“We are observing the situation with a lot of interest,” said a spokesman.Corus has asked McKinsey to conduct a strategic review of the company. Its attempt to sell its aluminium firm was blocked by the Dutch supervisory board earlier this year.Balli would be a controversial buyer for Corus assets as it is under investigation for fraud in Germany, where it bought the famous Rhineland steel business, Klockner, in 2001. The Alaghbands are accused of removing €120m (£82m) from the company. The German authorities have frozen the business and banker WestLB is threatening to foreclose on a loan to Klockner. The Alaghbands are now looking to sell out, probably taking a large loss.Vahid Alaghband was arrested in Switzerland last year under orders from the German authorities. He is not allowed to leave Switzerland until the case is closed. A Balli spokesman said: “We aim to sort out the situation by the end of the second quarter.”Balli is also well known to Lakshmi Mittal as it is his partner in the Sidex steel venture in Romania, which hit the headlines last year.
Mr Mittal, a substantial Labour Party donor, was accused of obtaining undue help from the UK Government and the ambassador to Romania when he bid for Sidex.. Tariffs imposed by George Bush last year to protect America’s steel industry from foreign imports could be lifted in the autumn. Just over half of the steel it exports to the US is subject to tariffs of up to 30 per cent.The US Congressional Committee on Ways and Means, which looks after trade issues, has commissioned a report into the tariffs. The committee has asked the International Trade Commission (ITC) to assess the impact on America’s domestic steel industry. But to the surprise of many US politicians who support the tariffs, it will also assess the impact on steel consumers.The ITC said it will investigate possible steel shortages, employment issues and the profitability of large steel consumers.”This will give Bush the excuse he needs to wriggle out of the tariffs,” said a well-placed source.A spokeswoman for the Department of Trade and Industry said: “US steel prices have gone up as a result of the tariffs, so this is an opportunity for consumers to express their concerns.”Ian Rodgers, deputy director of industry body UK Steel, said: “Bush may come to the conclusion that enough has been done to help the steel industry and the tariffs are now causing problems elsewhere.”.
Britain’s two largest advertisers, with an annual combined buying power of more than £270m, have called on the Competition Commission to block the merger of Carlton and Granada. Neither group wants the £2.4bn merger to go ahead in its current form.”We don’t see how this merger can proceed,” said Bernard Balderston, P&G’s associate director of UK media.P&G is lobbying through the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers, which is due to meet the Commission on Tuesday.COI, which has written to the Commission with its concerns, believes that allowing Carlton and Granada to combine its sales forces would set a dangerous precedent. A spokeswoman said: “It could result in the current seven major sales organisations being reduced to only three selling around 150 channels.”. Hollinger, the group that controls The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator, has been forced to turn to its chairman, Lord Black of Crossharbour, for emergency money because of a cash crisis. It admitted it had turned to Ravelston, the private investment vehicle of Lord Black, to fund the shortfall.
Ravelston has said it will pay up to $14m (£9m) a year to Hollinger to tide it over temporarily. The group warned that it may not be able to buy back a chunk of $70m prefer- ence shares it had hoped to redeem next year. Hollinger shares tumbled in the US and Canada on the news.The liquidity problem has been caused by the poor performance of many newspa- pers in Lord Black’s empire.Through a complex structure, Hollinger owns 31.8 per cent of Hollinger International, parent company of the Telegraph titles, The Spectator, the Jerusalem Post and the Chicago Sun-Times. It has 72.8 per cent of the voting rights in the media subsidiary.A week ago, Hollinger International reported a loss of $239m for 2002, though this was an improvement on the $335m deficit in 2001. More than $23m in fees went to Ravelston, of which $6.6m went directly to Lord Black.Analysts warned that Lord Black may have to sell assets to shore up its balance sheet.
