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           T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R     

                              E U R O P E

              Wednesday, April 26, 2000, Vol. 0, No. 10
  
                               Headlines


* A U S T R I A *

WELLA OSTERREICH: Sued by Former Yardley Employees

* C Z E C H   R E P U B L I C *

INVESTICNI A POSTOVNI: Nomura is Seeking Partners for Troubled Bank

* F R A N C E *

CARREFOUR: Seeks Refinancing Opportunities
EUROTUNNEL: Lost More Market Value Than Any Other Member of Top 20 Flop

* S P A I N *

HIDROELECTRICA DEL CANTABRICO: Fight for Spanish Utility Is Heating Up
RESORTS ALLEGRO: Operation will be Closed in June
TELEFONICA: Spanish Government Inquiry Focuses on Antitrust Claims

* U N I T E D   K I N G D O M *

BLUE CIRCLE: In Bid Resistance Against Lafarge
BRANNIGANS: For Auction, Down to the last Three Groups
HOUSE OF FRASER: Company has Lost œ318 Million of Shareholder Value
LITTLEWOODS: About to Surrender More Than 75 Yrs, To Sell Leisure Div.
NEWCASTLE UNITED: Shares Never Recovered, From 190p Trading now at 56p
NORWICH UNION: Decided to Axe Up to 1,500 Jobs
PEUGEOT SA: Warns UK Jobs at Risk Due to Strong Pound
POLISH LIFE:  Norwich Union to Sell this Arm
STAGECOACH HOLDINGS: A Collapse in Share Price
STOREHOUSE: Worst-Performing Stock, Price Decline from Peak to Trough
WOLVERHAMPTON & DUDLEY: In Talks on Pub Sale to Alchemy


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A U S T R I A
=============

WELLA OSTERREICH: Sued by Former Yardley Employees
--------------------------------------------------
MORE THAN a hundred former employees of Yardley, the royal perfumer that
fell into the hands of hair care and cosmetics group Wella, will take
the German owner to court on Tuesday, says a report appearing in The
Times.

All but a handful of Yardley's 450 staff lost their jobs at the time of
the 1998 takeover by Wella. About 120 of those dismissed are suing the
German group for breach of contract, unfair dismissal and failure to
consult staff. Their combined claim is for œ4 million.

The class action is similar to one being prepared on behalf of up to
1,000 Rover employees against the company's potential new owner, Alchemy
Partners, for failure to consult over the number and timing of future
redundancies. That suit is being drawn up amid fears that more than
7,000 of the 9,000 workers at the Longbridge plant could lose their
jobs.

Jessica Learmond-Criqui, of Fladgate Fielder, the London law firm which
is acting for the former Yardley employees, said that many were in their
late fifties and early sixties and would never find work again.
Ms Learmond-Criqui alleges that, despite having devoted their entire
working lives to Yardley, their employment contracts were ignored by
Wella and they were offered only statutory redundancy payments, equal to
one week's pay for every year of service.

Yardley, the most quintessentially British perfumer with three royal
warrants, was taken over by Wella in November 1998 after it collapsed
into receivership under a mountain of debt.

Its manufacturing of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's favourite soap,
English Lavender, had done little for the group's finances and it was
swamped by œ120 million of debt, compared with less than œ70 million of
sales.


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C Z E C H   R E P U B L I C
===========================


INVESTICNI A POSTOVNI: Nomura is Seeking Partners for Troubled Bank
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Financial Times, April 24, 2000:

Nomura Securities, the Japanese investment bank, is seeking foreign
partners to invest in Investicn¡ a postovn¡ banka (IPB), the troubled
Czech bank in which it controls a 46 per cent stake.

Nomura is believed to be in talks with Allianz, the German insurer, and
is trying to attract a bank such as Deutsche Bank or HypoVereinsbank of
Germany or UniCredito Italiano, with a view to closing a deal this
summer.

The partners would help manage IPB's insurance and retail banking
operations and would take these over when Nomura exits.
Since last autumn Nomura has been looking to sell its controlling stake
in IPB, the country's second-biggest bank by assets, but buyers have
been put off by its untransparent opaque shareholding structure and
accounts and its difficult financial position.

To encourage new investors, Nomura - which, as a portfolio investor, has
no representatives on the management board - is considering moving some
of the bank's most controversial managers and putting its own nominees
in their place.

Nomura needs the partners to help raise IPB's share capital. The bank's
capital adequacy has fallen below 9 per cent as it has maintained
lending in the current credit squeeze and non-performing loans have
risen to comprise 25 per cent of total loans.
The Czech central bank is in negotiations with IPB over its provisioning
cover for these loans and in particular over several transactions in
which loans were transferred to subsidiaries and provisioning avoided.
The central bank is pushing IPB to double the equity by Kc13.4bn
($346.8m), but Nomura - which has already invested a total of Kc7bn in
the 1998 privatisation and afterwards - is not prepared to do this by
itself.

In reply, Nomura has suggested the Czech government should take over
some of the non-performing loans in the same way as it did with Ceska
Sporitelna, the biggest retail bank, before its sale to Erste Bank of
Austria in February.

Jan Mladek, deputy finance minister, has said that the government would
consider this if it brought in strategic partners


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F R A N C E
===========

CARREFOUR: Seeks Refinancing Opportunities
-------------------------------------------
From IFR, April 25, 2000:

French retailer Carrefour is to sign a E2bn Euro-MTN programme, its
first non-domestic financing platform. The company is one of a host of
French corporates hoping to take advantage of increasing appetite among
European investors for credit risk. And like many others, the demands of
acquisition financing have compelled Carrefour to look more closely at
the international bond markets.

Carrefour is setting up the programme in order to gain access to the
private placement market and to simplify its issuing procedures for
public transactions. It will use cash raised primarily to pay down debt
taken on-balance sheet during an acquisition last year.

"Cash raised will be used in the continuation of our refinancing of the
acquisition of Comptoirs Modernes in November 1998," said Patrick
Armand, treasurer for Carrefour Group. "We will be substituting the
credit facilities put in place for the purchase and expect issuance off
the Euro-MTN programme will be more cost-effective," added Armand.
Carrefour signed a FFr17bn (E3bn) loan to provide the bulk of the
financing for the acquisition of the Comptoirs Modernes acquisition. The
loan, with various maturities, paid Pibor plus 25bp. Around E1bn has
already been paid down via an inaugural euro-denominated bond launched
earlier this year. The 10-year E1bn benchmark, launched on March 3, was
priced at 41bp over the curve (see IFR 1273). "This equated to around a
little under Euribor plus 20bp at the time of issue and gave us
significant cost-savings compared to the loan," said Armand.

The bond was last week bid at 41bp over the OAT curve, which equated to
a Euribor spread of plus 17bp. "This spread performance makes the
Carrefour bond one of the best-performing 10-year corporates bonds this
year after the credit spread widening over the last two weeks.
"We expect issuance off the programme to be very successful due to
Carrefour's strong rating - the best among French corporates - and the
international name recognition for the Carrefour Group," said Daniel
Cogoi, head of the MTN desk at programme arranger Paribas.

Carrefour was incorporated as a French Societe Anonyme on July 18 1959
and is France's leading retailer. In 1963 the company introduced the
concept of hypermarkets to France and now has 117 hypermarkets
throughout the country. The company is listed on the Paris stock
exchange and is the seventh largest constituent of the French CAC-40
index, underlining the blue-chip status of Carrefour. The long-term debt
of the company is rated Double A by Standard & Poor's and Aa3 by
Moody's.
For the last 25 years, Carrefour has pursued a strategy of international
diversification. In 1998, 43% of Carrefour's sales were generated
outside of its domestic market. At the end of 1998, total assets
amounted to FFr114bn with 1998 sales of FFr179.8bn. In 1998, foreign
activities accounted for 47.1% of net results. With international
diversification came the need for diversification of funding.

Carrefour and its subsidiaries have seven outstanding public
transactions, three in French francs, two in Portuguese escudo and one
in US dollars and euros. Issuance under the programme is expected to
concentrate on the private placement market as Carrefour taps into the
strong bid for corporate paper. But syndicated issuance will be used if
opportunities present themselves to the borrower.

Since the start of the year, institutional investors from the main
European countries have been strong buyers of the E45bn of corporate
paper issued year to date. European institutional investors have been
reweighting their bond portfolios to include more corporate paper. Many
investors that have traditionally concentrated on local markets are
buying more international corporate paper because it often offers better
relative value.

Fellow French corporates Lafarge and Vivendi have set in motion planned
Euro-MTN programmes to capitalise on the development of the European
corporate bond market. Other blue-chip European corporates are eyeing
the Euro-MTN market, with signings in the last month including the UK's
Diageo and Cadbury Schweppes.

The Paribas-arranged programme is likely to be signed next month. It
will be listed in Luxembourg and Paris. The dealer group has been
selected and is Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Morgan
Stanley Dean Witter and Salomon


EUROTUNNEL: Lost More Market Value Than Any Other Member of Top 20 Flop
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Times reports that Eurotunnel, one of the most widely held flops,
has lost more market value than any other member of the Top 20 list. It
was valued at just under œ5 billion when it joined the market in
December 1987, amid enthusiasm for the free Le Shuttle trips offered to
private investors. However, mounting debt problems have now left it
valued at œ1.43 billion.


=========
S P A I N
=========

HIDROELECTRICA DEL CANTABRICO: Fight for Spanish Utility Is Heating Up
----------------------------------------------------------------------
According to a report appearing in the International Herald Tribune,
the board of Hidroelectrica del Cantabrico SA has failed to endorse a
bid by Union Fenosa SA to buy the fourth-largest Spanish power company,
complicating Fenosa's chances of succeeding with its offer.  Board
members representing 24 percent of Cantabrico reiterated their support
for Fenosa's U2.7 billion ($2.53 billion) bid after a meeting Saturday
night. TXU Corp., the American power company that previously bid for
Cantabrico and now owns 10 percent, abstained.

Cajastur, a savings bank with 10 percent of the shares, declined to
recommend the bid.  Cajastur, partly controlled by the Asturias regional
government, said that any offer must guarantee Cantabrico's link with
the regional economy and that a bidder ''must make a commitment to this
reality, assuring more employment and a role for regional suppliers.''
The split in the Cantabrico board could complicate the Fenosa bid
because the No. 3 Spanish power company needs the support of 75 percent
of shareholders to change Cantabrico bylaws that limit voting rights to
10 percent, regardless of a shareholder's stake.  

Fenosa sought a clear endorsement before a Tuesday shareholder vote on
whether to repeal the measure.

TXU, the No. 4 American power company, abstained because it said it did
not have time to review the details of the Fenosa offer. Fenosa began
its monthlong offer Wednesday.

Under Spanish law, rival bidders have 15 days to announce a counteroffer
and must top Fenosa's bid by at least 5 percent.


From the Financial Times, April 25, 2000:

The board of Hidroel‚ctrica del Cantbrico, split over a E2.7bn ($2.5bn)
bid by rival Uni¢n Fenosa, will meet on Tuesday.

Shareholders will meet to decide whether to make way for the bid by
eliminating "poison pill" provisions that limit voting rights in the
company to a maximum 10 per.

At the weekend, a favourable majority verdict described the Uni¢n Fenosa
cash and share offer as "reasonable" but left the door open to a renewed
bidding battle.

The Hidrocantbrico board recommended lifting the restriction, but met
opposition from Cajastur, a savings bank controlled by the Socialist
government of the Asturias region, where the power company is based. The
bank is one of the chief shareholders in Hidrocantbrico with 10.5 per
cent.

TXU, the US company which withdrew a previous E2.4bn bid for
Hidrocantbrico, abstained from the board vote saying it had not had
enough time to study Uni¢n Fenosa's offer. TXU recently increased its
stake and is reckoned to hold at least 10 per cent.

Another group of big shareholders jointly controlling 24 per cent of the
com pany reached agreement with Uni¢n Fenosa last month to back the
change in bylaws.

Uni¢n Fenosa has made its bid conditional on obtaining 80 per cent
acceptance unless shareholders approve the rule change, in which case it
will reduce the threshold to 51 per cent.

Terms include a 1-for-1 share exchange for up to a third of
Hidrocantbrico shares offered in response to the bid. Its offer was
approved by stock market regulators last week.

Cajastur argued that any takeover should safeguard Hidrocantbrico's
strategic role in the region and in the liberalisation of Spain's
electrical industry. Its objections were backed by Pedro de Silva, a
former regional president who also sits on the company's board.
The board statement said that despite its favourable stance towards the
Uni¢n Fenosa bid it might back a rival bid at a higher price.
Oscar Fanjul, Hidrocantbrico chairman, has so far taken a neutral
stance. The board statement made clear there was no agreement between
the company itself and Uni¢n Fenosa.

The E24 per share offered by Uni¢n Fenosa is fractionally under
Hidrocantbrico's closing price on Thursday, the last day of pre-Easter
trading. It compares with TXU's earlier bid of E21.25 per share. Any
further big would have to top it by 5 per cent.


RESORTS ALLEGRO: Operation will be Closed in June
-------------------------------------------------
From Cinco Dias, April 25, 2000:

Western Hotels have agreed to the purchase of Resorts Allegro by 70
millardos of pesetas. The operation will be closed in June after auditar
to the Dominican company.

Western Hotels Resorts Allegro has bought the Dominican chain of
vacacionales establishments by 400 million dollars in cash (about 70,900
million pesetas). Of that amount, 250 million dollars (about 44,000
million) correspond to the indebtedness of the company. The operation of
purchase, by 100% of the capital, will be formalized at the end of June,
once the internal audit is closed that Western Hotels is making in
Allegro.

Western Hotels will make an extension of capital of 150 million dollars
(about 26,600 million pesetas) to finance the purchase. This extension
will take place after verifying Western that the stipulated price
adjusts to the financial situation of Resorts Allegro. With the closing
of the operation the first incursion of a Spanish company in the hotel
market of the Caribbean countries of English speech will take place. In
addition, it will allow Western Hotels to introduce itself in the
tourist market of the United States, from where they come most of the
travellers who lodge in the hotels of Allegro.

At the end of the year last Merrill Lynch it received the mandate of the
real estate investment fund American Westbrook Partners, that a 80% of
the capital of Allegro control, to look for a buying potential for the
hotel chain of the Dominican Republic. Between the chains that drilled
the bank of businesses was Sun Meli and Occidental, that, next to
Barcel¢, Iberostar, Riu and some of so large minor, are to looks for it
of hotels in the Caribbean. With this Western acquisition it will be
placed like the chain of greater capacity in that tourist zone where it
will control 8,843 rooms from which 6,800 come from Allegro.
To the margin of this acquisition, Western it has in march an investing
process through his filial society Soteltur, in which it shares the
capital with the Caixa, to extend his network of hotels. This
development is known with the name of Flamenco Project. This plan, plus
the direct investments of Western Hotels, anticipates the contribution
of 100,000 million pesetas, of which 54,000 million would be injected by
the hotel group and the rest by other shareholders. This project
anticipates the immediate construction of three new establishments in
Xcaret (Mexico), Guanacaste (Costa Rica) and in the canary island of
Fuerteventura.

After the construction of these hotels and with the incorporation of the
establishments of Allegro, Western it will increase his capacity of
lodging of present the 5,500 rooms until the 20.000. This strong
investing rate and of growth of the hotel group is framed in a plan of
growth ampler than it anticipates the exit to Stock market of the
company. That operation is product of the strategy of Mercapital, the
second shareholder of Western, who works like a group of capital risk,
injecting bottoms in companies to support his growth and soon to make
his investment by means of the positioning of his actions in the market.
Resorts allegro is been from the fusion in 1993 of two companies: the
Dominican Caribbean Villages and the American Hotels & Resorts Dallas.
In 1997 Allegro he increased his size with the purchase of Jack Tar
Villages and, in June of 1998 General Electric and Westbrook was
associated to the American real estate bottoms Partners.


TELEFONICA: Spanish Government Inquiry Focuses on Antitrust Claims
------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Financial Times, April 24, 2000:

The Spanish government said on Monday it was launching an inquiry into
possible antitrust measures against Telef¢nica, the country's dominant
telecommunications operator, and the BBVA bank group over an internet
alliance agreed in February. It described Telef¢nica as requiring
"special vigilance" because of its control of basic infrastructure.
The economy and finance ministry said its competition department would
investigate the impact of the alliance in online banking, e -commerce
and other areas. The deal included an exchange of shareholdings, with
BBVA raising its stake in Telef¢nica from 9 per cent to 10 per cent and
Telef¢nica taking a 3 per cent stake in the bank.

The groups have sought to lower the profile of the alliance by
abandoning initial plans to have their chairmen sit on each other's
board. BBVA said the new investigation would not affect its joint plans
with Telef¢nica.


=====================
S W I T Z E R L A N D
=====================

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U N I T E D   K I N G D O M
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BLUE CIRCLE: In Bid Resistance Against Lafarge
----------------------------------------------
The Times, April 25, 2000:

Rick Haythornthwaite relaxes by the Thames yesterday before a testing
four days in which he must convince leading investors to stay loyal to
Blue Circle, the cement group of which he is chief executive (Paul
Armstrong writes). Mr Haythornthwaite hopes to convince fund managers
this week that they will be better off backing his long-term business
plan than accepting the œ3.6 billion hostile takeover bid from Lafarge,
the French building products company.

Mr Haythornthwaite's task has been made even more urgent by Lafarge's
success last week in building up a 29.9 per cent stake in Blue Circle
through a stock market raid.

"We will have seen institutions accounting for well over 50 per cent of
the company by the end of this," he said. "This is really about engaging
the investors eye to eye and getting them to believe in us and what we
can deliver."

Countering Lafarge's criticism of strategy was made easier yesterday
when Blue Circle sealed its œ388 million purchase of Heracles, a Greek
cement group, but Lafarge's 450p-a-share offer outstrips Blue Circle's
pre-bid price.


BRANNIGANS: For Auction, Down to the last Three Groups
------------------------------------------------------
From the Financial Times, April 23, 2000:

A bidding war has broken out over Brannigans, the chain of light night
bars and clubs, which used to be owned by First Leisure before being
sold to Candover Investments.

Last November, Candover bought the nightclubs business from First
Leisure for œ211m. Candover launched Whizalpha as the vehicle to acquire
First's 65 nightclubs and bars, which included the Brannigans brand. The
decision has now been taken to focus on the 51 core nightclubs and sell
Brannigans, which looks set to fetch about œ64m.

Cavendish Corporate Finance, the boutique which concentrates on only
selling assets on behalf of its clients, has been appointed to auction
Brannigans. The bidding is believed to be down to the last three groups.
Regent Inns, which operates the Walkabout brand; SFI Group, whose assets
include the Bar Med concept and a rival venture capital backed offer are
all thought to still be on the table.

The venture-backed offer, which is currently favourite, is headed by
Mark McQuater, who previously ran the Greenalls and Tom Cobleigh pub
groups, and who has linked with a senior operating executive at Scottish
& Newcastle. Mr McQuater is believed to have talked with PPM Ventures,
the private equity arm of the Prudential and Schroder Ventures to gain
funding. No one from Candover or Cavendish was available for comment
last night. One rival pubs operator said: "Deals like Brannigans only
delay the inevitable. Of more importance is who will buy Regent and SFI
and actually consolidate this industry, which is top heavy with
executives."


HOUSE OF FRASER: Company has Lost œ318 Million of Shareholder Value
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Times reports that House of Fraser sold its shares at 180p apiece.
The venerable retailing name was extracted from Mohamed Al Fayed's
empire, leaving the Egyptian tycoon with just the flagship, Harrods.
House of Fraser shares touched 230p at their peak, but concerns about
its borrowings and the sharp derating of the retail sector took them to
44.25p. The company has lost œ318 million of shareholder value, having
started with œ422 million.


LITTLEWOODS: About to Surrender More Than 75 Yrs, To Sell Leisure Div.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Financial Times, April 24, 2000:

Littlewoods, the privately-owned retailing and pools company controlled
by the Moores family, could be about to surrender more than 75 years of
tradition amid indications that it is preparing to sell its leisure
division, which includes the famous football pools business.
Littlewoods is believed to be looking at a sale of the division, which
also includes the Bet Direct telephone betting business and Bet247, the
online betting business.

Schroders, the City of London investment bank, is understood to be
advising on the sale, which could raise an estimated œ250m ($394m).
Littlewoods Leisure is chaired by Roger Withers and contributes between
10 and 12 per cent of group turnover. But the division was badly
affected by the introduction of the National Lottery in 1994. This
caused a significant fall in pools sales, although the decline has now
been largely halted.

The leisure division reported trading profits of œ20.3m on sales of
œ236m in the year to April 30. It was split from the main Littlewoods
retail business last year. At the time, the group said that the move was
to allow it greater focus. It is now run as a separate company with its
own board.

In common with other betting companies, Littlewoods has been investing
heavily in its online gaming and betting site.
Last month, it launched the online betting business Bet247, which offers
betting on horse racing and other sports and which is expected to make a
profit within 18 months.

Littlewoods is understood to have been pleased by the start Bet247 has
made, particularly from events like the Grand National. The new business
is well placed to take advantage of a worldwide market, predicted to be
worth $11bn (œ6.9bn) a year by 2004.

There was speculation at the time the internet business was launched
that it was a precursor to a split of the retail and leisure businesses.
Under Barry Gibson, chief executive, Littlewoods' retail businesses has
been refocused. He has integrated its catalogue and high street retail
businesses and used its delivery network to set up internet joint
ventures.

A sale of the leisure division would leave Littlewoods wholly focused on
its retail business, where it has recently been cutting prices on its
best-selling clothing ranges.
Littlewoods refused to comment on Sunday night on the speculation that
its leisure division was up for sale. More than 30 descendants of John
Moores, who founded the company in 1924, own shares in the company now.


NEWCASTLE UNITED: Shares Never Recovered, From 190p Trading now at 56p
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Times relates that Newcastle United's shares never recovered from
their 190p floating price. The football club's board did nothing to
improve the rating when two directors were caught laughing at the
gullibility of shirt-buying fans, the very customers who helped to keep
profits up. Casting aspersions on Newcastle's female population added
insult to injury. The shares now trade at 56p.


NORWICH UNION: Decided to Axe Up to 1,500 Jobs
----------------------------------------------
Staff of Norwich Union fear that the company has already decided to axe
up to 1,500 jobs in the wake of its merger with CGU, The Times reports,
citing reports from the MSF union suggest that the company's personal
finance team has been told by management that "it would be in their
interests" to secure new jobs.  The union said that the reports came
from "reliable sources". It said that it believed that members of the
1,500-strong Norwich-based team had been approached by Virgin Direct,
which has its headquarters in the city.  The union is attempting to
secure further details on the integration process from senior management
and has given warning that it will take action under EU law if it is not
consulted on redundancies.  NU has received EU approval for the nil-
premium merger. The new company, to be called CGNU, is expected to
receive court approval at the end of May or early in June.
An NU spokeswoman sought to play down the report of significant job
losses. She said: "The only firm decisions made have been at the level
of directors."  The spokeswoman said that the company was in the process
of selecting pools of candidates for positions lower down the ladder in
the merged company. The merger between the insurance groups is likely to
result in 4,000 job losses.  NU's worldwide new business, based on
annual sales plus 10 per cent of single premium sales, grew 58 per cent
to œ179 million. UK sales increased 67 per cent to œ122 million.
The strong revenue figures came as a surprise after strong criticism
from policyholders. Norwich Union recently reported one of the biggest
cuts in with-profits bonuses on the market.


PEUGEOT SA: Warns UK Jobs at Risk Due to Strong Pound
-----------------------------------------------------
Reuters reports from London that French car maker Peugeot SA warned on
Sunday that the continued strength of the pound was threatening jobs at
its plants in the UK's West Midlands.

The Observer newspaper quoted a senior Peugeot source as saying jobs
were at risk at its plants in the Coventry area because the high value
of sterling was making UK investment decisions "hard to predict."
Urging the UK government to state once and for all whether it would or
would not join the single European currency, the source said "Two thirds
of our production is for export. It's a big concern not just now but for
the future, because the high level of the pound against sterling makes
future investment difficult."

He added that some components would probably be sourced from abroad,
although stopped short of saying that plans, announced in January, to
build a new Citroen car in Coventry had been put on hold.

Last month German car manufacturer BMW cited sterling's strength as the
main reason behind its decision to sell off its Rover unit at
Longbridge, also in the West Midlands.

Other car manufacturers have also said they are struggling to remain
competitive in the current exchange rate climate.


POLISH LIFE:  Norwich Union to Sell this Arm
--------------------------------------------
UK insurance group Norwich Union Plc, merging with rival CGU, has put
its Polish life insurance business up for sale, Britain's Sunday
Telegraph said, related via Reuters.  In an unsourced report the paper
said Norwich Union was believed to have appointed investment bank
Goldman Sachs to sell the Polish business, worth an estimated 200
million pounds.  The move comes just two months after the two British
insurance groups announced a a no-premium merger to create the UK's
largest insurance group and one of Europe's top five.  The paper said
Norwich Union was beeing forced into the disposal of its Polish assets
because of concerns over competition between CGU's Polish operations and
Norwich Union's Polish arm.


STAGECOACH HOLDINGS: A Collapse in Share Price
----------------------------------------------
From the Financial Times, April 24, 2000:

Brian Souter, chairman of Stagecoach, the transport operator, has
criticised both government and regulators for strangling growth on the
railways.

Mr Souter said confusion caused by having three rail regulators and the
lack of bold action or money from ministers was creating too much
uncertainty.

The result was falling transport stocks and worried financiers, making
it more expensive to raise funds for the large investment needed.
"We need to sort out the issues as it will be very ugly in three to four
years' time," he said.

Mr Souter's comments follow a collapse in Stagecoach's share price, but
he also echoed private concerns among some other train operators.
"Because there are so many different companies, different regulators
saying different things, the policy seems to be sound but there is
confusion," he said. "This is why I believe investors are in despair."
Mr Souter revealed he had proposed to Railtrack a joint operating
venture to run track and trains, for example on its South West Trains
franchise.

The idea, possibly via a joint board, is similar to other deals between
Railtrack and operators, such as revenue-sharing with Virgin and co-
operation over stations. But it could face problems because Railtrack's
licence forbids it to operate services, and because of the fear that the
track provider would favour Stagecoach over rival train operators.
A Railtrack official said: "I think it would be very difficult for us to
get involved in that sort of thing, but there's nothing to stop us
working more closely with the operators."

The issue is typical of how the industry needs to be more imaginative
and bold, said Mr Souter. "Senior people get into rooms and talk about
how we need to integrate [but] the fundamental structure isn't
integrated," he said. "If we could integrate the railways perhaps we'd
get this action."

Bottlenecks were across the network, but worst on London commuter routes
where infrastructure changes were most expensive, said Mr Souter.
Without government intervention it would not be possible to pay for
investment without putting up fares, he said.

"Somewhere along the line a politician has to decide to take some risks
and put some money into it, but politicians don't like taking risks."
The rising cost of raising capital to finance projects would be passed
to the government, or taxpayers, Mr Souter told the Institute of
Logistics and Transport.

"Cash flow will be the new king," he added. "When you can't raise
capital with paper, those with strong balance sheets are the only people
who have chances of doing deals."


STOREHOUSE: Worst-Performing Stock, Price Decline from Peak to Trough
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From The Times, April 25, 2000:

STOREHOUSE has emerged as the worst-performing stock surviving on the
London Stock Exchange in research by The Times charting the progress of
investment duds from their first day on the market.

The company, which was worth œ1.3 billion when it was created in January
1986 to merge British Home Stores with what was then Habitat Mothercare,
has seen its shares slide 89.4 per cent since its market debut to leave
it with a capitalisation of œ314 million now.

This makes it the worst performer of the 87 fully listed companies whose
shares are still below the level they were valued at on their first
dealing day. Together, their share price decline - from peak to trough -
has seen œ62 billion of shareholder value destroyed.

The Times research spans all 2,700 quoted companies, taking in every
flotation since 1960 that has not been taken over or gone bust.
Of the Top 20 worst performers by percentage fall, ten are retail
companies. The combined value of all 20 stocks, at first dealings, was
œ13.6 billion. Together, they are now worth œ4.3 billion.

Storehouse's position as top of the flops is the result of several
factors. The 1987 stock market crash pushed its shares down heavily, and
it gradually shrank in size by selling divisions to raise cash. This
process ended last month, when it sold Bhs to Philip Green, the
entrepreneur, for œ200 million. The company will soon change its name to
Mothercare, its only remaining business.

Storehouse is followed by Laura Ashley, which, since its 1985 debut, has
closed its factory in Wales and teetered on the brink of collapse last
year. After selling its US division for a token œ1, it is now controlled
by the MUI cement conglomerate in Malaysia.

Devro, the sausage-skin maker, floated at 170p in 1993, two years after
it was set up. However, economic turmoil in its key markets - Russia,
Eastern Europe and the Far East - and a listeria scare in the US last
year led to a stream of profit warnings.

Retailers feature heavily in the flop list. A œ100 investment in
Monsoon, when it floated in February 1998, would now be worth œ29.30.
The same investment in Harvey Nichols in April 1996 would be worth œ52;
a punt on Oasis in June 1995 would be worth œ63.90 and a glance at New
Look in June 1998 would be worth œ73.90 today.

Halifax's rivals have also fared dismally. A œ1,000 windfall put into
Northern Rock shares when the former building society floated in
September 1997 is worth œ755 now. The same sum ploughed into the
Woolwich on its July 1997 debut would be worth œ847.


WOLVERHAMPTON & DUDLEY: In Talks on Pub Sale to Alchemy
-------------------------------------------------------
From The Times, April 24, 2000:

WOLVERHAMPTON & Dudley Breweries is in talks to sell a package of about
180 pubs to Alchemy Partners, the venture capitalist at the centre of
the Rover affair, for more than œ25 million.

The deal involves mainly tenanted pubs put up for sale by Wolves in the
wake of its acquisition last year of the rival brewers Marston, Thompson
& Evershed and Mansfield Brewery. In December it sold 284 surplus houses
to Royal Bank of Scotland for œ40 million.

Wolves is also understood to be keen to offload some of the trendy bar
concepts that it inherited during last year's takeover spree, including
Marston's Via Vita brand and Mansfield's Lloyds No 1. However,
suggestions that it wants to sell the well-regarded Pitcher & Piano
chain are said to be wide of the mark, despite a number of inquiries.
Alchemy, which recently announced plans to close the Ushers brewery in
Trowbridge, Wiltshire, has been a voracious buyer of pubs in the past
couple of years. InnSpired Group, the new vehicle for its pubs, already
has more than 800 pubs.

Neither Wolves nor Alchemy was able to comment last night on the pub
sale.


S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

Troubled Company Reporter Europe is a daily newsletter co-published by
Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Trenton, NJ, and Beard Group, Inc.,
Washington, DC.  Peter A. Chapman and Sharon Cuarto, Editors.

Copyright 2000.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2754.

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