Below are the key morning headlines from today’s papers, featuring the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
GlaxoSmithKline to raid Silicon Valley: UK firm lures tech stars to create blockbuster drugs. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) technology chief has vowed to poach top talent from the likes of Google and Facebook as it overhauls its approach to discovering new drugs. Karenann Terrell, who was made Glaxo’s first chief digital and technology officer last year, said pharmaceutical firms needed to adopt Silicon Valley’s tactics or face the reckoning that industries such as retail have endured at the hands of online rivals. The former Walmart executive, 57, said she would aim to poach top staff from internet giants and acquire tech companies if necessary to tap into their expertise. This includes analysing vast troves of data, which she believes can help uncover lucrative new medicines.
Edward Bramson set to demand board seat at Barclays. Activist investor wants investment bank cut back. The activist investor pushing Barclays (BARC) to curtail its investment banking ambitions has told other shareholders that he could push for a seat on the board if he feels he is being ignored. Edward Bramson could begin a proxy fight against Barclays if he does not get the response from the bank he was looking for, a leading UK fund manager said. Mr Bramson’s Sherborne Investors became one of the largest shareholders in Barclays this year, buying a stake of little over 5% with a view to putting pressure on it to increase returns through cutting back its investment banking business.
Interserve fails to provide back-up plan for services. One of the biggest suppliers of cleaning and catering services to government departments, schools and hospitals has failed to provide civil servants with details of how it would ensure continuity of service in the event of a Carillion-style collapse. Interserve (IRV) , whose shares wobbled dramatically last week amid reports that it was close to failure, is absent from a list of companies being published today by the cabinet office that it says are close to providing it with a so-called living will. Capita, Serco and the French-owned Sopra Steria are the first three companies to volunteer to provide living wills aimed at helping civil servants to transfer contracts smoothly in the event of their collapse to a new supplier or to take them in-house without disruption.
Johnston Press pensioners face cuts. Almost 5,000 former workers at Johnston Press (JPR) face cuts to their pensions in the wake of the collapse of the owner of The Scotsman, The Yorkshire Post and the i newspapers. The company agreed a pre-pack administration on Friday night, in which its businesses and assets will be sold to a newly formed company controlled by the investors that own its debt, allowing the new owners to jettison the pension liabilities. Trustees of the pension fund, which has a deficit of £40 million, are seeking rescue by the Pension Protection Fund, the official lifeboat. A bailout would follow the rescues of Carillion and Kodak UK pensioners this year.
Playtech investor Jason Ader wants founder Teddy Sagi fired. The American activist investor calling for a shake-up at Playtech (PTEC) has written to the gaming technology group’s directors calling on them to cut all ties with Teddy Sagi, its billionaire founder. The Times understands that Jason Ader, from Spring Owl Asset Management, a New York hedge fund, expressed concern that Mr Sagi remains closely involved with the business, despite recently cutting his stake to only 4.8%. Mr Ader is said to have suggested that Mr Sagi’s colourful past — in his early twenties he spent time in an Israeli jail on charges of insider trading, before deciding that the internet was the way to make money — has constrained shareholder value and may have hindered Playtech’s American ambitions.
Unilever strikes 10-year agreement for Colman’s mustard production to continue in Norfolk. Unilever (ULVR) has struck a ten-year agreement for Colman’s mustard production to continue in Norfolk. The deal with mustard and mint farmers, known collectively as Condimentum, will see a new £10m factory built near Norwich. It comes after the firm announced it would shut its Carrow Works site in Norwich, where Colman’s has been produced since 1858. Manufacturing of some other products will move to Staffordshire, while packaging of dry condiments will be done in Germany.
US hedge fund boss threatens to launch coup against executives at FirstGroup (FGP) , amid growing investor anger about its performance. A US hedge fund boss has threatened to launch a coup against executives at transport company First Group, amid growing investor anger about its performance. James Rasteh, of Coast Capital Management, said: ‘They are driving the bus off the cliff. If they are deadly intent on continuing to do that they must be ejected from their seats.’ First Group has lost 78% of its value in the past ten years. Rasteh claimed Coast could get more than the 5% support necessary to convene an investor vote on the board.
