Tuesday Papers: Abertis investors eye €25bn buy-out - bid news and gossip

Financial Times

* La Caixa and construction group ACS - which together control just under 55 per cent of Abertis - are studying a possible leveraged buy-out with CVC that would value the Barcelona-based infrastructure group at more than €25bn.

* Daiwa Capital Markets, the investment banking unit of Daiwa Securities, is set to pay $1bn for KBC’s global convertible bond and Asian equity derivatives businesses, in an effort to globalise further.

* Banpu, Thailand’s biggest coal producer, on Monday launched a A$2.5bn ($2.1bn) takeover bid for Centennial Coal, a thermal coal producer.

* Hong Kong-based China Merchants Group said it would buy Loscam, the Australian pallet maker, from private equity group Affinity Equity Partners for an undisclosed sum.

* Willmar International, the Singaporean commodities group, on Monday made a last-minute bid and trumped an offer by China’s Bright Food to buy CRS’s sugar and renewable energy business in Australia for A$1.75bn ($1.5bn).

The Daily Telegraph

* Libya has expressed an interest in building a stake in BP, describing the oil company as a bargain following its Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

* RBS and other City institutions have warned that Europe’s stress tests for banks are almost useless and may further damage confidence if they fail to cover the risk of large losses on sovereign defaults by Greece and other Club Med states.

* Lloyds Banking Group, the bailed out British lender, has sold its portfolio of 40 private equity investment to buyout firm Coller Capital.

The Independent

* BBC Worldwide, the broadcaster's commercial arm, hit record annual profits of £145.2m as programmes including Doctor Who proved hugely popular around the world last year.