It’s all about the clash of the transport titans on
the business pages today, with the Financial
Review‘s front page reporting “the gloves are off” in the stoush
between Richard Branson and Chris Corrigan after it was revealed that Branson’s
Virgin Group is in cahoots with Toll Holdings on its $5 billion dollar hostile
takeover bid for Corrigan’s Patrick Corporation. It’s an “opening gambit with
plenty of hurdles to cross,” says Chanticleer’s John Durie – starting with the
ACCC (not online).

Cutting Corrigan out of the biggest
rationalisation of the transport industry in decades is a “gutsy but
potentially risky move” by Toll CEO Paul Little, says Elizabeth Knight in the SMH, “but cutting Richard
Branson in seems bizarre.” Chris Corrigan and Peter Scanlon will have to draw on all
their deal-making abilities to escape Little’s advances, says Stephen
Bartholomeusz, in the Smage,
while Malcolm Maiden thinks Patrick Corporation might be “a bridge too far” for
the acquisitive Toll chief. And Scott Rochfort reports on Branson’s stinging attack, yesterday, lambasting Corrigan’s
management of budget airline Virgin Blue.

Also in the Financial Review, Mark Jones (not online)
reports that web giants Yahoo, Google and MSN
are flush with cash and aiming for the stars after securing large chunks of the
$US8 billion expected in worldwide online advertising spending this year.
The Independent (UK) reports that London and Canadian-listed oil company PetroKazakhstan has accepted a $US4.18 billion
bid from China National Petroleum Corp, setting the wheels in motion for the
largest cross-border acquisition by a Chinese company.

On Wall Street, a volatile market finished higher overnight as crude
oil prices stayed above $US65. The Dow closed up 10.66 points at 10,569
– MarketWatch has a full report here.