Brewer SABMiller is plotting to acquire rival Scottish & Newcastle and sell on half the assets to other drinks companies in order to satisfy industry watchdogs, according to the Sunday Express. It would seek to sell to Diageo S&N's UK arm, which makes Foster's, John Smiths bitter and Strongbow cider. Carlsberg would buy out its interest in BBH, the eastern European business, while SAB would focus on S&N's other international businesses. - Sunday Express
Scottish & Newcastle's shares, currently around the 607p mark, are being propped up by bid speculation, says the Sunday Telegraph. Having advised readers to buy the stock in February 2004, when it was priced at 419.5p, the paper now advises investors to take profits. - Sunday Telegraph
SABMiller is expected to point to a rosy outlook this Wednesday when it updates the market on trading across its "sprawling global operations", reports the Independent On Sunday. China looks particularly promising, with beer volume growth running "at an astounding 30 per cent per year". - Independent On Sunday
The Observer says the Financial Services Authority is to look at suspicious share price movements involving leading British companies rumoured to be takeover targets. Officials fear hedge funds or other investors may be spreading rumours "to extract financial advantage". Scottish & Newcastle is one of a dozen companies in recent weeks that has seen its share price jump dramatically amid speculation of a rumoured takeover. - Observer
The introduction of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the UK has been an anticlimax and will continue to disappoint, reports the Sunday Telegraph. According to HSBC's John Fraser-Andrews, all but one of the newly converted FTSE100 REITs have failed to convince the market that they are worth more than their break-up value and trade at a discount to their net asset value. However some of the smaller groups that have made the move to REITdom currently trade at a premium. - Sunday Telegraph
The government faces damaging claims of misleading voters over identity cards after documents revealed it was always planning to make the controversial scheme compulsory, says the Mail On Sunday. Briefing notes show civil servants have been told ID cards will be compulsory for everyone in the UK by 2014, despite Labour claims the scheme would be voluntary. - Mail On Sunday
Up to 15m people will rebel over plans to impose identity cards by refusing to produce the new cards or personal data on demand. The forecast has revealed in documents made available by the Home Office under the Freedom of Information Act. The papers also show ministers expect the rebellion to generate protests similar to those seen when the Thatcher government introduced the poll tax in the late 1980s. - Sunday Times
And finally…
Coca-Cola is to launch a limited edition orange flavour in June in order to reinvigorate the brand. Last year a lime flavoured Coke sent sales soaring by 40 per cent. The move is part of a £80m revamp to boost sales. - Sunday Mirror