Sunday Times
EMI investors are set to receive a bonus of at least £1.50 a share - £1.2bn in total - if they agree to merge their company with Bertelsmann's music offshoot BMG. The two top jobs within the merged group would be taken by EMI's Eric Nicoli and Ken Berry. The government could reap billions from a further auction of the radio spectrum if it decides to sell the area used by the Ministry of Defence.
Industrial group Tomkins, at the centre of a scandal over directors' perks, has suspended three executives. There is no suggestion the three abused their perks, and staff remain puzzled.
Sunday Telegraph
Life insurance group CGNU is understood to have pulled out of the auction for mutual insurer Equitable Life, which was forced to put itself up for sale in July. The move will leave Prudential as the last remaining bidder for Equitable, which could be worth up to £4.5bn.
Pubmaster, the pub company which was part of the Brent Walker empire, is to be sold to a group of pub trade and property buyers backed by German bank WestLB, for around £200m.
Mail on Sunday
Nasdaq chief executive Frank Zarb, below, is planning to visit Britain to open merger talks with his counterparts at the London Stock Exchange. The move follows last week's failure of a £940m hostile bid for the LSE by Sweden's OM Group.
Sunday Express
One of Canada's biggest mutual funds, Trimark, has dumped almost half its holding in Huntingdon Life Sciences, the company being targeted by animal rights protesters.
Observer
Allied Domecq, the drinks company, is on the verge of sealing a deal to buy Stolichnaya, the vodka manufacturer and world's biggest-selling spirits brand. The deal gives Allied US distribution rights and marks an outmanoeuvring of Diageo, which lost the Stolichnaya rights after concerns in Russia that it was promoting its Smirnoff brand more heavily in the US.
Goldman Sachs, the world's biggest investment bank, is crunching the numbers this weekend for a possible £15bn bid from Barclays for Abbey National. Barclays is now the City's favourite to intervene for the former building society ahead of Lloyds TSB after Abbey put itself in play with a spurned bid for Bank of Scotland 10 days ago. Under pressure from City institutions, advisers to Abbey and BoS are trying to resurrect their £24bn merger.
Sunday Business
BT is set to reopen partial merger talks with America's AT&T after extensive restructuring moves by both companies in the past three weeks.
Brewer Scottish & Newcastle is expected finally to complete the long awaited sale of its Center Parcs division this week. It is expected to be sold to a joint venture between Deutsche Bank and French holiday company Pierre et Vacances for about £650m.
German holiday company Condor & Neckermann is believed to be ready to pay £600m-£700m for Thomas Cook.
IoS
Marks & Spencer is considering dropping the M&S name from up to 50 of its stores. It plans a revamp of the stores in depressed areas, reintroducing them as a new downmarket concept.
Leisure group Rank wants a high street bookmaker and has put Ladbrokes, owned by Hilton, at the top of its target list.
Reports out this week
Today
Interims Emap, iTouch (Q3), Railtrack, Renold, Uniq.
Finals Carr's Milling, WT Foods. AGMs None scheduled. EGMs Jupiter European.
Tuesday
Interims Azlan Group, Energis, Kewill Systems, Northern Foods, Oxford Instruments, Regus (Q3), Sterling Publishing, Telework, Vodafone, Vosper Thorneycroft. Finals Abacus Polar. AGMs Dresdner RCM Income, Smiths industries.
EGMs Bizspace.
Wednesday
Interims Alterian, Cable & Wireless, Intechnology, ITIS Holdings, Scottish & Southern, Viridian Group. Finals BOC, Interactive Investor International, Scottish Radio Holdings. AGMs Domestic & General, Manchester & London IT, West Bromwich Albion. EGMs None scheduled.
Thursday
Interims Bank of Ireland, BOC, Glenmorangie, Helical Bar, Patsystems (Q3), Young & Co's Brewery. Finals Recognition Systems AGMs Barratt Developments, Creston, Sheffield United. EGMs None scheduled.
Friday
Interims None scheduled. Finals None scheduled.
AGMs Manchester United, Marylebone Warwick, Schroder Japan Growth. EGMs Vislink.
Indicators this week
Today
UK IDS pay settlements analysis. UK Producers prices (Oct).
Tuesday
UK CPI (Oct). UK CBI/BSL regional trends survey (Q). US Retail sales (Oct). JP Industrial output revision (Sep).
Wednesday
UK Labour market report (Oct). US Business inventories (Sep).
Thursday
UK BRC Economic monitor (Q). UK Retail sales (Oct). UK BoE inflation report.
Friday
UK No data scheduled.
