Friday newspaper round-up: TPP, VW, FirstGroup, Facebook

Donald Trump has said he would lead America back into the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact – but only if he was offered a better deal than that negotiated by the Obama administration. After reports that he was reconsidering his decision to pull out of the pact, Trump tweeted on Thursday night that he would only do so if he was offered improved terms from the 11 existing signatories, who include Japan, Australia and Canada. “Would only join TPP if the deal were substantially better than the deal offered to Pres. Obama,” he said. – Guardian

Volkswagen has said that Herbert Diess will take over from Matthias Müller as its chief executive, adding fresh impetus to its efforts to slim down and reorganise the way its 12 brands are managed. On Thursday, the carmaker said it planned to create six new business areas and a special portfolio for China, its largest market, and split its brands into three new vehicle groups with categories for value, premium and super-premium nameplates. The announcement was made after Volkswagen directors ousted Müller and deliberated ways to reform an empire that includes motorbike, bus, truck and passenger car brands including Ducati, Bentley, Porsche, Audi, Scania and Skoda. – Guardian

A US private equity firm’s plan to buy rail operator FirstGroup has already hit a hurdle due to the expected intense scrutiny from pension regulators and MPs keen to protect the retirement incomes of the Scottish company’s army of workers. FirstGroup, which runs the South Western Railway and Great Western Railway franchises, was identified last year as the company most under pressure from its pension schemes relative to its size because of its more than £4bn of pension liabilities against its £1.2bn market capitalisation. – Telegraph

Vladimir Putin’s abusive stranglehold over European gas supplies has been laid bare by explosive EU documents, exposing deliberate violations of EU law and a pattern of political bullying over almost a decade. The longest investigation in EU history found that the Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom has used its enormous power to pressure vulnerable states in Eastern Europe, and to fragment the EU’s unified energy market with coercive pricing policies. - Telegraph

London’s growth as a major financial centre is set to stall as Britain leaves the European Union and the United States attempts to lure more firms to Wall Street, the boss of Spain’s biggest bank has warned. Ana Botín, executive chairwoman of Banco Santander, argued that Brexit has already disrupted the “huge upward trend” in businesses and workers arriving in the City. – The Times

Facebook has seen no impact on consumer behaviour since the social network’s data privacy scandal broke four weeks ago and said it does not expect revenues to be affected. Carolyn Everson, vice-president of global marketing solutions, said there was little evidence people were changing their privacy settings after 87 million users had their personal information unwittingly harvested for advertisers working on Donald Trump’s presidential election campaign. – The Times