- The fake: Avon-Offer Hoax Shows It’s Easy to Put One Over on SEC’s Edgar (BBG)
- And the real: US buyout group TPG snaps up UK discounter Poundworld (FT)
- El Niño near-certain to last through summer: U.S. climate center (Reuters)
- Oil Sands Land Becomes Alberta’s Hot Real Estate as Oil Rebounds (BBG)
- SEC a stumbling block in banks' forex guilty pleas: sources (Reuters)
- Pimco’s Stocks Chief Maisonneuve to Leave as Funds Closed (BBG)
- Bank of America’s Woes Test ‘Fixer’ CEO (WSJ)
- Puerto Rico Governor, Lawmakers Agree on Revenue Proposal (BBG)
- The weathermen strike back: economists are counting on the U.S. to bounce back in 2015 (WSJ)
- U.S., China set for high-stakes rivalry in skies above South China Sea (Reuters)
- Boiler Rooms Meet Boardrooms as Scammers Invade London City (BBG)
- Philadelphia train crash engineer lays low as scrutiny heats up (Reuters)
- Calpers Puts Portion of Timber Holdings Up for Sale (WSJ)
- Are We Headed for an Egg Shortage? (BBG)
- Barclays Said to Face US Fine for Breaching Libor Settlement (BBG)
- Facebook tramples on European privacy laws: Belgian watchdog (Reuters)
- In U.S. cities, Republicans are looking for a few good losers for 2016 (Reuters)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* Two influential proxy advisory firms have urged Intel Corp shareholders to vote against the re-election of director John Donahoe, eBay Inc's president and chief executive, citing what they characterized as a poor attendance record. (http://on.wsj.com/1cCjuFm)
* Five years into the job, Bank of America boss Brian Moynihan struggles to move past the financial crisis, testing his reputation as a "fixer" and the patience of shareholders who have grown restless with his progress in turning around the company. (http://on.wsj.com/1e4pzLP)
* Pacific Investment Management Co said it would exit from two of its equity strategies and say goodbye to its chief investment officer of global equities, the latest setback for the bond behemoth's long-running effort to expand in the world of stock-fund investing. (http://on.wsj.com/1d0Pyn8)
* UBS AG had held out hope that the Justice Department would look past alleged violations of a 2012 settlement related to alleged interest-rate rigging. That hope has been dashed. (http://on.wsj.com/1KQ7paD)
* A Perella Weinberg Partners LP banker and his father have been charged with participating in an insider-trading scheme involving information related to the acquisitions of five healthcare companies. (http://on.wsj.com/1L5rx9s)
* U.S. President Barack Obama strengthened military backing for Arab allies, who in turn offered him support to pursue a "verifiable" nuclear deal with Iran despite their deep skepticism over its possible security consequences. (http://on.wsj.com/1H5ogDn)
* Dozens of companies are sprouting to help U.S. food makers tackle a wave of new federal safety regulations and intensified enforcement of the nation's food laws. (http://on.wsj.com/1bTymyf)
* The nation's large public pension fund is looking to chop its ownership of U.S. timber. The California Public Employees' Retirement System, or Calpers, is seeking buyers for roughly 300,000 acres of forestry largely in Louisiana amid a broader review of its timber holdings. (http://on.wsj.com/1Fo7aFN)
FT
Britain's Poundworld, the pound store operator, has sold a majority stake to U.S. private equity firm TPG, securing new funds to speed up store expansion.
One European wireless carrier told the Financial Times that it has installed software that prevents most types of advertising from loading in Web pages and apps, in its data centres and planned to turn it on before the end of 2015.
Sebastian Mikosz, chief executive officer of Polish flag-carrier Lot Airlines, revealed that the airline is in active talks with operators and private equity groups over a government plan to shift the company into private hands.
NYT
* The ruble has risen so robustly that the Russian central bank on Thursday reversed a long-running policy of propping it up. Under a new plan, the central bank will buy foreign currencies to replenish its reserves, a move that will effectively weaken the ruble. (http://nyti.ms/1cCod9V)
* A firm calling itself PTG Capital Partners disclosed on Thursday in a regulatory filing that it had offered to buy cosmetics company Avon Products for $18.75 a share. The filing, from what was supposedly a British investment firm, caused an immediate sensation after news wire services flashed headlines of the offer to their trading customers. Shares of Avon, which had opened the day's trading at $6.71, jumped by more than $1. (http://nyti.ms/1K9pwLL)
* Bank of America Merill Lynch has set up a group to help companies raise money through private fund-raising, the investment bank announced in an internal memorandum on Thursday. The banks said Sachin Aggarwal and Warren Fixmer will lead the team. (http://nyti.ms/1bTs6qm)
* Pandora Media Inc will have to pay Broadcast Music Inc 2.5 percent of its revenue, a United States district court in Manhattan ruled, on Thursday. (http://nyti.ms/1IBFM81)
* In the latest volley in the music world's digital price war, Rdio, which competes with both Spotify and Pandora, has introduced a limited subscription version at $4 a month - significantly lower than the industry's $10 default price. (http://nyti.ms/1K9r7Bq)
China
CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL
- Nearly five million new investors stepped into China's A-share stock market last month, while the total existing accounts amounted to over 80 million at the end of April, according to data from the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Ltd.
SECURITIES TIMES
- Pork giant Henan Shuanghui will invest 1.83 billion yuan ($295 million) to expand into chicken business. The company is hoping to become a supplier to McDonald's Corp and Yum Group's KFC, the paper said citing sources close to the matter.
SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS
- Certain changes will be made to adjust oil stipend for buses in China to push forward the upgrade to new energy vehicles, the ministries of Finance, Industry and Information Technology, and Transport said on Thursday.
CHINA DAILY
- China will promote experiences from environmental friendly provinces to the whole country to curb air pollution and create a better environment by 2020, Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining said on Thursday.
Britain
The Times
FROM MARKET STALL TO 100 MILLION POUNDS PAYDAY
In a sign of the rising profitability of cut-price stores that undercut supermarkets, TPG Capital Management LP, the American buyout firm, has agreed to purchase a majority stake in Poundworld. (http://thetim.es/1E87O38)
TALKTALK ACCUSES BT OF 'BULLYING' TACTICS
The chief executive of TalkTalk Telecom Group Plc has accused BT Group Plc's management of trying to bully the new government after her rival threatened to pull the plug on an upgrade to the country's broadband network if it is broken up. (http://thetim.es/1e4fDBU)
The Guardian
VAROUFAKIS REFUSES ANY BAILOUT PLAN THAT WOULD SEND GREECE INTO 'DEATH SPIRAL'
Greece's embattled finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, stepped up his war of words with eurozone policymakers on Thursday, saying he wished his country still had the drachma, and would not sign up to any bailout plan that would send his country into a "death spiral". (http://bit.ly/1QNOvVV)
The Telegraph
MARIO DRAGHI HITS BACK AT CRITICS OF QE AS GREEK WOES CONTINUE
Mario Draghi has hit back at critics of the European Central Bank's bond-buying programme, insisting that the bank's actions would help households and businesses prepare for higher interest rates in the future. (http://bit.ly/1d07rlQ)
LLOYDS CHAIRMAN: OSBORNE COULD SELL ENTIRE TAXPAYER STAKE IN 12 MONTHS
Lloyds Banking Group Plc's chairman, Lord Blackwell, has suggested the Government's entire remaining stake in the bank could be sold off within a year. (http://bit.ly/1A3qqGD)
Sky News
JIM O'NEILL NAMED AS A TREASURY MINISTER
Jim O'Neill, who chaired Goldman Sachs Asset Management following the financial crisis, will be commercial secretary to the Treasury and known as Lord O'Neill. (http://bit.ly/1E87ZLy)
BRAIT SNAPS UP NEW LOOK IN 1.9 BLN DEAL
Brait SE, the private equity vehicle of Christo Wiese, will announce on Friday that it has reached agreement with fashion retailer New Look's shareholders to buy the company. (http://bit.ly/1e4gsKZ)