Financially struggling British newspaper group Johnston Press, publisher of The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post, has been bought by its bondholders after filing for bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported. “The transaction provides the group with a substantially de-levered balance sheet, new capital and a strong platform for its staff, operations and publications,” JPIMedia, a company formed by the bondholders, said on Saturday.

The cost of insuring exposure to Britain’s sovereign debt rose to its highest level in almost two years on Thursday as political turmoil in the country over its exit from the European Union ripped through UK currency, bond and equity markets, Reuters reported. Five-year credit default swaps (CDS) jumped 3 basis points (bps) from Wednesday’s close to 34 bps - the highest level since December 2016, data from IHS Markit showed. Read more

Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc’s bond risk quadrupled this year as the automaker plays catch-up on electric vehicles and is hit by weakened demand in China. Moody’s Investors Service is warning of more tough days ahead, Bloomberg News reported. Moody’s on Nov. 13 cut its rating on Jaguar, owned by India’s Tata Motors Ltd., to Ba3, three levels below investment grade. Jaguar’s weak operating performance “will likely continue over at least the next 12-18 months” and it will weigh on the parent’s performance too, it said.

U.K. markets were thrown into turmoil after Prime Minister Theresa May faced the biggest challenge to her leadership since she took office, Bloomberg News reported. Sterling slid the most in more than 17 months after ministers including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey quit May’s top team, while Brexiteer Jacob Rees Mogg called for a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister. Investors priced out the prospect of a rate increase by the Bank of England next year on concern that any revolt against May could ultimately imperil the chances of the U.K.

European Union states are still divided over an overhaul of rules for the supervision of banks against money laundering, two EU sources said on Wednesday. EU confidential documents show countries had agreed a preliminary common stance on the reform proposed by the European Commission in September which would give more powers to the European Banking Authority (EBA) to counter financial crime, Reuters reported. But one EU source said states were still divided on this issue and it was unclear whether they could reach a deal by the next meeting of EU finance ministers scheduled on Dec. 4.

Field is seeking to obtain, in private, "further details" of the Insolvency Service's investigation around the 2016 collapse of BHS, including learning more about a pre-sale audit of the high street giant, Professional Pensions reported. It comes after details emerged in June of a £6.5 million fine levied by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) against auditor PwC for its 2014 audit of Green's Taveta Group accounts.

Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it would liquidate its U.K. nuclear business and sell its U.S. natural-gas business, taking a combined loss of nearly $1 billion. The moves are intended to clear away legacy problems after Toshiba went through waves of restructuring in the past three years that included the bankruptcy of its former Westinghouse Electric business in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported. The U.K. business—NuGeneration Ltd., known as NuGen—had sought to build what was planned as Europe’s largest new nuclear project in northwest England.

Toshiba is set to liquidate UK nuclear arm NuGen, according to people familiar with the company, dealing a hammer blow to plans to build a new plant at Moorside in Cumbria. The Japanese conglomerate, whose board is meeting on Thursday, is almost certain to take the decision to wind up NuGen after all avenues to sell the unit were exhausted, the Financial Times reported. “It is 80 per cent likely that Toshiba will decide at the board meeting to wind it up,” a source close to NuGen told the Financial Times.

The London restaurant scene has suffered its worst year for closures in decades as a rapid expansion turned to bust, the Financial Times reported. About 117 independent restaurants closed in London in the 12 months to September 2018, 40 per cent more than last year and surpassing 2003’s peak of 113, according to Harden’s London Restaurants guide. “There are just too many restaurants out there,” said Peter Harden, who has compiled the guide, now in its 28th year.

UK restaurant chain Prezzo said trading remains challenging even after it closed more than 100 restaurants, restructured its debts and its main backer wrote off two-thirds of its investment, the Financial Times reported. The Italian-themed chain, which now has 186 rather than 300 restaurants, is majority owned by TPG, a private equity group that bought it off the stock market for £304m in 2014. However, a debt-for-equity swap has diluted TPG’s stake and turned five debt providers into shareholders.