THE DAILY BRIEFING

PAPER PROGRESS Publisher Trinity Mirror, which owns the Daily Mirror, said that it is making good progress in efforts to buy the express titles from northern & Shell but reported that full-year sales were set to slump by 9pc.

NET WARS Changes to so-called net neutrality in the US look set to spark a major legal battle. Video streaming firm Netflix, which is set to be most affected, said it would fight rules that would allow cable owners to charge premiums to firms that use more bandwidth.

PROPERTY BOOST Businesses leased 1m sq ft of office space in London last month – the equivalent of more than 17 football pitches and the highest figure since 2004, according to property firm CBRE. SOLAR MOVE Oil major BP is snapping up a 43pc stake in europe’s largest solar power firm, Lightsource, for £150m, marking its return to the solar sector. LITHIUM STAKE Chinese fund manager Next View Capital has taken a 19.89pc stake in lithium producer Bacanora Minerals. The £31m paid will help Bacanora develop its project in Mexico. DEPUTY ROLE Patric Johnson, former chief executive of stockbroker Panmure Gordon, is joining corporate adviser N+1 Singer as deputy chief executive. NEW JOB Swiss lender Credit Suisse has poached Guy Dunning, a senior Deutsche Bank executive, to run its sales trading desk for europe, africa and the Middle east.

ADVISERS TIE-UP Financial adviser LEBC Group is buying its Bristol-based rival aspira for £5m. aspira looks after £ 500m for about 11,000 clients. SPREADS DEAL US buyout fund KKR has entered exclusive talks to buy Unilever’s £5.3bn spreads business, which includes Flora margarine and other international brands.