March 24 (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

- Huel, the meal shake and food replacement brand, is set to be

acquired by the French food group Danone in a 1 billion euros

deal that leaves its entrepreneurial founder and celebrity

backers in line for a bumper payday.

- American cosmetics group Estée Lauder is in discussion

about acquiring the owner of Charlotte Tilbury and Jean Paul

Gaultier to potentially create a $40bn company.

The Guardian

- British MPs have urged the government to halt its latest

contract with Palantir after the Guardian revealed that the US

spy-tech company is to gain access to a trove of highly

sensitive UK financial regulation data.

- The UK government has dismissed a warning from an energy trade

body that failing to produce more homegrown North Sea oil and

gas will leave the UK increasingly reliant on imports at a time

of rising global instability.

The Telegraph

- EasyJet EZJ.L> will slow hiring after warning that the Middle

East crisis could push up air fares by the summer. The low-cost

carrier plans to leave vacant posts unfilled for longer while

flight frequencies could be reduced on some weaker routes to

preserve cash.

Sky News

- Around 20 National Car Parks (NCP) sites are to be permanently

closed just days after the company collapsed into

administration. The landlords and employees were notified on

Monday morning that administrators had concluded that roughly 20

of its sites were no longer commercially viable to operate.

The Independent

- Aerospace and defence giant Airbus has agreed to

acquire UK cybersecurity firm Ultra Cyber from private equity

firm Advent International for an undisclosed sum.

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)