May calls for snap UK election on June 8
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has announced plans to call a snap general election on June 8 — having decided she needs to win support for…
Latin America helps Carrefour sales soar to €21.3bn
French supermarket retail giant Carrefour said its sales rose 6.2% to €21.3bn in the first quarter of 2017 as its international operations boosted performance. Carrefour also said…
Shareholders seek to oust AkzoNobel chairman
Dutch paints giant AkzoNobel, which has rejected a $24 billion takeover proposal from Pittsburgh-based rival PPG Industries, said it received a request from shareholders led by Elliott Advisors to…
Pon makes €845m offer for bicycle firm Accell
Dutch bicycle firm Accell Group confirmed it received a roughly €845 million takeover proposal from Pon Holdings and was now having “exploratory discussions” with its Netherlands rival….
Bain Capital, Cinven to buy Stada for €5.3bn
Private equity firms Bain Capital and Cinven won the bidding war for Germany’s Stada on Monday when they agreed to offer a total of €5.3 billion for the…
Deutsche Bank raises €8bn and looks for growth
Deutsche Bank said it raised €8 billion in its latest capital increase as 98.9% of share subscription rights in its rights issue were exercised — with the bank planning to sell…
EU needs ‘counterweight to US capital market machine’
Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan voiced support for a Capital Markets Union in Europe during a panel discussion at the German Banking Congress in Berlin. “It…
VW invests $180m in artificial intelligence JV
Volkswagen and leading Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company Mobvoi have entered a joint venture strategic partnership to develop and implement AI technologies in cars. Volkswagen…
EU’s biggest goods trade partner is US with €610bn
The United States was the European Union’s biggest goods trading partner in 2016 with €610 billion, or 17.7% of total EU trade in goods, according to Eurostat,…
JAB to buy Panera Bread Company for $7.5bn
Luxembourg-based investment group JAB agreed to acquire US bakery and cafe chain Panera Bread Company for $315 per share in cash in a transaction valued at $7.5 billion including…
EU clears ChemChina’s $43bn Syngenta takeover
The European Commission has approved the proposed $43 billion takeover of Swiss pesticide maker Syngenta AG by ChemChina — the largest foreign acquisition by a Chinese…
EU unemployment 8% – lowest in eight years
The euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 9.5% in February 2017 — the lowest since May 2009 — according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the…
€4bn investments by European Investment Bank
The board of the European Investment Bank (EIB) on Tuesday approved €4.1 billion of new financing for projects including an extension of the Warsaw Metro, upgraded electricity distribution…
EU probes RBS alternative to Williams & Glyn sale
The European Commission said on Tuesday it opened an “in-depth investigation” to assess whether an alternative package proposed by UK authorities “is an appropriate replacement for…
EIB provides €350m loan to TenneT for NordLink
The European Investment Bank (EIB) said it will provide a €350 million loan to TenneT Holding B.V. to finance “NordLink”, the first interconnection between Germany and…
Authorities probe Credit Suisse on ‘client tax’
Credit Suisse said its offices in London, Paris and Amsterdam were contacted by local authorities on March 30 “concerning client tax matters.” The company said:…
Volkswagen agrees to pay another $157m
Volkswagen said on Thursday it reached an agreement with the attorneys general of 10 US states to pay $157.45 million to resolve environmental claims related to its…
EU blocks Deutsche Börse-London merger
The European Commission said it has prohibited the proposed merger of Deutsche Börse AG and London Stock Exchange Group after concluding the merger would have created “a…
AkzoNobel to outline new strategy on April 19
Dutch paints and coatings giant AkzoNobel, which rejected a proposal from Pittsburgh-based rival PPG Industries to buy it for about $24.2 billion, said on Tuesday it would hold an update…
EU clears Danish state aid for offshore wind farm
The European Commission said it found that Danish state aid for the 600MW Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm in Danish territorial waters to be in line…
Watchdog: ECB needs more democratic oversight
The European Central Bank (ECB) urgently needs to increase democratic oversight and accountability if the euro is to survive the next crisis, according to a new…
EU approves $130bn Dow-DuPont merger
The European Commission approved the proposed $130 billion merger of US-based chemical companies Dow and DuPont “conditional in particular on the divestiture of major parts of…
AkzoNobel rejects $24.2bn bid from PPG
Dutch paints and coatings giant AkzoNobel said it rejected “a second unsolicited, non-binding and conditional proposal” from Pittsburgh-based rival PPG Industries to buy AkzoNobel for about $24.2 billion. “The…
UK says it will trigger Brexit process on March 29
The UK government said on Monday it intends on March 29 to formally trigger the long negotiations for the UK to leave the EU. “The UK’s Permanent…
EU clears GE $1.6bn acquisition of Denmark’s LM Wind
The European Commission said on Monday it approved unconditionally the $1.65 billion acquisition of LM Wind Power of Denmark by General Electric Company of the US….