Thursday Papers: Dell to ratchet up its bid in battle for 3Par - bid news and gossip

Financial Times

* Dell is preparing to make an improved bid within days for data storage company 3Par that is “competitive” with Hewlett-Packard’s rival $1.6bn offer, sources said.

* Publicis Groupe, the world’s third-largest advertising group, is in the advanced stages of negotiation to take a stake in Talent, a leading Brazilian ad agency.

* Dubai World has told lenders it could raise up to $19.4bn from selling its assets, in a bid to repay $14.4bn of the holding company’s debt.

* Santander on Tuesday said it had suspended Juan José Fernández García, a derivatives analyst charged by the US SEC with insider trading related to the $39bn BHP Billiton bid for PotashCorp.

* Deloitte's total revenue dropped £16m to £1.95bn in the full year to May 31, and profits per partner fell more than 1% to £873,000.

* S&P cut Ireland’s long-term credit rating one notch to double A minus, and placed a negative outlook on its debt because of worries over its economy; Ireland accused the rating agency of a “flawed” analysis.

* BHP Billiton has launched a fresh assault on PotashCorp, claiming that “fast money” is piling into the Canadian fertiliser producer’s shares and challenging potential rivals to come forward and match BHP’s $39bn hostile takeover bid.

* Google on Wednesday moved into direct competition with Skype, the internet telephony service, as it unveiled a feature that will enable its Gmail users to call landlines and mobile phones from their e-mail inbox.

The Daily Telegraph

* The safety valve that failed to prevent the Deepwater Horizon rig exploding in the Gulf of Mexico was wrongly plumbed, according to a senior BP official.

* Inida's state-run oil companies will not make a counter-bid for Cairn India, freeing Vedanta Resources to complete the $9.6bn purchase.