Tuesday newspaper round-up: Eve Sleep, THG, Elliott Management

(Sharecast News) - The business secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has opened talks with Britain's steelmakers amid concerns that thousands of jobs could be lost from the struggling industry. The government confirmed on Monday it had entered discussions with Tata Steel, owner of the UK's largest steelworks in Port Talbot, south Wales, and Jingye Group, which bought British Steel out of insolvency in 2020. - Guardian Bensons for Beds has bought Eve Sleep hours after the online mattress specialist called in administrators, having succumbed to what its chief executive described as an "economic tsunami". Bensons, which has 166 stores and is owned by the private equity group Alteri Investors, said it had bought the website, brand and other related assets of Eve, including its creative content, in an attempt to widen its appeal to a younger customer. - Guardian

Europe must slash its gas consumption by more than a tenth to prevent the risk of power rationing and widespread blackouts this winter, the global energy watchdog has warned. The International Energy Agency said the Continent and the UK needed to voluntarily reduce gas demand by 13pc in order to remain "safe and secure" if Russia cuts off supplies completely. - Telegraph

SoftBank is offloading its stake in THG, the UK ecommerce group, for about £31 million, bringing to an end a disastrous investment that was once worth about £500 million. The Japanese company is selling its 6.4 per cent holding to THG founder and chief executive Matthew Moulding and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund for about 39p a share. That is a fraction of the 500p a share at which THG was floated in 2020. It is unclear how much SoftBank paid for the stake, but the company said last year it was worth more than £500 million. - The Times

The American activist hedge fund Elliott Management paid the 106 staff at its British business a combined £137 million last year after the division enjoyed a return to profit. The salary bill for Elliott Advisors (UK) equates to almost £1.3 million a person and is up from the £113.3 million that it paid in total to its employees in 2020, accounts filed at Companies House showed. - The Times