Tuesday newspaper round-up: BHP activist, BT, Energean, Carillion

Two more shareholders in BHP Billiton have put pressure on the board of the FTSE 100 mining giant by urging it to consider dropping its dual listing, which Elliott Advisors, an activist investor, says is “obsolete and value destroying”. Baring Asset Management and Plato Investment Management, which control shares worth about $280 million, have asked BHP to set out why it believes the time is not right to consider simplifying its structure. - The Times

BT Group has put its cable-making arm up for sale in a sign of efforts to simplify and focus its business following a string of disasters. It is understood that the investment bank Greenhill is handling a sale of BT Cables, a Manchester-based unit within BT Wholesale which supplies the company’s network subsidiary Openreach with fibre-optic and copper cables. - Telegraph

Jeremy Corbyn will promise in a speech that a future Labour government would “intervene to prevent hostile takeovers” like investment firm Melrose’s £7.4bn bid for British manufacturing company GKN. The Labour leader will tell delegates at the EEF manufacturing conference in London that if the party wins the next election it will “broaden the scope of the public interest test” to allow the government to stop takeovers that threaten to “destroy our industrial base”. - Guardian

Directors of Carillion were “contemptuous” of their obligations to the company’s 29,000 pension fund members while regulators intervened to help far too late, MPs investigating the collapse of the construction group suggested yesterday. Frank Field, chairman of the Commons work and pensions committee, criticised the directors for “refusing to budge an inch” when trustees asked them for more cash in 2010 and 2013 to plug a deficit in the pension scheme. - The Times

Sir Philip Green has denied that he is talks with Chinese investor Shandong Ruyi to sell his retail empire Arcadia, branding the speculation as "totally false". Over the weekend, reports emerged that Sir Philip was eyeing an exit from Arcadia, which is behind brands including Topshop and Burton, and had been seeking a buyer for months. - Telegraph

Energean, the oil and gas explorer focused on the Mediterranean, is planning to raise $500 million through an initial public offering next month. The company will use the proceeds of the main market listing to fund the development of two gas fields off Israel. - The Times

Merlin Entertainments, which runs Madame Tussauds and Legoland, was in the market spotlight today after an activist investor that secured a boardroom seat at Rolls-Royce two years ago declared a 5.4 per cent stake. Shares in Merlin rose by almost 4 per cent after Value Act Capital, a hedge fund in San Francisco, said that it had built a stake worth about £180 million. - The Times

Small companies would rather forgo growth than borrow money from a bank and are increasingly opting for alternative sources of funding, new research has revealed. The state-owned British Business Bank, which supports over £4bn of finance to UK businesses, found in its latest annual report into the small business finance market that seven in 10 small companies would choose not to borrow from a bank, even if that meant they did not expand. - Telegraph

Bitcoin steadied above $11,000 yesterday after breaking through the price mark for the first time since January over the weekend. The virtual currency reached $11,101 against the US dollar on Saturday, according to Thomson Reuters data, raising hopes that the recent selling could be over. It dropped more than $500 on Sunday but recovered above $11,000 on Monday. - The Times

Up to 500 investment bankers could lose their jobs just weeks before they are due to receive bonuses in the latest drive to cut costs at Deutsche Bank. The cull, which has already started, includes some of Deutsche’s 3,500 investment bankers in London. Between 250 and 500 roles will be lost globally. - The Times

Banks need to start preparing for the death of Libor in 2021 or a smooth transition away from the scandal-hit benchmark will be "highly unlikely" and pose considerable risks, a consultancy has warned. Libor, or the London interbank offered rate, is used to price $240 trillion (£170 trillion) worth of financial products globally but is being slowly phased out as regulators transition to an alternative. - Telegraph

Ikea is calling for households to join its latest joint venture – a collective energy switch that promises an exclusive 100% renewable electricity tariff. The furniture retailer has joined forces with the “Big Clean Switch” campaign to use a collective switch to secure cheaper green power for the households that sign up. - Guardian