Banco Santander Share News (BNC)

(ShareCast News) - KKR, the American private equity giant, is set to invest hundreds of millions of dollars buying up European oil and gasfields, as it seeks to take advantage of depressed valuations in the industry after the collapse of world oil prices. KKR said yesterday that it was launching a new company, Trans European Oil and Gas, to invest in the sector, which has been battered by a slide in crude prices to below $50 from over $100 a year ago. - The TimesThe global car industry was thrown into turmoil yesterday as Volkswagen said up to 11m of its vehicles might be affected by the growing diesel emissions scandal and governments around the world launched investigations into the company. Shares in carmakers in Europe and the US tumbled, as investors worried the allegations could draw in other carmakers and threaten the future of diesel technology. - Financial TimesIt is five years since Ana Botin took over as Santander's UK chief, in a move that had been expected to herald the flotation of the bank on the stock market. Yet the years have passed, Ms Botin has inherited her late father's placeas chairman of the global Santander group in Spain, and the UK arm is still firmly under its parent's ownership. But today she is back in London, hosting a two-day investor event that may at long last give us some fresh hints on the future ownership of the UK arm. - The Daily TelegraphThe price of good quality English farmland has doubled over the past five years, making it the most expensive in the world and offering a better return than prime London property, the FTSE 100 or gold. According to agents Knight Frank demand from wealthy private individuals as well as pension funds, has driven up the average price for an acre of "investment grade" English farmland (large plots with economies of scale) to £12,500, up 100% since 2010. - The GuardianGermany and France united against the minnows of eastern Europe yesterday to push through quotas that will force them to accept thousands of migrants. After days of diplomacy failed to find consensus, EU interior ministers held a majority vote to overrule the Hungarian, Romanian, Czech and Slovakian opposition to quotas relocating 120,000 migrants, principally from Italy and Greece, across the EU. Britain has an opt-out from the quotas. - The TimesOn the Beach, the website founded by Simon Cooper, and which is being advised by Numis, is understood to have pared back the valuation for its stock market flotation from about £270m to £240m amid resistance from institutions to the higher price tag. Nevertheless, despite the price cut, Inflexion Private Equity looks set to crystallise a huge profit after acquiring its estimated 70% stake in the company only two years ago from Isis Equity Partners for £73m. - The Times