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Navantia, the Spanish shipbuilder, is racing to finalise a takeover of the stricken shipyard-owner that built the Titanic amid urgent talks to reshape a major government contract.

Sky News has learnt that Navantia is attempting to negotiate more favourable terms for a deal to build three Fleet Solid Support ships (FSS) for the Royal Navy as part of a deal to buy Harland & Wolff (H&W).

H&W’s London-listed parent company collapsed into administration in September after seeing a plea for taxpayer support rejected.

A number of parties, including the FTSE-250 defence contractor Babcock International, expressed interest in a deal, but Navantia – which is already deeply involved in the FSS programme – has been regarded as the frontrunner for some time.

Navantia is understood to have been providing financing liquidity to H&W on a week-by-week basis since the company’s filing for administration, with this week’s payment said to have been due last Friday.

One source close to the Spanish company said the fate of more than 1,000 workers at H&W’s four UK shipyards now hinged on the government agreeing to renegotiate the FSS contract “on more realistic terms”.

The British and Spanish governments have also been engaged in discussions about the prospective deal, according to Whitehall sources.

It is likely to incorporate jobs guarantees if the UK government agrees to recut the FSS deal, they added.

If completed, a definitive deal could be announced as soon as the latter part of this week.

H&W’s four shipyards are in Belfast; Appledore, Devon; Arnish on the Isle of Lewis; and Methil, Fife.

Under the deal provisionally agreed in recent days, Navantia would acquire all four shipyards despite only having a current interest in the Belfast site.

The company had amassed roughly £150m in the form of a loan from Riverstone, a US-based credit fund.

It has endured a protracted period of management turmoil, with Russell Downs, an experienced turnaround executive, taking over as interim executive chairman in July.

Mr Downs said recently that he had ordered a probe into what he described as an apparent “misapplication” of more than £25m of corporate funds.

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Bankers at Rothschild have been running a sale process to gauge interest in the company and its assets since September.

Teneo is acting as administrator to the London-listed parent company, but it was unclear whether the four shipyards would be sold on a solvent basis or through a pre-pack administration.

Founded 163 years ago, Harland and Wolff built the most infamous passenger ship in maritime history, with The Titanic sinking on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic in 1912.

The Department for Business and Trade has been contacted for comment, while neither H&W nor Navantia could be reached for comment.

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Water companies blocked from using customer cash for ‘undeserved’ bonuses

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Water companies blocked from using customer cash for 'undeserved' bonuses

Nine water companies have been blocked from using customer money to fund “undeserved” bonuses by the industry’s regulator.

Ofwat said it had stepped in to use its new powers over water firms that cannot show that bonuses are sufficiently linked to performance.

The blocked payouts amount to 73% of the total executive awards proposed across the industry.

The regulator has prevented crisis-hit Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Dwr Cymru Welsh Water from paying £1.5m in bonuses from cash generated from customer bills.

It said a further six firms have voluntarily decided not to push the cost of executive bonuses worth a combined £5.2m on to customers.

Instead, shareholders at Anglian Water, Severn Trent, South West, Southern Water, United Utilities and Wessex will pay the cost.

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David Black, chief executive of Ofwat, said: “In stopping customers from paying for undeserved bonuses that do not properly reflect performance, we are looking to sharpen executive mindsets and push companies to improve their performance and culture of accountability.

“While we are starting to see companies take some positive steps, they need to do more to rebuild public trust.”

The announcement came in an Ofwat update on firms’ financial resilience and bonuses.

Industry lobby group Water UK said: “Almost all water company bonuses are already paid by shareholders, not customers.

“All companies recognise the need to do more to deliver on their plans to support economic growth, build more homes, secure our water supplies and end sewage entering our rivers.

“We now need the regulator Ofwat to fully approve water companies’ £108bn investment plans so that we can get on with it.

“Ofwat’s financial resilience report provides yet more evidence that the current system isn’t working, with returns down to 2% and eight companies making a loss.

“It is clear we need a faster and simpler system which allows companies to deliver for customers, the environment and the country.”

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Google could be forced to sell its Chrome browser over internet search monopoly claims

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Google could be forced to sell its Chrome browser over internet search monopoly claims

Google must sell its Chrome browser to restore competition in the online search market, US prosecutors have argued.

The proposed breakup has been floated in a 23-page document filed by the US Justice Department.

It also calls for lawmakers to impose restrictions designed to prevent its Android smartphone software from favouring its own search engine.

If the rules were brought in, it would essentially result in Google being highly regulated for 10 years.

Google controls about 90% of the online search market and 95% on smartphones.

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Court papers filed on Wednesday expand on an earlier outline for what prosecutors argued would dilute that monopoly.

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Google called the proposals radical at the time, saying they would harm US consumers and businesses and shake American competitiveness in AI.

The company has said it will appeal.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) and a coalition of states want US District Judge Amit Mehta to end exclusive agreements in which Google pays billions of dollars annually to Apple and other device vendors to be the default search engine on their tablets and smartphones.

Google will have a chance to present its own proposals in December.

A trial on the proposals has been set for April, however President-elect Donald Trump and the DoJ’s next antitrust head could step in.

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Dozens of partners take early retirement from accountancy giant PwC

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Dozens of partners take early retirement from accountancy giant PwC

Dozens of partners at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Britain’s biggest accountancy firm, will next month take early retirement as its new boss takes steps to boost its performance.

Sky News has learnt that PwC’s 1,030 UK partners were notified earlier this week that a larger-than-usual round of partner retirements would take place at the end of the year.

Sources said the round would involve several dozen partners – who command average pay packages of about £1m – leaving the firm.

PwC named about 60 new partners earlier this year under Marco Amitrano, who was appointed as its new UK boss in the spring.

Mr Amitrano is understood to have informed partners about the changes in a voice memo, although one insider disputed the idea that the numbers involved were “significant”.

The partner retirements come as the big four audit firms contend with a sizeable bill from increases in the Budget in employers’ national insurance contributions.

It emerged this week that Deloitte is cutting nearly 200 jobs in its advisory business, according to the Financial Times.

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An ongoing shake-up of the audit profession is not being restricted to the big four firms, with Sky News revealing on Wednesday that Cinven, the private equity firm, was in advanced talks to buy a controlling stake in Grant Thornton UK.

The deal, which is expected to value Grant Thornton at somewhere in the region of £1.5bn, was announced on Thursday morning.

PwC declined to comment.

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