Channel Islands

WestLB is in advanced talks to buy Odeon Cinemas from Cinven. Most reports put the price at close to £450m for the 100 venues.

Leisure groups claim the new Licensing Bill could put an end to the building of new pubs. They are worried about a clause that would force them to re-apply for…

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors will warn today that commercial property returns are set to plummet to their lowest level since 1995.

Two of today’s newspapers report conflicting expectations of Wednesday’s full-year results from Liberty International. The Times says it is expected to report profits down from £90.9m to £90m.

The quarrying sector says that the Strategic Rail Authority’s decision to stop support for companies planning to build new rail infrastructure at their depots could have grave implications for road…

Liberty International chairman Donald Gordon is expected to hit out at the Higgs report on corporate governance when he announces the group’s annual results this week.

Icelandic retailer Baugur has taken a 0.5% stake in department store group Selfridges, which is trading at a discount to the value of its property assets.

Property owners feature heavily in the latest Rich List, launched by the Sunday Express. The richest, Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone (with £3.3bn), is said to own £300m of property.

German bank WestLB is close to buying the Odeon cinema chain for £450m. Rotch is also understood to have bid for the business, which has 100 cinemas and owns property…

The Bank of England is set to lower its growth forecasts for this year, following its decision to cut interest rates by 0.25%.

The Church of England may have to sell half its £4bn of assets in order to pay the pensions of retired clergymen.

Marks & Spencer has been in talks with Asda about buying some stores if the US-owned supermarkets group manages to take over Safeway.