Direct Line accepts £3.6bn takeover after rival insurer Aviva raises bid

The insurance company Direct Line has accepted an improved offer from its bigger UK rival Aviva, in a deal valuing the business at £3.6bn.Aviva, the UK’s largest insurer, has succeeded in reaching a preliminary agreement to take over Direct Line after submitting a third cash and shares bid valuing London-listed Direct Line at 275p a share.Aviva had its first offer, at 250p, rejected last week, and this week raised it to 261p a share.Direct Line’s board, led by the chair, Danuta Gray, rejected Aviva’s first approach last month, saying it was “highly opportunistic” and “substantially” undervalued the business

‘It comes at a cost’: British growers criticise Christmas vegetable price war

Ten years ago, marketing executives at Britain’s biggest supermarket had a brainwave: might slashing the price of basic vegetables tempt shoppers to do their Christmas shop with them?Tesco, under chief executive Dave Lewis, was trying to revive a business reeling after falling sales, five profit warnings and an accounting scandal. That promotion in December 2014, dubbed its Festive Five, offered bags of carrots, potatoes, brussels sprouts, parsnips and a cauliflower for 49p each.It was to spark a vegetable price war that endures to this day. Tesco returned a year later with a cheaper 39p promotion, while the German discounter Aldi went further with its 19p a bag Super Six offer.And while consumers have benefited from the discounts, questions are increasingly being asked about the toll those prices have taken on Britain’s farmers, and whether it has warped shoppers’ perceptions about the fair cost of growing vegetables

UK construction grows but housebuilding decline threatens government targets

Activity in Britain’s construction industry picked up in November but housebuilding weakened, throwing the government’s new homes targets into further doubt.The S&P Global/CIPS UK Purchasing Managers’ Index for the construction industry came in at 55.2 last month, up from October’s 54.3.Robust demand for commercial and civil engineering projects offset the contraction in residential housebuilding, underlining the industry’s sensitivity to interest rates and consumer sentiment

Vodafone and Three given approval to merge

Vodafone and Three have been given the green light to create the UK’s largest mobile phone operator after agreeing to invest heavily in upgrading the merged group’s network across the country.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the pair must commit to upgrading 5G coverage and offer short-term customer protections against price rises.The £16.5bn merger of the UK’s third and fourth biggest operators respectively will create a network with more than 27 million subscribers.The CMA indicated last month it was likely to approve the deal, despite fierce opposition from rival BT and fears over the impact on customer bills and competition

Dan Murphy’s stock shortages hit NSW and Victoria as Woolworths industrial action continues

Alcohol retailer Dan Murphy’s is alerting customers to stock shortages at some of its New South Wales and Victorian stores, as industrial action at Woolworths-operated warehouses leaves a growing number of grocery, beer and wine shelves bare.The disruptions in the busy pre-Christmas trading period come ahead of a crucial Fair Work Commission hearing on Friday, when Woolworths will argue that the picket line outside a key distribution centre in Melbourne should be cleared.Industrial action has affected up to five distribution centres run by Woolworths’ supply chain arm, Primary Connect, which also counts Endeavour Group, the owner of Dan Murphy’s and BWS stores, as a customer.Woolworths is the former owner of Endeavour.An Endeavour spokesperson said Victorian and southern NSW stores were experiencing stock shortages

Tata Steel’s UK losses hit £1.1bn on cost of closing Port Talbot blast furnaces

Losses at Tata Steel’s UK operations ballooned to £1.12bn due to the cost of closing Port Talbot’s two blast furnaces.Accounts for the Indian-owned company show that pre-tax losses quadrupled from £279m to £1.12bn in the year to the end of March due to restructuring costs associated with the closure of its blast furnaces and coke ovens at the site in south Wales.Tata ended primary steelmaking at Port Talbot in September with the closure of its last blast furnace, a decision that will lead to 2,500 job losses