(Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 followed other major stock markets lower on Thursday as initial batches of corporate earnings jangled nerves over global growth, while losses for London's mid-cap index were capped by a buyout of pub operator Ei Group.
All but one of the blue-chip index's <.FTSE> sectors were in red as it shed 0.4% in early deals. The mid-cap FTSE 250 <.FTMC> lost 0.2% by 0709 GMT.
Slug and Lettuce owner Stonegate Pub Company <IPO-SPC.L> agreed to buy Ei Group <EIGE.L> for 285 pence a share, a 38% premium to Wednesday's close that sent the mid-cap pub chain's stock to its highest in more than a decade.
AIM-listed online fashion retailer ASOS <ASOS.L> tanked almost 20%, as it blamed operational issues for its third profit warning in eight months.
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)
