United Kingdom

Private equity house Carlyle Group is the frontrunner to buy about 700 million pounds ($1.03 billion) worth of London offices linked to the failed White Tower commercial mortgage-backed securitisation (CMBS), a source close to the discussions told Reuters. Carlyle is in advanced talks to buy the Thames Portfolio that comprises five of the assets supporting the 1.15 billion pounds White Tower 2006-3 CMBS, which defaulted in July 2009 after a sharp correction in UK commercial property prices.

Reinsurers have bumped up prices for offshore energy-related insurance premiums by 50 percent following insurance industry losses of up to $3.5 billion from the BP plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Moody's Investor Service said in a report on Thursday, Reuters reported. Total insured losses from the worst oil spill in U.S. history are expected to be between $1.4 billion and $3.5 billion, although losses would be significantly higher if BP had purchased liability insurance instead of self-insuring its risks through its captive insurance programme, said Moody's.

TNK-BP, a joint venture between Britain's BP and a group of Russian billionaires, said on Thursday that its unit which holds the license to the vast Kovykta gas field had filed for bankruptcy, Agence France-Presse reported. TNK-BP said the RUSIA Petroleum unit is unable to pay off debts to its parent company. "The current financial situation precludes RUSIA Petroleum from timely repayment of its loans to TNK-BP Group," the company said in a statement. The loans were made to the subsidiary to finance the development of the vast Kovykta gas field, it said.

U.K. mortgage lenders are offering loans to “almost prime” and “complex prime” borrowers with “minor historic credit issues” who may have experienced financial “blips.” They don’t use the word subprime. Three years after defaults on U.S. subprime mortgages sparked the worst financial crisis in almost 80 years, General Electric Co.’s GE Money unit and Investec Plc’s Kensington division are once again lending to British customers rejected by mainstream banks, Bloomberg reported. This time, they say they’re offering less money to clients with better credit histories.

EU finance ministers backed new rules for hedge funds and private equity groups on Tuesday, spelling defeat for Britain's new coalition government at its first European Union meeting, Reuters reported. "We can basically say that we have the agreement we need to take a general approach (to tighter restrictions),” Spain's finance minister Elena Salgado told reporters as EU colleagues discussed the issue in Brussels.

The number of company winding-up petitions and individual bankruptcy petitions presented in courts in England and Wales in the first quarter of 2010 increased on the previous quarter, ministry of justice statistics showed Thursday, Dow Jones reported. In total, 2,777 winding-up petitions to dissolve a company that can't pay its debts were presented in the first quarter, 4% up from the 2,670 presented in the fourth quarter of 2009. This compares with the 3,461 winding-up petitions filed in the first quarter of 2009.

U.S. navigation device maker Garmin said it would raise its bid for debt-laden Raymarine by more than 16 percent, topping a third-party offer, if the British marine navigation supplier were to enter into administration, Reuters reported. Garmin said it would pay more than 17.5 pence for each share in Raymarine, representing a premium of at least 21 percent to Raymarine's Thursday close. Earlier on Friday, Raymarine said an unnamed third party had walked away from a potential deal but remained willing to reconsider a transaction if Raymarine placed itself with administrators.

One of Scotland’s oldest housebuilders has been forced into receivership by the Bank of Scotland, The Herald reported. Renfrewshire-based John Dickie Group, founded in 1880, was told at the beginning of the month that the bank was not prepared to continue its support, and the directors were asked to call in administrators. They resisted, and yesterday the bank called in receivers, whose appointment is likely to be announced today.

Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd. has succeeded in its quest to raise GBP105 million ($156 million) to stave off a bank foreclosure on EMI Group, people familiar with the situation said, giving the private-equity firm leverage in its battle with lender Citigroup Inc. over the fate of the legendary music company, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. EMI has until Friday to inform Citi that it has come up with the cash necessary to stave off default in mid-June.

How will we catch something so virulent from as far away as Greece? In the same way as we caught our last economic illness, through an intensely integrated international financial system, The Independent reported in a commentary. British banks have lent money to Greece, both to her government and to private companies and individuals, but not that much in the big scheme of things – perhaps $15.4bn (£10.4bn), according to the Bank for International Settlements. But the European banks own much more.