We will make that available as soon as it is ready and it will go to public consultation.”An Asda spokesman said yesterday: “It is a great shame for Burnage that the site will not be developed in the short or medium term.” He said the people of Burnage would suffer from the lack of competition.. BP Amoco, the energy giant, is working on a bid for exploitation group BG International which would value the demerged half of the old British Gas at £12bn. BP Amoco, the energy giant, is working on a bid for exploitation group BG International which would value the demerged half of the old British Gas at £12bn.
BP is understood to have asked Credit Suisse First Boston to draw up a knockout offer. It’s emerged as the most likely bidder after last month’s Chevron-Texaco merger, a deal that’s thought to have ruled out bids from both US oil groups.BG was split into two parts last month with BG International, its oil and gas explorer, separated from Lattice, the domestic business consisting mainly of Transco’s gas pipelines.

It is the second time the former state-owned company has been split, BG itself having been divested from its Centrica distribution arm in 1997.The demerger left BGI with exploration, production and storage facilities in 20 countries and 2.6bn barrels of oil equivalent. It is valued at £9.7bn.But its creation has prompted instant speculation that, at a time of high oil and gas prices, BGI’s strong growth prospects would attract a series of bidders. But the field has been narrowed not just by the Texaco- Chevron merger but also by the cold water Shell has poured on its prospects of bidding. But investment banking sources say that Shell has asked Morgan Stanley Dean Witter to monitor the situation.

BP Amoco would prefer an agreed deal, but BGI chief executive Frank Chapman is determined to pursue an independent strategy.The purchase of BGI would mark the latest stage of Sir John Browne’s acquisitive tenure as chief executive of BP. He has turned the old state-owned business into a £135bn stock market giant, largely thanks to its merger two years ago with America’s Amoco.The efficiency drive which has characterised his five years at the helm has been held up as an example to other businesses. His success was underlined a fortnight ago when BP unveiled third quarter profits of £2.7bn, although the results provoked accusations of profiteering from the anti-fuel tax lobby. But the price of oil has more than trebled this year.But in the fast-consolidating oil industry, the pressure for BP to embark on another major acquisition has been increased by the decision of Texaco and Chevron to link up. That deal created the world’s fourth-largest oil giant after Exxon Mobil, BP and Royal Dutch/Shell, and is expected to enable Chevron-Texaco to shed 4,000 staff. But the deal has attracted the attention of the regulators, as would a BP and BGI tie-up..

BT is to launch a series of “touchy-feely” advertisements, made by the Labour Party’s favourite advertising agency St Luke’s, to sell its £70bn restructuring to a cynical investment community. BT is to launch a series of “touchy-feely” advertisements, made by the Labour Party’s favourite advertising agency St Luke’s, to sell its £70bn restructuring to a cynical investment community.
The campaign is to be built around the slogan: “We’re all changing. We don’t want to do it without you.” The plan is to curry favour with customers, investors, politicians and regulators who have criticised BT’s chief executive, Sir Peter Bonfield, over recent months because of the collapse of the telecoms giant’s share price and the slow pace of its response to the changing competitive environment.The £10m campaign will run alongside the current BT adverts, which feature ET, the film character created by Steven Spielberg.These adverts, made by BBDO Abbott Mead Vickers, have been heavily criticised within BT and the advertising industry.BT is currently decidingwhether to pay Mr Spielberg to extend its rights to use the character until 2002, when an updated version of the original film is going to be released.This new advertising push follows the announcement earlier this month that BT would be splitting into five companies and would sell 25 per cent of at least two if its operations.. Channel 5 is poised to join Carlton’s bid for horse racing’s TV rights just two days before the Racecourse Association is due to decide whether to back the independent broadcaster’s offer. Channel 5 is poised to join Carlton’s bid for horse racing’s TV rights just two days before the Racecourse Association is due to decide whether to back the independent broadcaster’s offer.
The news comes after Go Racing, the rival consortium made up of Channel 4, BSkyB and Arena Leisure, recruited NTL in a last-ditch attempt to win the contract. Although Go is understood to have signed up a number of racecourses, several others have been put off by the involvement of Arena, which itself owns six English tracks. The RCA, which represents Britain’s 59 courses, will decide at Tuesday’s emergency general meeting which bid has won.Although both bidders are offering £400m for the 10-year deal, Carlton is offering £350m of cash compared to Go’s £320m.