Sunday newspaper round-up: Bank of England, Sturgeon, Melrose

(Sharecast News) - Experts believe that the Bank of England will have to jack up its base rate from 4.5% at present to 5.5% by the end of 2023 in order to tame stubbornly high inflation. It was that prospect that had already resulted in lenders and building societies to raise the cost of fixed-rate mortgages or to pull deals altogether, as HSBC did during the preceding week. Higher rates also have implications for the cost of servicing the country's debts, in turn eliminating the Chancellor's already limited headroom to push through tax cuts before the elections. - The Financial Mail on Sunday Police looking into accusations of financial misconduct by the Scottish National Party have arrested one of its former leaders, Nicola Sturgeon. Sturgeon was one of three individuals arrested as part of Operation Branchform, which is investigating whether £600,000-worth of donations to the independence campaign had been misspent by the party. - Guardian

Melrose boss Simon Peckham made a staunch defence of the takeover outfit in an interview. The executive said predator firms like his were necessary in markets in order to restructure poorly-run corporations that would otherwise just carry on underperforming. But he derided criticism of the firm as slash and burn merchants. Quite the opposite, Melrose had pumped over £1bn into GKN Aerospace. There were about 12 months of hard work left in order to spruce it up, he added. Indeed, Melrose "lover buying businesses and seeing them get better". - The Financial Mail on Sunday

Jeb Smith - also known as "the most feared man in corporate America" - has UK biotech outfit Abcam in its sights. Starboard Value, the hedge fund run by Smith, has taken a roughly 2% stake in the antibody company. Last year, Abcam shelved plans for a London float, instead pursuing a listing on the US Nasdaq Exchange. In parallel, Abcam's founders, Jonathan Milner, is pushing to be reinstalled as executive chairman. On Monday he will send a note to investors arguing that only under his leadership can the company undo its "sustained financial underperformance and value destruction". A spokesman for the company however said that Milner's claim were without merit. - Sunday Times