Friday Papers: Li Ka-shing pays £5.8bn for UK utility - bid news and gossip

Financial Times

* EDF of France is set to sell its UK electricity networks business to Cheung Kong Infrastructure, controlled by Li Ka-shing, the Hong Kong billionaire, for £5.8bn.

* Oaktree is readying a counter-proposal for a restructuring of the German alumina business, in a last ditch attempt to wrest control from Dubai International Capital.

* Korea National Oil Corporation is close to arranging the loans needed to launch a formal £1.7bn offer for Dana Petroleum as the UK oil explorer battles to convince its shareholders to push for a higher offer.

* Aegis, the media agency is to make its largest acquisition for a decade by offering about £207m for Mitchell Communication Group, Australia's largest media-buying agency.

* KBC Peel Hunt, the City stockbroker, unveiled a long-awaited £74m staff-led buy-out from its Belgian parent.

* US banks are taking advantage of improving earnings and growing investor demand to raise billions of dollars in debt at historically low interest rates.

* Revenue at Collins Stewart remained broadly flat at £96.1m in the six months to June 30.

* The world’s biggest banks will continue to trade over-the-counter derivatives in much the same way as they did before the financial crisis, in spite of the recently enacted legislation on US financial reform, the CME Group said on Thursday.

* Citigroup is to target wealthy US consumers in big cities with a revamped offering of accounts and credit cards.