Dec 4 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
The Times
- Engineering firm Smiths Group SMIN.L sells its leading airport security scanner business to CVC CVC.AS in a 2 billion-pound ($2.67 billion) deal to focus on core engineering.
-Britain's biggest self-storage group Big Yellow BYG.L has confirmed it is facing a multimillion-pound hit from British finance minister Rachel Reeves's budget, days after Blackstone BX.N walked away from 2-billion pound takeover talks.
The Guardian
- Britain's biggest water company Thames Water has said crisis talks to secure its future with lenders are taking "longer than expected" and will drag into 2026 as it faces the prospect of a collapse into government control.
- WPP WPP.L has been relegated from the FTSE 100 after nearly 30 years, as the advertising multinational struggles to stem an exodus of clients and match the artificial intelligence and data capabilities of rivals.
The Telegraph
- Qatar's sovereign wealth fundQatar Investment Authority has dumped a 270 million-pound stake in Sainsbury's SBRY.L, losing its crown as the supermarket’s largest shareholder.
- Britain's Post Office has dodged a 1 million-pound fine after leaking more than 500 names and addresses of people affected by Horizon IT scandal were accidentally published online.
Sky News
- More than 400 online UK online safety workers have agreed to leave TikTok sparking safety fears. Earlier in August, the company announced a round of mass layoffs to its Trust and Safety teams.
- The London-listed asset management group Premier Miton PMIP.L picks veteran banker Christopher Williams, who advised the UK government on the bailouts of Britain's biggest banks during the 2008 financial crisis as next chairman.
The Independent
- Great British Energy has vowed to generate enough clean energy to power almost 10 million homes, under new spending plans that it hopes will attract 15 billion pounds worth of private finance.
- The UK and Norway are poised to sign the "Lunna House agreement", a landmark defence pact establishing a combined naval fleet to track Russian submarines in the North Atlantic.
($1 = 0.7504 pounds)
(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)
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