Patrick Le Lay, chief executive, is known to be close to Carlton chairman Michael Green and is already considering an internet and programming joint venture with the UK broadcaster. An advisor to one of the ITV three observed: “Mr Le Lay might just be sitting back seeing what Granada and Carlton get up to.” The abandonment of the Carlton-United merger seemed the mostly likely outcome of the conditions the Competition Commission put on the proposed deal in its report to Stephen Byers, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The Commission ruled the deal could only proceed if the enlarged group sold Meridian.In a joint statement yesterday, Carlton and United laid blame for the deal’s abortion at the Commission’s door. “The requirement to dispose of Meridian, one of the four leading ITV licences, undermines the strategic rationale behind the merger and significantly reduces the benefits to shareholders of combining Carlton’s and United’s businesses,” it said. It is understood Michael Green pulled out of the merger since, without Meridian, United’s television business would have earnings of only £40m – a small gain for a multi-billion pound deal.. Sshares in LetsBuyIt , the e-tailer which slashed its offer price ahead of its stock market debut yesterday, surprised the market by surging more than 50 per cent on its first day of trading. Sshares in LetsBuyIt , the e-tailer which slashed its offer price ahead of its stock market debut yesterday, surprised the market by surging more than 50 per cent on its first day of trading.
The good news for the company comes after it has faced a string of problems, including two delays to its initial public offering and a 50 per cent cut it its offer price.Shares in LetsBuyIt, which listed on Germany’s high-tech index Neuer Markt, traded at 5.3 euros, well ahead of the offer price of 3.5 euros (£2.14).

The company had revised its price range down from 6-7 euros to 3-4 last week.The high level of demand is expected to encourage other online shopping portals to list. One internet analyst said: “This shows that, if the price is right, there can still be genuine demand for propositions that appeal to consumers.”The company issued 17.8 million shares, or about 20 per cent of the business Yesterday’s offer price valued the company at 310m euros.. The UK economy rebounded from its post-millennium hangover to post stronger than expected growth in the second quarter. The economy has now enjoyed exactly eight years of uninterrupted growth. The UK economy rebounded from its post-millennium hangover to post stronger than expected growth in the second quarter. The economy has now enjoyed exactly eight years of uninterrupted growth.
The first estimate of GDP, published yesterday, showed the economy grew 0.9 per cent between the first and second quarters, giving annual growth of 3.1 per cent.

This was higher than the 0.8 and 3.0 per cent expected by the markets and fuelled speculation that interest rates may rise again as soon as next month Both sterling and bond yields rose on the news. The growth is a strong rebound from the 0.5 per cent quarterly growth over the three months to March. A spokesman for the Office for National Statistics, which compiled the data, said: “There was a pause. What happened in the first quarter was not there in quarter two.”The ONS said there was growth in all sectors of the economy except construction. Services grew by 3.6 per cent year-on-year, its strongest performance for almost two years. The strongest sector was business services although no figures were available.