Saturday Papers: US private equity groups eye stake in Hero Honda - bid news and gossip

Financial Times

* TPG Capital and Carlyle are eyeing a strategic stake in India-based Hero Honda – the world’s largest motorcycles maker – as India’s Hero and Japan’s Honda seek to end their joint venture, sources said.

* Banks are rediscovering their appetite for lending to private equity deals, highlighted by the SFr2.55bn ($2.52bn) loan to finance more than two-thirds of CVC Capital Partners’ buy-out of Sunrise.

* Brit Insurance, sponsor of the England cricket team, is set to be bought by Apollo and CVC after the London insurer agreed to recommend an offer.

* 3i’s best-known dealmaker, Jonathan Russell, is quitting amid a shake-up at the private equity group.

* Libya’s sovereign wealth fund has increased its stake in UniCredi from 2% to 2.5%.

* The British Gas owner is to boost its North Sea interests in a £144m acquisition.

* The credit arm of Blackstone is being lined up by Liverpool FC co-owner Tom Hicks as a key partner to try to hold on to the Premier League club.

* Koo Bon-join, chief executive of LG Electronics, is stepping down to take responsibility for continuing losses at the South Korean company’s troubled handset business; the company reported a 90% drop in operating profit at its handset business in the second quarter.

* The London Stock Exchange is in talks with a group of Wall Street and European banks about jointly building and funding a clearing house in London.

* Ukraine issued $2bn in two bonds on Friday, paying investors a coupon interest rate of 6.9% for five year debt and 7.8% for 10-year loans.

The Daily Telegraph