Business briefs: Ex-TNK-BP chief in talks | Everything Everywhere

Published on 22/06/2012 00:00

ONE of the oligarchs that co-owns BP’s Russian joint venture is travelling to London for talks with institutional investors on how best to change the firm’s structure.

Mikhail Fridman quit as chief executive of TNK-BP in May, days before BP said it could sell out of the business.

His visit comes as BP reportedly wrote to TNK-BP demanding that executives stop taking decisions which it believes need board approval.

BP favours selling its 50 per cent stake, but Fridman, who heads the AAR consortium that owns the other half, is thought to have suggested that the British firm keep a minority holding, or buy out AAR.

Mobile operator not looking for sale

The French co-owners of Britain’s largest mobile operator, Everything Everywhere, scotched rumours of a possible sale yesterday, saying they are not looking for offers and have enough cash to invest in the business.

France Telecom’s chief executive was speaking after reports last week that former chief executive Tom Alexander was putting together a private equity-backed bid.

Aim gets set for Chinese flotation

THE Alternative Investment Market (Aim) will today see its largest Chinese flotation so far this year when e-commerce business Global Market Group starts trading.

The company, which operates an online marketplace to match western buyers with manufacturers in China, will have an initial market value of £127 million.

The company has raised £9.7m to further develop the site which also provides an assurance service to independently audit manufacturers for quality and operating standards. The site, which has more than 900,000 western buyers registered and 3,700 manufacturers, generated revenues of around £23m last year.