PRESS DIGEST- British Business - March 11

March 11 - 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

City advisers could pocket more than 22 million pounds ($28.54 million) in fees if Non-Standard Finance Plc succeeds with its 1.3 billion pound hostile bid for Provident Financial Plc. http://bit.ly/2EOxjkb Interserve Plc is mounting a last-ditch campaign to encourage support for a rescue plan under which lenders would write off their debts in exchange for equity from its retail investors, who between them own about 30 percent of the business. http://bit.ly/2EUdc3N

The Guardian Deutsche Bank AG has begun tentative merger talks with rival Commerzbank AG, which would create Europe's second-biggest bank behind HSBC Holding Plc and fend off unwanted potential bidders such as French giant BNP Paribas SA. http://bit.ly/2EOwc3Z

UK Finance Minister Philip Hammond will boost public spending on genetic research and laser technology by 200 million pounds in this week's spring statement to support some of Britain's fastest-growing industries as they prepare for Brexit. http://bit.ly/2F16LML The Telegraph

Steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta is targeting a near-3 billion pound float of Arrium, the Australian arm of his sprawling industrial empire, in a move he hopes will quash speculation his business may be in trouble. http://bit.ly/2Tuq37a Shareholders urged Just Eat Plc's board to explain why interim CEO Peter Duffy ruled himself out of taking up the post permanently, after they were told just weeks earlier that he was "their man". http://bit.ly/2EPxtrm

Sky News OneSavings Bank Plc and Charter Court Financial Services Group Plc, two of Britain's biggest challenger banks, are in advanced talks about an all-share merger that would create a lender worth ‎more than 1.6 billion pounds ($2.08 billion). http://bit.ly/2EPUgmR

The Independent Norway's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund said it would sell off around $7.5 billion of oil and gas company shares to cut the risk it faces from a permanent global shift from fossil fuels to renewables. https://ind.pn/2EQ0dAd

($1 = 0.7709 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)