Czech miners' unions have teamed up with lignite mine owner Pavel Tykac and another investor to make on offer for New World Resources' insolvent mining subsidiary OKD, the unions said on Monday. The unions did not give any details of their offer to NWR, which is mainly owned by a trio of international investment funds. OKD, NWR's main business, filed for insolvency this month after failing to secure government aid. OKD should be able to continue its operations if the offer is accepted, the unions said.

Retail tycoon Philip Green's Arcadia group was warned by a senior Goldman Sachs banker that a possible suitor of its BHS department store chain had a history of bankruptcy, British lawmakers were told on Monday, Reuters reported. The 88-year-old, 164-store, BHS was placed into administration, a form of creditor protection, by owner Retail Acquisitions last month, putting 11,000 jobs at risk. Green owned BHS for 15 years before selling it in March last year for a nominal sum of one pound to Retail Acquisitions, a group of little known investors led by Dominic Chappell.

Spain’s acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy is planning to implement new austerity measures if he remains in government after a June election, in a bid to avoid a European Commission sanction for failing to control the public deficit, the Irish Times reported. Earlier this month, Mr Rajoy wrote to EC president Jean-Claude Juncker, requesting leeway on the deficit issue in return for introducing new cuts later in 2016. El País newspaper published the letter on Monday. “In the second half of the year, once there is a new government, we are prepared to adopt new measures,” it said.

Buyers from continental Europe have largely withdrawn from the market in expensive London homes as they await the outcome of the UK’s June referendum on EU membership, the Irish Times reported. Just 9 per cent of people buying “prime” central London houses and apartments in the first quarter of this year came from other EU countries, compared with 29 per cent a year earlier and a five-year average of 20 per cent. This is despite a 10 per cent fall in sterling against the euro that has made UK homes significantly cheaper for European buyers.

A year ago Angela Merkel, German chancellor, and Wolfgang Schäuble, her finance minister, sold the Greek bailout to their party and parliament as a loan only. They argued that once you accept a debt writedown, you turn a loan into a transfer. And once you accept the principle of a one-off transfer to Greece, you are on a slippery road to what the Germans call a transfer union, one where they pay and others receive. In private, senior German government officials agree that Athens needs debt relief. They are not blind.

Excalibur Steel, a management buyout group interested in purchasing Tata Steel’s British steelmaking operations, is ready to lend its support to rival bidder Liberty House, according to industry sources, the Irish Times reported on a Reuters story. Tata said in March it wanted to sell its UK steel operation, which has been hit by cheap Chinese imports, rising costs and weak demand. The decision prompted a political scramble to find a buyer to save the thousands of jobs at stake. The deadline for final bid submissions is on Monday.

Greece’s parliament approved a raft of fresh taxes and austerity measures that the country must legislate to unlock further rescue loans, as the country’s most influential creditors—Germany and the International Monetary Fund—remain deadlocked over debt relief, the International New York Times reported. The measures were backed by the 153 lawmakers from the ruling Syriza party and its junior coalition partner, the Independent Greeks, securing the majority in the 300-seat parliament late Sunday.

The container shipping industry, a vital link in the world’s supply of manufactured goods, is suffering what could well turn out to be the deepest and longest downturn in its 60-year history, the Financial Times reported. Container shipping lines have made a series of investments in new, giant vessels, and this glut of capacity has sent freight rates tumbling. The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index — one of the few public sources of information on what lines are charging to ship a container — last month reached the lowest level since its inception in 1998.

A senior International Monetary Fund official on Thursday cooled European hopes to secure IMF backing for a Greek bailout plan soon and opened the door for emergency financing without new loans from the fund, The Wall Street Journal reported. “For the IMF to participate in the program with financing, both credible policies and substantial debt relief will be needed,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in a briefing.

Poland's fourth biggest power group Energa said on Thursday it was not interested in buying assets or shares in state-run coal miner JSW as part of a rescue plan, Reuters reported. Poland's energy minister said on Wednesday that JSW, EU's biggest coking coal producer, may need a share issue as it needs more money than estimated last year. This has sent JSW shares 13 percent down on Wednesday and a further four percent on Thursday. Analysts also said that the comments have weighed on Energa's share price on fears that it will have to continue to help rescue state-controlled coal mining firms.