PRESS DIGEST-British Business - March 4

March 4 (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

- RIT Capital Partners RCP.L has bought a stake worth more than 26 million pounds ($33.02 million) in the Elon Musk's SpaceX.

- Prudential PRU.L is set to buy back and cancel London-traded shares worth more than $1 billion after selling down its stake in its Indian asset management joint venture.

The Guardian

- Billionaire Elon Musk's fellowship of the Royal Society remains intact after a meeting of the scientific body.

The Telegraph

- British defence industry will be protected from more U.S. takeovers, prime minister Keir Starmer has signalled, amid fears one of the country's key weapons manufacturers is about to fall into American hands.

- Vodafone VOD.L has inked a deal with Texas-based AST SpaceMobile to create a new joint venture that will beam satellite broadband connections directly to smartphones.

Sky News

- CVC Capital Partners CVC.AS is serving up a $1 billion bid to buy a portfolio of tennis assets which includes Miami Open and Madrid Open

The Independent

- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said Europe "must do the heavy lifting" as he seized control of Ukraine peace talks from Donald Trump, and said now was "not a moment for more talk, it is time to act" after hosting a summit of 19 leaders from Europe and NATO in London.

($1 = 0.7875 pounds)