PRESS DIGEST-British Business - April 21

April 21 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

- Britain's competition watchdog has warned that the takeover of Asda by the billionaire Issa brothers and TDR, the buyout firm, could lead to higher prices at the pumps for motorists. https://bit.ly/3n2N1xM

- M&G will reopen its 2 billion pound property fund next month, nearly 18 months after suspending it amid volatility in the commercial property market in late 2019. https://bit.ly/3n3Mc7M

The Guardian

- An influential group of British lawmakers has ordered former Prime Minister David Cameron to release texts he sent to the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, as part of a parliamentary inquiry into the Greensill lobbying scandal. https://bit.ly/3gx952p

- Associated British Foods, the owner of Primark, is to hand back 72 million pounds in furlough payments to the UK government after record sales at its newly reopened stores in England and Wales last week as shoppers sought out summer fashions for the return to socialising. https://bit.ly/3xenar4

The Telegraph

- One of Britain's most prominent investors has put $100 million into the country's biggest cryptocurrency company in a new stamp of approval for Bitcoin and other digital assets. https://bit.ly/32uQs6Q

- Amazon is branching out into beauty with its first hair salon just weeks after opening its first grocery store outside the United States in London. https://bit.ly/3x9pbF7

Sky News

- A firm linked to the lawyer tasked by the British prime minister with looking into the Greensill Capital lobbying scandal has been given 7 million pounds in government contracts over the last year. https://bit.ly/3sAmglr

- Stock market investors are being short-changed by a persistent refusal of companies to reveal when they have received credible takeover approaches, according to Richard Buxton, the head of strategy at Jupiter Asset Management. https://bit.ly/32x6a1j

The Independent

- Britain's unemployment rate fell to 4.9% in the three months to February but there are now more than 800,000 fewer workers on company payrolls than before the pandemic, official figures show. https://bit.ly/3eiddk3

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)