In Short

A round up of today's other stories in brief...

UK report calls for Equitable compensation

Ireland's 6,500 Equitable Life policyholders have moved a step closer to receiving compensation for the loss of their funds following the publication of the UK parliamentary ombudsman's report into the life assurer's 2000 collapse.

In the report published today, ombudsman Ann Abraham calls on the UK government to apologise to Equitable Life policyholders and to compensate a million and a half policyholders who lost money, including 6,500 in Ireland. The report does not put a figure on the bill, but it has been estimated at about £4 billion (€5 billion).

Ms Abraham recommends the government fund a compensation scheme and assess the cases of those who have been affected. The aim of this scheme would be to reimburse fully those who suffered a relative loss. It would cover all who suffered, not just UK residents.

Co-Op agrees Somerfield deal

The Co-Operative Group has agreed a deal to buy Somerfield for £1.57 billion (€1.98 billion) to strengthen its position as Britain's fifth-biggest food retailer.

Somerfield's owners, a consortium that includes private equity firm Apex, Barclays Capital and property magnate Robert Tchenguiz, put the group up for sale in January amid newspaper reports they were seeking as much as £2.5 billion.

The consortium bought the 880-store chain for about £1.1 billion in 2005.

Sachs/PAI to buy Xella for $3bn

Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and France's PAI Partners are set to buy family-owned German building materials group Xella International GmbH for around $3.2 billion.

The pair saw off a number of big players, reportedly including CRH and Austrian operator Weinerberger.

Xella makes bricks, drywalls and building materials and was founded in 2002 when it was spun out of the family-controlled Haniel Group's wider operations, which generated sales of €29 billion last year.

Dairy giants back research centre

Enterprise Ireland has provided €20 million towards the setting up of the National Functional Foods Research Centre, a partnership between four of Ireland's leading dairy companies: Dairygold Food Ingredients, Glanbia Nutritionals, Carbery and Kerry Ingredients Ireland.

It is expected that 50 people will be trained and employed by the four companies over the five years of the research programme.

Dzheitune well to meet forecasts

Dragon Oil, the Dublin-registered explorer operating in Turkmenistan, said it has tested its Dzheitune (Lam) 22/128 development well in the Asian republic and expects to meet its output forecasts.

The well was drilled to a depth of 3,848 metres and pumped 2,600 barrels of oil a day, Dragon said.