BUSINESS LIVE: Abrdn confirms ii acquisition talks; JD boss under fire

British asset management firm Abrdn has confirmed it is in talks to acquire interactive investor in a deal understood to be worth more than £1.5billion.

The acquisition of one of the UK’s three big stock trading platforms is expected to be completed within the next fortnight, according to media reports.

JD Sports has hit back at criticism of its boss Peter Cowgill after footage emerged of him meeting his opposite number at Footasylum Barry Brown in a Manchester carpark over the weekend.

Britain’s competition watchdog last week ordered JD to sell Footasylum, amid an inquiry into the brands’ tie-up, with the businesses forbidden from sharing ‘business secrets, know-how, commercially sensitive information, intellectual property or any other information of a confidential or proprietary nature’.

Tory peer Lord Heseltine has urged LV members to reject the company’s takeover by US private equity house Bain Capital.

LV members have blasted the offer of a ‘paltry’ £100 each to sell the 178-year-old insurer to Bain, which would strip it of its mutual status.

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