Global company dividends hit record $1.47 trillion
Global company dividends rose 16.8% on a headline basis to a record $1.47 trillion in 2021, with mainland European dividends rebounding 36.1% to $229.3 billion, according…
Norway’s $1.3 trillion wealth fund exits Russia
Norway’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the largest such fund in the world, announced it will divest its Russian assets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine….
European equity fund sales surge to record €399bn
The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has announced that 2021 was an “absolute record year” for equity funds, with net sales surging to €399…
ECB profit cut to €192m; balance sheet hits €680bn
The European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) audited financial statements for 2021 show that profit for the year plummeted to €192 million from €1.643 billion in 2020…
EU orders Hungary to cancel veto on VIG-Aegon deal
The European Commission announced it has concluded that Hungary’s decision to veto the acquisition of the Hungarian subsidiaries of the Aegon Group by Vienna Insurance…
Eurozone economy has fastest growth in five months
Eurozone economic activity rose at the fastest pace in five months in February as Covid-19 containment measures were relaxed. Business activity rebounded most sharply in…
EU challenges China at WTO on telecom patents
The European Union has filed a legal challenge against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) arguing that Chinese courts are preventing European companies from…
Blackstone bets €21bn on European logistics
Blackstone announced that existing investors in Mileway, its pan-European last mile logistics company, have agreed to recapitalize the company for €21 billion “and to hold…
EU in €43bn move to secure semiconductor supplies
The European Commission has proposed a comprehensive set of measures to ensure the EU’s security of “supply, resilience and technological leadership in semiconductor technologies and…
Ireland January tax receipts €6.7bn; debt tops €243bn
Ireland’s tax receipts totaled €6.7 billion in January, up 24% on an annual basis and 13% higher than the pre-pandemic position in January 2020. January…
Macquarie buys stake in Dutch green developer EDGE
Macquarie Asset Management, on behalf of one of its managed funds, is to acquire a significant minority stake in Dutch sustainability-focused real estate developer EDGE…
EIB lends €500m to Danish railway for electric trains
Danish railway company Danske Statsbaner (DSB) has finalised a 25-year lending agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) worth €500 million for the acquisition of new…
Koltes steps down at CVC, Europe’s private equity giant
Luxembourg-based CVC Capital Partners, Europe’s biggest private equity firm, announced that co-founder and co-chair Steve Koltes will step down from an active role on October…
Deutsche Bank to pay €700m in dividends, buybacks
Deutsche Bank AG announced it will return €700 million to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks as it resumes capital distributions after a long break….
European property investment hits record €359bn
Investment in European real estate reached an all-time high in 2021, according to the latest data from international real estate advisor CBRE. The data shows…
EU raises €2.5bn in its first green bond auction
The European Commission has executed its first green bond auction by raising €2.5 billion in NextGenerationEU green bonds. The auction is part of the €50…
Ireland’s ‘shadow banking’ sector grows to €3.45 trillion
Ireland’s non-bank financial intermediaries (NBFI) sector — often called “shadow banking” — grew to €3.45 trillion by the end of 2020, making it the fifth…
Europe dividends to hit record €410bn in 2022 – Allianz
Company stock dividends in Europe will rise about 8% to a record high of €410 billion in 2022, according to new research by Allianz Global Investors….
Brexit boosts big banks’ Irish balance sheets by €200bn
A new report into Ireland’s international banking sector shows that Brexit has been a big driver of change with the Irish balance sheets of ECB-supervised…
EstateGuru, property financing platform, hits €500m
Estonia-based EstateGuru, the pan-European property investing and financing platform, announced it has now has funded €500 million in loans. EstateGuru said it financed loans of…
Credit Suisse chair Horta-Osorio quits amid probe
Credit Suisse Group said its chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio has resigned “following an investigation commissioned by the board” amid questions about his alleged quarantine breaches. Horta-Osorio had…
Ireland’s €3.5bn bond sale attracts €27bn of orders
Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) announced it raised €3.5 billion through the syndicated sale of a new 10-year benchmark Treasury Bond maturing in October…
Nordea Bank hires ex-RBS CEO Hester as chairman
Helsinki-based Nordea Bank Abp — the Nordic region’s biggest bank — announced late on Thursday it plans to hire former Royal Bank of Scotland CEO…
Ireland to sell about €3 billion of 10-year bonds
Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) said it has mandated BNP Paribas, Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland, Citi, Danske Bank, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley to sell…
Irish property market sees €5.5bn invested in 2021
Over €2 billion was invested in the Irish property market in the last quarter of 2021, bringing full-year activity to €5.5 billion — the second highest level…
Ryanair flees Frankfurt airport as charges rise
Ryanair has confirmed that it will close its Frankfurt am Main base on March 31, 2022, and “has reallocated these five aircraft to airports that have…
SocGen car leasing unit ALD to buy €4.9bn LeasePlan
French bank Societe Generale announced its car leasing division ALD has agreed to buy Dutch rival LeasePlan for €4.9 billion in shares and cash from a consortium led…
Scotsman Jim Rowan named CEO of Volvo Cars
By Mark McSherry Scottish businessman and investor Jim Rowan is to join Volvo Cars on March 21, 2022, as CEO & President, the company said. Rowan,…
Uniper gets €10bn credit amid gas price volatility
German energy giant Uniper has secured credit facilities worth up to €10 billion from its Finland-based majority shareholder Fortum and German state bank KfW in a…
Global securities lending revenue up 21% to $9bn
The global securities lending industry generated $9.28 billion in revenue for lenders in 2021, according to DataLend, the market data division of EquiLend. The figure…
CBRE buys $4.9bn of US, European warehouses
US-based CBRE Investment Management has agreed to acquire a 28.4 million square-foot portfolio of logistics properties in the United States and Europe valued at $4.9…
EIB and Basque bank BBVA invest €960m in SMEs
The European Investment Bank Group (EIB), its European Investment Fund (EIF) and Basque bank BBVA are joining forces to support the working capital and liquidity…
3G buys 75% stake in Hunter Douglas in $7.1bn deal
New York-based private equity firm 3G Capital has agreed to buy a controlling interest in Dutch window coverings and architectural products giant Hunter Douglas NV….
European fund assets top €31 trillion amid retail push
Assets under management (AuM) in the European fund management industry continued to rise in 2021 and reached an estimated €31.3 trillion at the end of September,…
Northvolt makes Europe’s first lithium-ion battery cell
Northvolt announced that its new gigafactory in Västerås, northern Sweden, has assembled its first lithium-ion battery cell, making it the first European company to design and manufacture…
EIB creates €772m fund for Italy tourism, regeneration
The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced it has signed a finance agreement with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to create a Fund of Funds…
Aker BP agrees $14bn deal for Lundin oil, gas business
Norway’s Aker BP is set to become Europe’s largest independent oil producer after agreeing a roughly $14 billion shares and cash deal to take over…
Ireland to sell part of its 71% stake in €6bn AIB
Ireland’s Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has announced his intention to sell part of the Irish State’s 71.12% directed shareholding in AIB Group Plc over…
BNP Paribas to sell $16.3bn Bank of the West to BMO
France’s BNP Paribas said it has reached an agreement to sell its San Francisco-based Bank of the West to Bank of Montreal — also known as…
European Investment Bank plans €45bn bond sales
The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced that it estimates its new issuance for 2022 will be €45 billion. The EIB is the long-term lending institution of…