

The Observer goes big on Labour's plans to declare an "immediate, all-out war on tax avoidance and evasion" if it wins the General Election, pushing emergency laws through parliament designed to raise more than £7.5bn a year. The party's manifesto, which is to be released on Monday, will include plans for much higher fines and the closing of loopholes as part of a strategy to “protect the nation’s finances”.

Following that theme, the Sunday Times noted that Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will fall foul of the Labour party's plans to slap taxes on those currently holding “non-dom” status. The heads of Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will also face higher taxes if Labour wins the election next month, along with the chief executives of HSBC and insurer Aviva, the incoming chairman of Barclays and one of the heads of Goldman Sachs’ London operation.

The official labour market figures, due to be released on Friday, will have a strong political angle as the last release before the General Election. They are set to give the coalition parties an election boost, according to The Mail on Sunday. Figures from the Office for National Statistics are expected to show unemployment falling again and average earnings picking up after a lull this year. The data is predicted to show a drop in unemployment to 5.6% in the three months to February. The figure for the previous quarter was 5.7%.

Whatever the hue of the next UK government it looks likely that megadeals are firmly back on the table, with a £6bn takeover planned by US packaging giant International Paper for Dublin- and London-based Smurfit Kappa. The €36-a-share bid, said the Sunday Times, reflects low interest rates and the waves of American capital flooding into Europe due to the strong dollar and huge US corporate cash piles.

Last week's proposed megabucks takeover of oil driller BG Group by Shell has seen private equity firms rubbing their hands with glee. The Sunday Telegraph says Warburg Pincus, Blackstone, Carlyle, Riverstone, KKR and Apollo are all looking to make purchases as the £47bn takeover deal leads to the expected sale of assets worth $30bn between 2016 and 2018 at an average of $10bn a year.

Over the Atlantic, twenty-three US oil companies, which together account for half the world’s excess supply, are in danger of collapse due to Saudi Arabia’s price war, according to an exclusive report from Lambert Energy Advisory cited by the Sunday Times. The US shale oil producers that between them use high-cost fracking techniques to pump more than 0.5m barrels of oil per day, have been dragged deeply into loss by the oil price slump, as the Saudi's continue to ramp up supply in order to force higher-cost US drillers out of business.

Back in the UK, the largest onshore oil find in the country for three decades is the centre of its own fracking concerns. However, the owner of the company behind the Horse Hill oil find said although fracking could double the amount of oil extracted from the reserve, he will not use the controversial technique. David Lenigas, chairman of UK Oil & Gas Investments, told the Mail on Sunday that he had no intention of fracking in the oilfield, situated not far from Gatwick airport, but the company's licence only covers part of the oilfield and other oil groups could employ these systems. UKOG owns around 158m barrels-worth out of what is estimated at a potential 100bn-barrel basin.

Justin King, ex-Sainsbury's CEO, has stepped down from the board of US retailer Staples after a board disagreement. King, who left Sainsbury's last year, told the board he would resign in June due to “significant reservations” about the stationary company's agreement to surrender several decisions to hedge fund investor Starboard Value.

King's old rivals Marks & Spencer is expected to receive a small but significant boost from the 'skirt of the summer', said the Observer. The 1970s-style suede skirt, which carries a price tag of £199, went on sale this weekend in selected stores and will be shipped to the thousands who have ordered it online, ahead of the skirt’s official launch date of 14 May due to a massive media buzz around the brown pencil-skirt.

Also of retail interest, Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega, founder of Zara and Massimo Dutti, has snapped up a swathe of real estate along London's Oxford Street. Ortega, Spain's richest man, is cited by the Sunday Times as having paid cash for a stretch along the eastern end of London's famous shopping street, including Primark’s flagship store, plus three other retail units.

At the bargain end of the market, Poundland chief executive Jim McCarthy said the company is pondering whether to walk away from its planned acquisition of rival 99p Stores after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last week threatened to block the deal. "I am disappointed and surprised," he told the Sunday Telegraph, "because my view is that we operate in a very competitive and changing retail environment. They have made a decision, we have to think about that now and what we do next." The FTSE 250 company has until this Thursday to either withdraw from the £55m acquisition, contest the ruling, or sell off the 92 stores the CMA is concerned about.

Privately owned bike retailer Evans Cycles is likely to be bought by private equity group ECI Partners, which is believed to have pedalled ahead of its rivals in the £100m takeover race. While listed groups Halfords and Sports Direct are said to have abandoned any thoughts of a bid for the bike retailer, private equity firm PAI Partners, Graphite and Equistone are, according to the Sunday Telegraph, all said to still be in the running.

US-based Rangers Capital Group is planning to float a fund on the London stock market to raise as much as £155m. Ranger Direct Lending will use the funds raised to purchase debt from various lenders and generate income from the interest. The fund, which the Sunday Times reported will be structured as an investment trust, already has contracts to buy debt with seven US lenders.

Aston Martin is said to be considering Birmingham or Wales as the location of its new factory. The site will be used to manufacture the DBX crossover, its electric four-wheel-drive car, as well as its hybrid, with around 3,000 vehicles expected to be produced each year. According to the Sunday Times, the company has been engaged in talks with both the government and regional funding bodies about receiving state aid for the factory.

The Mail on Sunday has highlighted City analysts' concern about the further billions of compensation bank are likely to pay for mis-sold payment protection insurance policies. The paper noted broker Investec's prediction of a £1bn provision by Lloyds Banking Group over the next 18 months, having already set aside half the industry's total £24bn. The banks were hoping that PPI claims would tail off this year, with Lloyds having said it hoped claims would decline sharply this summer after it had contacted all those those who signed up to its PPI. But, the Mail noted, data for the start of this year and released last week shows compensation remaining stubbornly high – with £424m paid out in January alone.