Business news live: National security probe ordered into £4bn takeover of defence firm Cobham

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(Reuters)

The government has ordered an investigation into a £4bn takeover of British defence giant Cobham by a US private equity firm on the grounds of national security.

Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said the government wanted to "support private sector innovation whilst safeguarding the public interest" but had ordered the intervention after "careful consideration".

The competition watchdog will now scrutinise the national security implications of the deal between Cobham and Advent International and report the results before 29 October.

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Key Points

• Falling inflation 'helpful for consumers' but economists warn of rises to come
• Pound falls after inflation comes in lower than expected
• Housing market slumps to slowest since 2012, official figures show
• Inflation drops to 1.7 per cent in August - it's lowest since December 2016 
• Record numbers seek debt help
• Government orders national security probe into Cobham takeover by US private equity firm

[18 September 2019 12:15 · ben.chapman]

JPMorgan says UK unlikely to get a Brexit deal

JPMorgan thinks Boris Johnson has little chance of securing a new Brexit deal at the EU summit on 17 and 18 October.

“Our reading of the situation is much more negative than positive as far as the prospects of a revised Withdrawal Agreement being agreed at the October summit are concerned,” the Wall Street bank  said in a note to clients.

“The UK’s negotiating approach appears to be to present the details of its proposals late in the process, and to use the brute force of a no-deal threat to force the EU to accept them,” JPMorgan said. “The very limited credibility of that threat adds to reasons why such a brute-force approach is not going to work.”

[18 September 2019 12:44 · ben.chapman]

Google confirms Pixel 4 launch event

Google has confirmed it will hold an event on October 15 where the tech giant is expected to formally announce its next flagship smartphone, the Pixel 4.

The US firm took the unusual step of confirming the Pixel 4's existence in a video released in June after a number of leaks detailed features of the upcoming phone.

Google has now sent out invitations for an event in New York where the phone is expected to be unveiled publicly and could be joined by other Google hardware products including new Google Home smart speakers.

According to reports, a new Pixelbook laptop could also be announced.

Press Association

[18 September 2019 13:13 · ben.chapman]

Weak pound and high oil price could be ‘toxic combination’ 

The pound is down and oil prices are up in the wake of attacks in Saudi Arabia over the weekend. That could be a bad combination for the UK says Thomas Wells, a fund manager at Smith & Williamson.

Looking forward, we’d expect core inflation to pick up a little, given that wage growth has been relatively decent. The big unknown though remains Brexit and there is simply no way of knowing how, or even when, that could play out.

On top that, we have seen in recent days just how quickly oil prices can move if there is a threat to supply or production.

It may be a one-off price spike, but if the attacks continue, a weak pound and higher oil price could become a toxic combination for the UK, especially if that happens to coincide with slower GDP growth.