An activist investor that has built a position in Premier Inn and Costa Coffee owner Whitbread is likely to push for a break-up, a shareholder has predicted. Sachem Head, a New York-based fund, has not stated what it will do with its stake in the FTSE 100 company but top 20 investor Old Mutual Global Investors said it believes the new shareholder will push for change. (The Telegraph)

A growing shortage of lorry drivers has seen pay rocket as companies battle to keep the shelves stocked and make deliveries in time for Christmas (The Daily Mail).

The former head of Tesco’s British business Chris Bush decided to play golf instead of bringing a report into accounting irregularities to the attention of its new chief executive, a court was told yesterday. (The Times £).

A scandal over suspected accounting fraud at Steinhoff International intensified yesterday when Johannesburg’s stock exchange operator began an investigation into whether the South African retail conglomerate may have broken disclosure rules. (The Times £)

Investec, the Anglo-South African lender, and the South African government employee pension fund disclosed substantial potential losses from the accounting scandal at Steinhoff, even as the Johannesburg exchange opened a probe of the global home retailer (The Financial Times £). Investec has warned the crisis at South African retailer Steinhoff could knock 3pc off its profits this year (The Telegraph).

Toys R Us is to face further questions from MPs about a bumper pay increase for its UK chief executive a year before the retailer announced plans to shutter a quarter of its stores. (The Telegraph)

Unibail-Rodamco, Europe’s largest commercial property company, has agreed to buy Westfield Corporation in a deal that assigns an enterprise value to the Australian-headquartered shopping centre group of $24.7bn (The Financial Times £, The BBC, The Guardian)

The deal comes amid a flurry of prospective deals in the global retail property sector with the UK’s Hammerson offering £3.2bn ($4.3bn) to buy its smaller rival Intu, and Brookfield attempting to buy GGP for $15bn. (The Financial Times £)

French dairy group Lactalis has ordered a global product recall following the discovery of salmonella cases in babies and the subsequent ban of its formula milk and baby food by France’s economic ministry. (The Financial Times £)

Topics