Sunday Papers: Virgin Active in the running for £1bn sale - bid news and gossip

The Sunday Telegraph

* Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Active has met a series of private equity suitors over a sale of the health and fitness chain that could net over £1bn; KKR, Blackstone, Advent and CVC are among the buy-out houses which could be interested, sources said.

* Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, is on brink of resignation after Gulf disaster as profits hit $10bn for firs six months of the year; the oil giant is likely to announce this week $5bn profits in three months.

* Neil Woodford, leading fund manager for Invesco Perpetual which has £4.5bn invested in the utilities sector, has said that Ofwat is "dysfunctional" and should be merged with the electricity regulator, Ofgem.

The Observer

* British Gas is expected to announce this week 95% profit rise in the first six months of the year, but no cut in prices; estimated profits from domestic energy sales to hit £583m; wholesale energy prices have halved from last year's peak.

* BP acquits itself of sole blame for gulf spill after internal inquiry.

* Four of Britain's biggest bus companies could lose more than £200m in profits under plans to axe public spending on transport.

The Independent on Sunday

* European banks that failed an EU health check are detailing plans this weekend to raise €3.5bn of capital in a bid to reassure the markets before they open for trading tomorrow.

* A US and Middle-Eastern consortium which plans to build one of London's tallest skyscrapers, the Pinnacle, is close to agreeing terms with HSBC to lead the £600m financing of the ambitious project.

* Anadarko Petroleum, the Texan partner in BP's Deepwater Horizon oil well which exploded in April, is eyeing a 75 per cent stake in the onshore Jolly Ranch scheme in Colorado.