Diageo, the drinks company behind Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Guinness, is to pay HMRC £107m under the “Google tax” crackdown aimed at multinationals. The FTSE 100 business said HMRC was preparing to demand additional tax and interest of £107m for 2015 and 2016. The firm said it would challenge the assessments from HMRC when they are received in the next 30 days. “Diageo does not believe that it falls within the scope of the new diverted profits tax regime,” it said (The Guardian). The dispute centres on profits that have been moved between the UK and the Netherlands. The Diverted Profits Tax regime was introduced in 2015 and levies a 25% charge on taxable profits that have been diverted from the UK (The BBC).

German grocery chain Aldi is trying to beat the world’s biggest retailer at its own game: low prices. Already with 1,600 U.S. stores, Aldi’s internal studies show its prices are 21% lower than its lowest-priced rivals, including Wal-Mart Stores, according to chief executive Jason Hart. Hart’s strategy centres on adding more private-label goods, which are a retailer’s in-house brands, to win over price-sensitive customers, and a massive expansion to further disrupt a US grocery sector that has seen 18 companies go bankrupt since 2014. (Reuters)

Pret A Manger, the British food-on-the-go chain that has brought crayfish and rocket sandwiches to the masses, is being lined up for a New York listing (The Financial Times £). The float could value Pret at in the region of £1.4bn after a recent rise in sales (The Telegraph). The London-based firm has been rapidly expanding overseas, and said earlier this year that half of its new stores would be outside the UK (The Daily Mail).

The Telegraph writes: “Pret a Manger is a British success story that has grown to become the mainstay of the al desko lunch. So it’s a shame that the company, which started 31 years ago on London’s Victoria Street, hasn’t picked the City after years of speculation about a potential listing.”

Just Eat’s planned acquisition of rival UK takeaway ordering website Hungryhouse faces an in-depth investigation by competition regulators because of fears that restaurants could end up with a worse deal (The Financial Times £). The CMA probe “couldn’t come at a worse time” for Just Eat, given the recent “management merry-go round” that has resulted in the departure of the chief financial officer, chief executive and chairman (The Times £). The CMA said the companies are close rivals because they both offer a similar service and have expansive geographical coverage across the UK (The Daily Mail)

Compass Group, the world’s biggest contract catering company, is to pay a £1bn special dividend after being unable to identify suitable large-scale deals in a first half in which profits and free cash flow jumped (The Financial Times £).

The Times’ Tempus column writes: “The best indications are that Compass Group will be back to the sort of 4% to 6% organic growth rates that the caterer has tended to notch up in the past by the financial year starting in October… It is not a bad place to be and this column has championed Compass before” (The Times £)

Whole Foods Market has replaced its chief financial officer, chairman and several board members as it attempts to deal with sliding sales and the threat of a proxy fight with the activist hedge fund Jana Partners. (The Financial Times £)

Sales growth at Coty bounced back in the quarter to the end of March as the US cosmetics group showed the first signs of a turnround in its recently-acquired raft of Procter & Gamble beauty lines. (The Financial Times £)

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