Business briefs: Jockey Club | Rolls Royce | AVM Impact | Carpetright

THE owner of Aintree, Cheltenham and Newmarket racecourses today becomes the first sporting organisation to raise funds on the corporate bond market.

The Jockey Club aims to raise £15 million to put toward the £45m cost of a new grandstand at Cheltenham, with returns including cash and discounts at any of the club’s 15 racecourses.

• Rolls Royce has sold its interest in the joint venture that produces engines for the Apache and Merlin helicopters to partner Turbomeca for €293 million (£250m).

The sale is expected to complete before the year end, but it will take another two years to fully transfer all the operations and for the French group to assume full control.

• An audio visual and video conferencing specialist is setting up shop in two locations north of the Border as part of a wider expansion.

AVM Impact said it was opening offices in Edinburgh and Perth, as well as an operation in London. Both the Edinburgh and London branches will showcase AVM’s “True Collaboration Rooms”.

• Carpetright had no complaints yesterday about the cold spring weather as it rolled out another healthy improvement in UK sales.

The firm, which has suffered a big decline in profitability in recent years, said underlying UK sales were up by 5.6 per cent in the 12 weeks to Saturday, despite competitive trading conditions.