Turkey's armed forces pension fund has been named as the preferred bidder for British Steel.

The Official Receiver has announced that he has entered exclusive sales talks with the investment division of Turkey's armed forces pension fund as the preferred buyer for British Steel.

The Government's officials in charge of the process added that they had received several bids.

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It called the offer from Ataer Holdings - which already has a 50 per cent stake in Turkey's largest steel producer Erdemir - "acceptable".

Car dealer Pendragon, which trades under the Evans Halshaw and Stratstone brands, has continued the sell-off of its US showrooms with the sale of its Chevrolet dealership in Puente Hills, California.

The sale for £17.2 million is to Scott Biehl, the operator of a privately owned dealership, and comes just three months after Pendragon sold two Jaguar Land Rover dealerships in California for £60 million.

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Pendragon added that the business will continue to offload the rest of its US operations and will use the cash to pay down its debt pile - at a time when the company has seen its chief executive quit after less than three months, and sales in the UK have struggled.

The deal to sell the Chevrolet dealership will also require the approval of General Motors and the car giant can nominate a replacement if bosses are unhappy.

Ted Baker has left Debenhams for high street rival Next as its fashion partner for selling its children's range of clothing and accessories.

Executives at the fashion chain revealed its Baker range will be designed in collaboration with Next, with the first collection hitting shelves next spring.

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The decision to leave Debenhams comes less than a week after the department store unveiled its new chief executive, Stefaan Vansteenkiste, who will start his attempt to turn around the retailer after it went bust earlier in the year.

Debenhams will continue to sell Ted Baker lingerie but the childrenswear ranges will go when the relationship formally ends on February 29.

Lindsay Page, Ted Baker chief executive, said: "Product licensing is a proven and highly successful pillar of Ted Baker's strategy to expand as a global lifestyle brand.

"It enables us to carefully develop the brand in new, relevant categories by leveraging the specialist product expertise of our carefully selected partners."

Next already has a relationship with Ted Baker, selling its brands through its Label business.

At the most recent set of results, chief executive Simon Wolfson said the Label division had been particularly strong, helping drive a 12% growth in online sales.