Sunday newspaper round-up: Manufacturers, Shire, Rolls, Barclays

Shire is facing pressure from shareholders to find a deep-pocketed suitor as a Japanese rival weighs a potential £35bn bid for the vulnerable drug maker. Investors said the Shire board should seek alternative buyers after Takeda revealed last week it was considering an approach for the FTSE 100 rare disease specialist. - Sunday Times

Melrose Industries could be forced to make tough new commitments on the future of GKN after the Government threatened to stage a dramatic 11th-hour ­intervention. While the ink was still drying on its £8bn takeover of the FTSE 100 engineer, Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, shocked both sides with a promise to look into whether ministers should block it on national security grounds. - - Sunday Telegraph

Low borrowing costs are fuelling merger mania in the City as the value of deals involving major UK-listed firms last week topped £70 billion in the wake of Melrose’s swoop on defence giant GKN. Executives wanting to take over or merge with rivals are rushing to do so now before interest rates rise and it starts costing them more to raise finance for bids. ‘Cheap money is about to end. It’s now or never,’ a senior investment banker said. - Mail on Sunday.

More than a fifth of manufacturing firms are planning to lay off workers to cope with the costs of Brexit, according to a survey that suggests the sector is already losing business. More than one in 10 (11%) of manufacturers say that they have already lost contracts, according to Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply data. - Observer.

Manipulative robots are spreading fake news online that could be exacerbating volatility in financial markets. A major study of tens of millions of tweets over two years found that the sheer volume sent by “bots” helped to drive shares in FTSE 100 companies up or down for short periods, effectively moving markets. - Sunday Telegraph

The Australian owner of struggling DIY chain Homebase has begun sounding out potential buyers just two years after a dismal £340m takeover. Wesfarmers cleared out the British retailer’s managerial team after buying it in 2016, but has failed to turn it around, to the dismay of investors. - Sunday Telegraph

Rolls-Royce has agreed to let an American activist investor speak freely about the aircraft engine giant’s strategy — increasing the likelihood of a break-up. ValueAct was given a seat on the Rolls-Royce board two years ago in return for agreeing to a list of restrictions, including a ban on lobbying for a break-up or “publicly criticising or disparaging Rolls-Royce”. - Sunday Times

Barclays is planning a multimillion-pound share buyback after last week’s settlement of claims that it mis-sold sub-prime loans in the run-up to the financial crisis. The $2bn (£1.4bn) settlement with the US Department of Justice was much smaller than expected, leaving Barclays with extra cash to give back to investors. - Sunday Times

BBA Aviation has put its engine repair and overhaul business on the block for as much as £300m. The FTSE 250 engineering company, chaired by Sir Nigel Rudd, has hired bankers from Lazard to handle the auction, City sources said. - Sunday Times

The North American brewing giant that makes Carling and Cobra lagers has emerged as a contender to buy all or part of Conviviality Retail, the stricken owner of the Bargain Booze chain. Molson Coors, a big user of Conviviality’s wholesale distribution business, is understood to be in talks with the company’s administrators, as is C&C Group, home of Magners cider and Tennent’s lager. - Sunday Times

It's daggers drawn over the Axminsters as a bitter battle has erupted over one of Britain’s best known carpet chains – pitting business luminaries and peers of the realm against one another. Flooring tycoon Lord Harris of Peckham, known as the Carpet King, has launched an audacious swoop on Carpetright – the chain he founded 30 years ago – trying to buy almost 100 of its stores. - Mail on Sunday

BMI Healthcare, Britain’s biggest chain of private hospitals, has been put up for sale after its South African owner admitted defeat in attempts to slash its rent bill. Netcare has been in a long-running dispute with landlords that own 35 of its 59 hospitals and treatment centres. - Sunday Times

Sunday 1 April has been dubbed national price-hike day as a host of government bodies and private firms will increase charges, potentially adding at least £100 to family budgets this year. Council tax bills will rise by an average of 5.1% (on band D properties in England), the average water bill for England and Wales is to rise by 2%, while the cost of a colour TV licence goes up from £147 to £150.50 a year. The NHS charge for a dental check-up will also increase, by £1 to £21.60. And if you need a doctor’s prescription, it will cost £8.80 – up 20p. - Observer

Most engineers, lawyers and accountants from outside the EU would earn too little to qualify for a UK visa, according to research that has raised fears of a damaging skills shortage. The minimum salary required to bring in skilled non-EU staff has, in effect, doubled to £60,000 after the Home Office cap on tier 2 visas was hit for an unprecedented fourth month in a row. - Sunday Times

The former chief of Wall Street giant Merrill Lynch has been drafted in at Deutsche Bank, as pressure mounts on the troubled German lender’s boss John Cryan. John Thain will join Deutsche Bank’s supervisory board next month, it is understood. - Sunday Telegraph

Tesla investors are braced for more turbulence after it confirmed this weekend that a fatal crash involved a car under the control of its autopilot software. The electric car maker is also set to reveal what are expected to be disappointing production figures for its flagship battery-powered saloon. - Sunday Times

Donald Trump again attacked Amazon over the weekend, calling the online retailer’s business deal with the US Postal Service a money-losing agreement. In tweets on Saturday morning, Trump said: “The US Post Office will lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon. That amounts to Billions of Dollars.” - Reuters/Observer

An Israeli investment and cryptocurrency trading start-up is considering London for a potential listing. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, eToro has expanded in the UK, which is now its largest market, as well as Europe, Russia and Asia. It has 9m registered users, who trade stocks and shares, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and can compare portfolios with other traders. - Sunday Telegraph

The biggest investor in Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk has demanded it revive deals scrapped last year and embarks on an acquisition spree. Kenes Rakishev, the Kazak investor who took a 22pc stake in the mining company last year, called on the board to reopen merger talks with Amur Gold, which has assets near to Petropavlovsk’s three mines in east Russia, and urged it to reconsider talks with Renova over its gold mines in Kamchatka. - Sunday Telegraph

The Chinese corporation behind a swoop on House of Fraser has lined up a £1.1 billion lending facility to support ‘business opportunities’ and takeovers. Fullshare has confirmed the financing just days ahead of an expected update on talks that could see the Hong Kong-listed company and its business partners seize a majority stake in the famous department store chain. - Mail on Sunday

A former AA employee is suing the breakdown recovery company for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination. Lucy Burnford – a founder of car maintenance website Motoriety – has started legal proceedings against the AA, claiming she was made redundant when she was seven months pregnant. - Sunday Times

Teenagers should be encouraged to have Saturday jobs to prepare them for their working lives, the work and pensions secretary has said. Esther McVey said she did not believe British youngsters were lazy but said there had been a fall of up to 60% in the number of children with weekend jobs. - Observer

It is a levy on soft drinks aimed at cracking down on childhood obesity. However, the new “sugar tax” has come with an unintended adult consequence: raising the price of a gin and tonic. - Sunday Times

The US Cattlemen’s Association is not happy. Ranchers’ ire has been aroused by a raft of new companies that claim to be able to produce the perfect burger – without using meat. Earlier this year, the association took its case to the US department of agriculture, filing a 15-page petition demanding Washington produces an official definition of both “beef” and “meat”. - Sunday Telegraph

The culture crisis raging inside Facebook has been revealed in a series of leaked internal emails, with employees raging against “leakers” and speculating that the social media giant is being targeted by spies. The exchanges came in response to the publication last week of a 2016 email, circulated internally by senior Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth, in which he justified the “questionable” tactics used by the company to grow. - Sunday Times

Facebook was accused of avoiding responsibility for anti-semitic material appearing on its platforms in favour of the pursuit of profit. A senior Metropolitan police source who works closely with Facebook said abusive and anti-semitic matter was “easy to find” but the social media giant chose to remove it only when it was reported. - Sunday Times