Sunday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, Bumi, Gulf Keystone

Singapore´s giant sovereign wealth fund has made a preliminary approach to the government about buying a 4.5bn pound stake in Lloyds Banking Group. Temasek, one of the biggest investors in the financial services sector, is believed to be willing to buy about 10 per cent of the bank's shares. An initial placing of a small tranche of shares with Lloyds' existing institutional investors could be launched within weeks. Further share sales could then be opened to the general public, says The Sunday Times.ITV is reportedly aiming to capitalise on the success of Scandinavian dramas such as The Killing and Borgen as it considers a £90m bid for Norway-based production house Nice Entertainment Group. It would mark the biggest move yet in ITV chief executive Adam Crozier's plan to make the company less dependent on the erratic British advertising market by acquiring international programme-making assets, according to The Sunday Telegraph.Negotiations over a deal to create the world's largest open trade area - between the United States and the European Union - are due to begin in Washington today, with Prime Minister David Cameron saying an agreement would be worth £380 a year to every household in Britain. If successful, the landmark Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks could add £100bn annually to the European economy, £80bn to the US and £85bn to the rest of the world. It could also create millions of jobs. Mr Cameron has made starting the bilateral negotiations a priority of his G8 presidency, with Britain calling the talks a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity, The Sunday Telegraph reports.The Obama administration has set itself up for a fight with Wall Street after resisting European demands to include financial services regulation in transatlantic trade talks as the list of sticking points grows before negotiations begin this week. Washington is concerned that including a framework for financial regulatory convergence in the talks could be used by banks to circumvent tough rules stemming from the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, and as a way for Europeans to delay their own reforms, the FT writes.The return of Lloyds Banking Group to the private sector moved a step closer on Sunday as the deadline for advisers wanting to handle the share sale passed. Banks were given until 10AM to make their pitch to handle the sell-off of the Government's 39% stake in the bank five years after it was rescued with £20bn of taxpayer money. The sale method has yet to be decided but it is understood that investors are lining up to pounce. Among those thought to be interested in taking a stake in Lloyds is former Standard Chartered boss Lord Davies who is said to be putting together a consortium of City investors and overseas funds to buy a £10bn chunk of the bank, The Financial Mail on Sunday says.Greece was expected to reach a deal with foreign lenders on its latest bail-out review before Eurozone finance ministers meet on Monday to decide on further aid. Athens has been in talks with inspectors from the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund "Troika" for nearly a week to show it can deliver on its pledges, after failing to meet public-sector reform targets, The Sunday Telegraph reports.Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister of Thailand who once owned Manchester City football club, is considering a swoop on Bumi, the corruption-riddled coalminer. Thaksin is in talks to buy the 23.8% stake owned by the Bakrie family, who co-founded Bumi three years ago with Nat Rothschild. He is understood to have hired UBS. It is unclear how much Thaksin would pay. But his arrival will raise concerns about a new power struggle at the stricken miner, The Sunday Times explains.One of the largest investors in Gulf Keystone - Capital Group - has launched a blistering attack on the oil explorer and vowed to vote against the re-election of two directors, accused of overseeing "egregious" pay awards for the chief executive. Last month a fellow investor, M&G, proposed four new independent directors to stop what it saw as excessive pay for the Chief Executive, Todd Kozel. The institutions, which together own 11%, are also concerned that worries about corporate governance are hindering the company's ability to attract investment partners or potential suitors, The Sunday Times holds.AB