CORRECTED-PRESS DIGEST-British Business - Feb. 18
(Corrects Feb. 18 Press Digest to add dropped words "airline's parent" in paragraph 9)
Feb 18 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
The Times
Jupiter Fund Management Plc agreed to buy its smaller rival, Merian Global Investors, for as much as 419 million pounds ($544.62 million). http://bit.ly/39M1Hcv
The owner of Britain's largest and oldest train factory is to be sold off to the French company Alstom SA in a deal worth 6.25 billion pounds. http://bit.ly/2Hu6vHF
The Guardian
Moneybarn is to pay nearly 33 million pounds in fines and customer compensation after the City regulator found serious breaches in the way the subprime car lender treated vulnerable customers. http://bit.ly/2HxBlz4
Laura Ashley has confirmed that its Malaysian owner is locked in make-or-break talks with its bank over access to emergency funding as the fashion and furniture retailer revealed a steep drop in sales amid "challenging" conditions for the sector. http://bit.ly/2uJNsq8
The Telegraph
BP Plc's multimillion-pound green investment into "the Uber of private jets" is at risk of being wiped out after the airline's parent company crashed into administration. The founder of Fly Victor, a private jet operator that offsets carbon emissions, is hoping to buy the company back from administrators. http://bit.ly/2uSFJ95
British Steel bidder Jingye is set to axe 400 jobs at the embattled firm's Scunthorpe plant as it closes in on a takeover. http://bit.ly/39IpYAg
Sky News
Britain will not sign up to follow EU standards because it would defeat the point of Brexit, the UK's chief negotiator has said. http://bit.ly/2P3hb4a
Metro Bank Plc is under pressure from the City to appoint its interim boss as its next chief executive two months after his predecessor was ousted. http://bit.ly/3bKIxFY
The Independent
The government is bracing for Brexit disruption at the end of the year with 60 million pound plans for a moveable concrete barrier to prevent traffic jams sparked by cross-Channel chaos. Transport secretary Grant Shapps confirmed that no-deal plans for metal barriers on the M20 motorway in Kent have been scrapped in favour of a San Francisco-style moveable barrier. http://bit.ly/39Gg1n2 ($1 = 0.9235 euros) ($1 = 0.7693 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)
