(LSE.L) London Stock Exchange Group PLC Buy/Sell

LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Retail property investor Metric Property Investments said on Friday it had raised 175 million pounds ($265.9 million) in its initial public offering, (IPO) 25 million pounds more than initially targeted.
The 175 million pounds raised was at 100 pence a share and before the over-allotment option was exercised, Metric said in a statement, compared with its original target for gross proceeds of 150 million pounds.
Metric has applied for admission to London Stock Exchange's main market and expects this to happen on March 24. The company will be a real estate investment trust with 175 million pounds capitalisation on admission.

Chief Executive Andrew Jones said extensive re-pricing and refinancing pressures in the property market were opportunities for Metric's occupier-led approach and active asset management.

($1=.6580 Pound)

(Reporting by Andrew Macdonald; editing by Simon Jessop) (See www.reutersrealestate.com for the global service for real estate professionals from Thomson Reuters) Keywords: METRIC (Reuters Messaging rm://andrew.macdonald.reuters.com@reuters.net; +44 (0) 20 7542 9667)

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LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - The splintering of Europe's share markets into numerous trading platforms in recent years has created a fertile field for market abuse and made it more difficult to detect, a group of London market consultants said.
The EU's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) in 2007 opened exchanges to competition from low-cost new rival platforms known as multilateral trading facilities (MTFs).
"Now there is so much market fragmentation and competition that we have got away from a fair and orderly market," said Brian Taylor, a member of the new Alliance of Independent Advisors to Financial Markets, or Avenues, at a media briefing on Tuesday.
"Ultimately this will become a macro-economic issue if investors lose confidence and say they are not going to participate," said Taylor, managing director of bta Consulting.
Bryok Consulting, bta, Golden Advisors and Capstan Consulting, which formed Avenues, have also joined forces to design a system to comb through trade information to identify possible abuse.
Before MiFID, national exchanges accounted for the large majority of trading. All UK trades had to be reported to London Stock Exchange, which was required to run surveillance for market abuse, for example.
Now a stock such as Vodafone trades on 18 different venues including MTFs and dark pools, which enable would-be buyers and sellers of large orders to avoid revealing pre-trade information, as well as by dealers over-the-counter, the consultant group said, citing data from a sample week in February showed that the LSE accounted for only about a third of volume.
The new MTFs and trade reporting firms such as Markit BOAT are not obliged to monitor trade data, which is left to regulators, the group said.

Furthermore under the EU's Market Abuse Directive (MAD), which predated MiFID by two years, regulatory surveillance has remained national, even while MiFID allows cross-border trading.
"Even if all the venues were doing surveillance, it would not be a perfect solution, because there is no one pair of eyes seeing it," said Steve Leegood, of Bryok.
"We need a single environment for all data to be brought together and monitored," he said.
Leegood cited data from the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) that it investigated several hundred cases of market abuse in the past decade, with the large majority of those cases involving insider trading.
"The FSA pays little attention to other types of abuse which are more subtle and difficult to detect," he said.
One type is front-running, when the broker does a trade for himself ahead of filling an order for a client that is likely to move the price.
Another is layering or spoofing. The FSA said in a recent newsletter that it was concerned about this practice of placing orders close to the best buy/sell price, but with no intention of trading, to create a false impression a stock is more liquid.
The FSA is due to announce its plan for the coming year on Wednesday, including an initiative to beef up enforcement.
The Avenues group said it planned to canvas market players, talk to leaders in the industry and lobby regulators on ways to improve surveillance and enforcement.

(Editing by Sharon Lindores) Keywords: MARKET ABUSE/ (jane.baird@thomsonreuters.com, Reuters Messaging: jane.baird.reuters.com@reuters.net, +442075422471)

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Daily Telegraph

LIBERTY DEPARTMENT STORE RECEIVES TAKEOVER APPROACH

Liberty, the London department store, is in talks with private equity and real estate investors about a takeover that could value the retail business at more than 35 million pounds. BlueGen Capital, the private equity firm headed by former Merrill Lynch banker Marco Capello, is thought to be the front-runner. Richard Balfour-Lynn, chief executive of Liberty's controlling shareholder MWB Group, said that he was pleased by the interest of investors, which he attributed to Liberty's recent good fortunes.

PROMETHEAN HELPS FAN EMBERS OF FLOAT REVIVAL

Almost one billion pounds was added to the value of the London Stock Exchange with the flotations of Promethean , the education business, and SuperGroup, the group behind the fashion brand Superdry. Promethean launched at 200 pence per share, valuing the company at 400 million pounds, while SuperGroup debuted at 500 pence per share, valuing it at 395 million pounds. Proceeds from Promethean's IPO will be used to repay debt. Analysts expect the company's top line growth to rise 20 per cent for the next three years.
REBELS' VOTE CLEARS OUT OMEGA BOARD

Leading investors in Lloyd's of London insurer Omega Insurance have backed proposals from Invesco Perpetual for a reform of Omega's board. The results of a vote at a special general meeting in Bermuda will see John Coldman, former chairman of insurer Benfield, replace Walter Fiederowicz as Omega chairman. Five further additions will be made to the company's board. Fiederowicz and four others will leave the company with immediate effect.

WHAT THE BROKERS SAY

Standard Life (Buy)

Persimmon (Buy)

Carillion (Buy)

WPP Group (Buy)

Arriva (Buy)

Taylor Wimpey (Hold)

BSkyB (Hold)

Petrofac (Sell)

Bovis Homes (Sell)
The Times

TULLETT BROKERS CAN JOIN RIVAL AFTER YEAR'S WAIT

The High Court ruled yesterday that ten former Tullett Prebon brokers are free to move to BGC Partners, having originally defected a year ago. Mr Justice Jack ruled that the brokers were free to join BGC when an injunction granted last year expires on March 26. Jack refused a request from Tullett to extend the injunction and said that a related injunction prohibiting BGC from attempting to hire other Tullett staff would expire as early as next month. BGC described the ruling as "great news for the ten brokers and BGC."

CLIMATE EXCHANGE COMES THROUGH THE 'PERFECT STORM'

Carbon emissions trading firm Climate Exchange has said that the unsatisfactory conclusion of the Copenhagen climate change conference last December has slowed the company's growth rate but not halted it. CE had a 48 per cent increase in revenue for 2009 to 33 million pounds, with an 82 per cent increase in the volume of carbon traded. It also became profitable for the first year since it was launched in 2005, gaining 2.1 million pounds. The news increased the share price of the company by 36 pence to 510 pence.

'SHAME' ON SUPERMARKETS OVER ABUSE OF SUPPLY STAFF

A two-year investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission has discovered evidence of "widespread and significant ill treatment" of migrant workers in the meat and poultry industries that supply supermarkets. The Commission found breaches of safety requirements in migrants' working environments as well as evidence of bullying and violent behaviour towards the staff. The director-general of the commission, Neil Kingham, said supermarkets must act to improve the auditing of their suppliers. Supermarket Asda has renegotiated arrangements with its suppliers but is as yet the only major supermarket to have done so.
GALA REFINANCES TO CUT DEBT, HANDS CONTROL TO JUNIOR LENDERS

Gambling firm Gala Coral has agreed a refinancing deal with its lenders to reduce its debts from 2.6 to 1.85 billion pounds. The agreement will transfer control of the company to a consortium of its mezzanine lenders including Apollo Management. Apollo will receive the largest share of the company at 25 per cent. Gala's current owners, private equity firms Candover, Cinven and Permira, are to receive a "tip" of between one and two per cent of the equity in exchange for their consenting to the refinancing, but Permira alone is estimated to have lost 500 million pounds on its investment.

OFFICES GET ECO-FRIENDLY FACELIFT FROM 350 MLN POUND FUND

A consortium of the environmental efficiency company The Carbon Trust, investment manager Threadneedle and property developer Stanhope have established a 350 million pound trust to buy and refurbish old environmentally hazardous office buildings. The Threadneedle Low-Carbon Workplace Trust aims to buy 50 properties to refurbish and rent out. It hopes the refurbishments will make the properties attractive to tenants because of the lower energy bills they will incur. The fund is open to institutional investors and will be the largest of its kind in the UK.

The Independent

M&S RECLAIMS TOP SPOT AMONG CLOTHING CHAINS

Retailer Marks & Spencer grew its share of the UK clothing market in terms of sales volumes by 0.1 per cent to 13.1 per cent during the 12 weeks to 31 January 2010 giving it the largest market share of any clothing retailer, according to the latest TNS FashionTrak data. Rival retailer Primark was ranked in second place with a 10.8 per cent market share, followed closely by the supermarket retailers George at Asda with 9.5 per cent and Tesco with an 8.5 per cent market share over the period.
The Guardian

HALF A MILLION BA PASSENGERS FACE FLIGHT DISRUPTION

More than half a million passengers of the airline British Airways will face disruption after the union Unite announced plans for BA cabin staff to hold two separate strikes. Unite announced that staff will hold a three-day stoppage starting on 20 March followed by a four-day walkout from 27 March, adding that further action will take place after 14 April if no deal with management over pay and working conditions can be reached. News of the action prompted BA chief executive Willie Walsh to withdraw a compromise offer already made to staff.

EASYJET AND RYANAIR TOP COMPLAINTS LEAGUE

According to statistics released by the Aviation watchdog, The Air Transport Users' Council, the airlines Ryanair and easyJet received the most complaints from British airline passengers last year. The watchdog received 719 complaints about easyJet and 673 complaints about Ryanair, meaning that complaints against Ryanair have risen by 70 per cent since 2005, while easyJet has seen an increase of a third over the same period. EasyJet said the figures showed that it received one complaint per 40,000 customers. "We take every complaint seriously, but passengers are voting with their feet," an easyJet spokesman said.
Keywords: PRESS DIGEST British Business =5

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Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

Daily Telegraph

LIBERTY DEPARTMENT STORE RECEIVES TAKEOVER APPROACH

Liberty, the London department store, is in talks with private equity and real estate investors about a takeover that could value the retail business at more than 35 million pounds. BlueGen Capital, the private equity firm headed by former Merrill Lynch banker Marco Capello, is thought to be the front-runner. Richard Balfour-Lynn, chief executive of Liberty's controlling shareholder MWB Group, said that he was pleased by the interest of investors, which he attributed to Liberty's recent good fortunes.

PROMETHEAN HELPS FAN EMBERS OF FLOAT REVIVAL

Almost one billion pounds was added to the value of the London Stock Exchange with the flotations of Promethean , the education business, and SuperGroup, the group behind the fashion brand Superdry. Promethean launched at 200 pence per share, valuing the company at 400 million pounds, while SuperGroup debuted at 500 pence per share, valuing it at 395 million pounds. Proceeds from Promethean's IPO will be used to repay debt. Analysts expect the company's top line growth to rise 20 per cent for the next three years.
REBELS' VOTE CLEARS OUT OMEGA BOARD

Leading investors in Lloyd's of London insurer Omega Insurance have backed proposals from Invesco Perpetual for a reform of Omega's board. The results of a vote at a special general meeting in Bermuda will see John Coldman, former chairman of insurer Benfield, replace Walter Fiederowicz as Omega chairman. Five further additions will be made to the company's board. Fiederowicz and four others will leave the company with immediate effect.

WHAT THE BROKERS SAY

Standard Life (Buy)

Persimmon (Buy)

Carillion (Buy)

WPP Group (Buy)

Arriva (Buy)

Taylor Wimpey (Hold)

BSkyB (Hold)

Petrofac (Sell)

Bovis Homes (Sell)
The Times

TULLETT BROKERS CAN JOIN RIVAL AFTER YEAR'S WAIT

The High Court ruled yesterday that ten former Tullett Prebon brokers are free to move to BGC Partners, having originally defected a year ago. Mr Justice Jack ruled that the brokers were free to join BGC when an injunction granted last year expires on March 26. Jack refused a request from Tullett to extend the injunction and said that a related injunction prohibiting BGC from attempting to hire other Tullett staff would expire as early as next month. BGC described the ruling as "great news for the ten brokers and BGC."

CLIMATE EXCHANGE COMES THROUGH THE 'PERFECT STORM'

Carbon emissions trading firm Climate Exchange has said that the unsatisfactory conclusion of the Copenhagen climate change conference last December has slowed the company's growth rate but not halted it. CE had a 48 per cent increase in revenue for 2009 to 33 million pounds, with an 82 per cent increase in the volume of carbon traded. It also became profitable for the first year since it was launched in 2005, gaining 2.1 million pounds. The news increased the share price of the company by 36 pence to 510 pence.

'SHAME' ON SUPERMARKETS OVER ABUSE OF SUPPLY STAFF

A two-year investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission has discovered evidence of "widespread and significant ill treatment" of migrant workers in the meat and poultry industries that supply supermarkets. The Commission found breaches of safety requirements in migrants' working environments as well as evidence of bullying and violent behaviour towards the staff. The director-general of the commission, Neil Kingham, said supermarkets must act to improve the auditing of their suppliers. Supermarket Asda has renegotiated arrangements with its suppliers but is as yet the only major supermarket to have done so.
GALA REFINANCES TO CUT DEBT, HANDS CONTROL TO JUNIOR LENDERS

Gambling firm Gala Coral has agreed a refinancing deal with its lenders to reduce its debts from 2.6 to 1.85 billion pounds. The agreement will transfer control of the company to a consortium of its mezzanine lenders including Apollo Management. Apollo will receive the largest share of the company at 25 per cent. Gala's current owners, private equity firms Candover, Cinven and Permira, are to receive a "tip" of between one and two per cent of the equity in exchange for their consenting to the refinancing, but Permira alone is estimated to have lost 500 million pounds on its investment.

OFFICES GET ECO-FRIENDLY FACELIFT FROM 350 MLN POUND FUND

A consortium of the environmental efficiency company The Carbon Trust, investment manager Threadneedle and property developer Stanhope have established a 350 million pound trust to buy and refurbish old environmentally hazardous office buildings. The Threadneedle Low-Carbon Workplace Trust aims to buy 50 properties to refurbish and rent out. It hopes the refurbishments will make the properties attractive to tenants because of the lower energy bills they will incur. The fund is open to institutional investors and will be the largest of its kind in the UK.

The Independent

M&S RECLAIMS TOP SPOT AMONG CLOTHING CHAINS

Retailer Marks & Spencer grew its share of the UK clothing market in terms of sales volumes by 0.1 per cent to 13.1 per cent during the 12 weeks to 31 January 2010 giving it the largest market share of any clothing retailer, according to the latest TNS FashionTrak data. Rival retailer Primark was ranked in second place with a 10.8 per cent market share, followed closely by the supermarket retailers George at Asda with 9.5 per cent and Tesco with an 8.5 per cent market share over the period.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.