Friday newspaper round-up: Amazon, Elliott Advisors, Sports Direct
Amazon is to more than triple its research and development team in Cambridge working on tech innovations such as its Alexa digital assistant, delivery drones and Echo smart speaker. The US online retailer is opening a new building in the city with room for 400 experts in mathematical modelling, speech science, machine learning and “knowledge engineering”. – Guardian
Retail Acquisitions, the former owner of the collapsed BHS, is on the point of liquidation, potentially helping investigations into the demise of the department store chain. The group, which bought BHS for £1 in 2015 and was fronted by former bankrupt Dominic Chappell, has been accused of extracting an estimated £17m from BHS despite owning it for just 13 months before it went into administration in 2016. An estimated £6m was owed by Retail Acquisitions to BHS when it collapsed. – Guardian
Activist investor Elliott Advisors will fire the latest salvo in the tug-of-war over Dulux owner Akzo Nobel by claiming the Dutch company’s plan to remain independent could result in four times more job losses than if it was taken over by US rival PPG Industries, The Daily Telegraph understands. Elliott, which owns a stake of more than 3pc in Akzo, has been leading the charge in pushing the company to engage with PPG, which has made three takeover bids for the paints giant. – Telegraph
Activist investor Gatemore has said it now has enough support from other shareholders in logistics company DX Group to block its mooted deal with rival John Menzies. Gatemore holds 11pc of the shares in DX but says it now has the public support of 18pc of the shares, including its stake, opposed to the deal and the private backing of an additional 20pc of stakeholders. – Telegraph
The European Commission has embarked on another attempt to claim the City’s vast and lucrative euro clearing market in a move that could jeopardise 80,000 jobs. London’s status as a global centre for euro-denominated derivatives has been thrown into fresh doubt by Brexit. – The Times
Claire Jenkins, a non-executive director of Sports Direct, has resigned amid speculation that she was frustrated at being unable to influence the actions of the struggling sportswear retailer. She is leaving after six years at Sports Direct which has been embroiled in a scandal over working practices at its Shirebrook warehouse in Derbyshire. – The Times