Wednesday Papers: Bureau Veritas buys inspection group from 3i - bid news and gossip

Financial Times

* France’s Bureau Veritas has agreed to buy a commodity testing and inspection business from 3i, the UK private equity investor, in a deal with an enterprise value of £450m.

* BlueCrest Capital, one of London’s biggest hedge fund managers, has raised £350m through the launch of new shares in AllBlue Limited, its FTSE-listed investment vehicle.

* Le Monde, France’s most venerable newspaper, will next week choose a new owner from two rival consortia after France Telecom agreed to inject €50m-€60m ($62m-$74m) into the daily if its bid wins.

* A long list of demands from Taiwanese regulators has obliged AIG and a consortium that is acquiring its Taiwan life insurance unit for $2.15bn to extend the sale deadline by three months.

* Jamie Dimon on Tuesday reshuffled JPMorgan Chase’s top management, naming a dealmaker, Doug Braunstein, as finance chief and moving a close ally, Heidi Miller, to lead the international expansion.

* The Polish government on Tuesday threw its weight behind a potential bid from state-owned PKO, the country’s largest bank, for Bank Zachodni WBK, which is being put up for sale by Ireland’s troubled AIB.

The Times

* Almost 1,000 jobs at Aegon’s UK life and pensions division are under threat after the Dutch-owned insurer unveiled plans to slash costs in Britain by a quarter.

* The budget squeeze affecting governments across Europe has hit revenues at the defence company Chemring; sales in Britain and on the Continent were down 25 per cent to £72.7 million in the six months to April 30.

* Whitbread confirmed yesterday that it might be interested in buying the rival Travelodge chain if it were put up for sale.