Tuesday newspaper round-up: Cairn Energy, Intel, British manufacturing

The chief executive of Cairn Energy has written to India’s prime minister seeking a resolution to a bitter $1.6 billion tax dispute. Simon Thomson has told Narendra Modi that the dispute between Cairn and the Indian government has been dragging on for two years, forcing the company to sell assets, delay investment and slash its workforce by 40 per cent. – The Times

Wealthy buy-to-let landlords could be excluded from the higher rate of stamp duty on second homes under proposals to classify them as “large scale investors”. The chancellor unveiled a 3 per cent stamp duty surcharge on second home purchases in the autumn statement, but carved out an exemption for “corporates and funds”, such as companies, pension schemes and property investment trusts. – The Times

Intel’s $16.7bn purchase of programmable chipmaker Altera is likely to be a model for future big acquisitions at the company as the semiconductor industry’s merger boom continues, according to the US company’s chief dealmaker. The acquisition, which was completed on Monday, is the biggest undertaken by Intel and marks an acceleration in its efforts to move beyond the shrinking PC business. – Financial Times

Deutsche Bank is to sell its stake in the Chinese lender Hua Xia for up to €3.7bn as Germany’s biggest bank steps up efforts to strengthen its balance sheet under John Cryan. Regulators around the world have been pushing global banks like Deutsche to hold more capital to avoid a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. The German bank historically operated with higher debt levels than most rivals. – Financial Times

Volkwagen's flagship Audi division has reined in its spending plans for 2016 in the wake of the scandal over rigging emissions tests. The German car giant also said on Monday it would be delaying the construction of a new wind tunnel. – Telegraph

The cost of flooding will breach the £5bn barrier, according to new estimates, as homes and businesses across the North of England continue to sustain damage from the rising waters. The forecast from accountancy firm KPMG follows three days of flooding, with large areas of Northern England, from Hull to Lancashire, affected. York, which has been hardest hit by flooding, after the River Foss broke its barriers, is likely to represent a significant proportion of the upcoming insurance claims. – Telegraph

The masters of the investment banking universe have pushed the global corporate spending spree to $5.02 trillion (£3.37 trillion) in 2015 making it a record year. That is bigger than the previous record of $4.81 trillion in 2007, immediately before the financial crisis struck. The increase was driven by mega-mergers – there were 67 deals worth $10bn or more each, totalling $1.9 trillion, more than double the value seen in 2014. - Telegraph

British manufacturers will shed tens of thousands of jobs next year as they battle a tough export market, the fallout from steel plant closures and a collapse in demand from the embattled North Sea oil industry, an industry group has forecast. The manufacturers’ organisation EEF said the factory sector will shrug off this year’s recession and eke out modest growth in 2016 but it warned a number of risks loom on the horizon, chief among them a sharper downturn in China that could trigger a global slump. – Guardian

Saudi Arabia has announced plans to cut government spending and reform its finances after plunging oil prices resulted in a record annual budget deficit of nearly $98bn (£66bn). The state ran a deficit of 367bn riyals ($97.9bn) in 2015, or 15% of gross domestic product, officials said. The 2016 budget plan aims to cut that to 326bn riyals, reducing pressure on Riyadh to pay its bills by liquidating assets held abroad. – Guardian