Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Unite offers to buy Empiric Student Property in £705m deal
Unite is in talks to buy one of its rivals in a £705million deal that would cement its status as Britain’s biggest student landlord.
The FTSE 100 group, “following a period of engagement”, has tabled a cash-and-shares proposal to buy Empiric Student Property. Although Unite’s interest only came to light on Thursday, it is understood to have first approached Empiric several months ago.
Unite is proposing a tie-up that would see it pay 30p in cash plus 0.09 Unite shares for each Empiric share, which works out to about 106p in total.
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Inverness Caledonian Thistle to exit administration
Inverness Caledonian Thistle (ICT) is to exit administration after agreements were reached with its creditors.
The Highland club got into difficulty last year after running up large debts. Joint administrators BDO was appointed in October to oversee its finances, and also find a new buyer. In an announcement on Thursday, BDO said the agreements would allow ICT to leave administration by early July, and retain its place in League 1.
The move also opens the way for former chairman Alan Savage to eventually take over the club. The businessman made an offer earlier this year to buy the club for £800,000, if certain conditions were met including ICT leaving administration.
M&S hackers sent abuse and ransom demand directly to CEO
An abusive email sent by the Marks & Spencer hackers to the retailer's boss gloating about the hack and demanding payment has been seen by the BBC.
The message to M&S CEO Stuart Machin - which was in broken English - was sent on the 23 April from the hacker group called DragonForce using the email account of an employee.
The email confirms for the first time that M&S has been hacked by the ransomware group – something that M&S has so far refused to acknowledge.
Lululemon shares plunge as Trump tariffs bite
Lululemon shares have plunged by more than 20% after it cut its annual profit forecast, as the company navigates tariffs and fears about the US economy slowing.
"We experienced lower store traffic in the Americas, partially reflective of economic uncertainty, inflationary pressures, lower consumer confidence, and changes in discretionary spending," Lululemon said in a statement, external.
The athleisure brand joins a growing list of big companies to warn about the impact of US President Donald Trump's trade policies.