Bloomberg Unilever Plc has held talks with banks about additional financing for a potential sweetened offer for GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s consumer products division, according to people familiar with the matter. Some financial firms have discussed lending enough for a bid higher than 50 billion pounds ($68 billion) — the latest of three offers Glaxo has rejected for a bundle of …

  Bloomberg Target Corp’s top executive said US consumers will drive less and consolidate their shopping into fewer trips as they adjust to pricier gasoline and the highest inflation rate in almost four decades. Shoppers are also likely to eat more at home and seek cheaper generic-brand goods in an effort to ease the blow from rising prices, Chief Executive …

  Bloomberg Two former Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd flight attendants were arrested for violating pandemic rules, Hong Kong police said, after they were identified as the source of the city’s Omicron outbreak. The pair were charged under Hong Kong’s Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation and are due to appear in court February 9. Until then, they’ve been released on …

  Bloomberg PT Social Bella Indonesia, a beauty-products startup backed by Temasek Holdings Pte, is in talks with investors to raise $150 million to $200 million for a growth push, according to people familiar with the matter. The Jakarta-based company is negotiating for a funding round that would propel its valuation past $1 billion, said the people who asked not …

  Bloomberg The balance sheets of Ireland’s biggest banks have risen by two thirds since the Brexit vote, the latest data to demonstrate how Europe’s financial landscape is shifting following the UK’s departure from the European Union. Banks in Ireland regulated by the ECB’s Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) saw their balance sheets increase from 300 billion euros ($342 billion) in …

  Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG’s Chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio resigned after just nine months in the role, following a series of missteps including reported breaches of Swiss and UK quarantine rules that eroded confidence in his leadership. His departure follows an investigation commissioned by the board, Zurich-based Credit Suisse said in a statement. The bank named board member Axel P. …

  Bloomberg Executives at banking giants including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. are struggling to return to Hong Kong after the city banned flights from eight countries, part of an outlier Covid Zero strategy that’s threatening its appeal as financial hub. At least a dozen Hong Kong-based managing directors at banks, also including Morgan Stanley and …

  Bloomberg Canadian banks are bringing forward their forecasts for interest rate hikes to as early as next week, amid growing evidence the economy is hitting limits and inflation pressures are rising. Economists at TD Securities and Laurentian Bank said the Bank of Canada will start a hiking cycle at its policy decision on January 26. Bank of Montreal brought …

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc is planning to exit retail-banking operations in Mexico — where it has its largest branch network in the world — as part of CEO Jane Fraser’s continued push to overhaul the firm’s strategy. The lender will keep its institutional businesses in the country, according to a filing. The exit could ultimately take the form of a …

  Bloomberg Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc will start charging new customers for a bank passbook, joining other Japanese lenders that are pushing clients to kick the 150-year-old habit for the sake of the environment. The country’s largest bank will require new clients to pay 550 yen ($4.83) a year for a passbook, encouraging them to embrace digital services, people …