International News

Bloomberg Europe’s push to scrap use of coal as a power generation fuel could make Fortum Oyj think twice before launching a bid for a full takeover of Uniper SE, one of the continent’s biggest burners of the dirtiest fossil fuel. Fortum, which owns a 49.99 percent stake in Uniper, said it had ended its long-running feud with the German ...

Bloomberg The UK cancelled a 13.8 million pound ($18 million) contract with Seaborne Freight, a startup company that doesn’t own any ships, to deliver backup ferry service in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Lawmakers had criticized the contract award. The deal was scrapped when “it became clear Seaborne would not reach its contractual requirements with the government,” the Department ...

Bloomberg Alector Inc. raised $176 million in the first US initial public offering without a fixed share price since the government shutdown all but froze the market. The biotechnology company said in a statement that it sold 9.25 million shares at $19 each, the midpoint of the marketed range of $18 to $20. The share sale gives the company a ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc managers have weighed alternatives to locating a corporate campus in New York City after local officials opposed the plan, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Some people involved in the planning for Amazon’s East Coast expansion have discussed whether to pare back the New York plans, said the people, who asked not to be identified ...

Bloomberg Brexit is driving companies out of the UK, and the Netherlands is raking in the corporate refugees. About 250 companies are in talks with the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency to potentially relocate activities to the country, according to a statement. The candidates would join 42 companies that made the move last year, and the 18 early birds in 2017. ...

Bloomberg The European Commission slashed its growth forecasts for all the euro region’s major economies from Germany to Italy and warned that Brexit and the slowdown in China threaten to make the outlook even worse. The European Union’s executive arm delivered a downbeat report that shaved a whole percentage point off its 2019 projection for Italy, now seen with minimal ...

Bloomberg German online payments firm Wirecard AG has seen its stock plunge by more than a third in recent days on reports of accounting misdeeds at its Singapore unit. Now, the company is fighting back by questioning the foundations of the allegations. A preliminary review last May by a respected Singapore law firm lists allegations of potential financial irregularities, money ...

Bloomberg Publicis Groupe SA is setting off alarm bells on Madison Avenue as the ad industry’s earnings season gets under way. The French owner of Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett Worldwide suffered a surprise drop in fourth-quarter sales, blaming cuts in ad spending by consumer brands in the US. So-called organic revenue fell 0.3 percent in the quarter, missing ...

Bloomberg Call it the Masayoshi Son mathematical distortion field. The founder of SoftBank Group Corp. added about 1.94 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) to the market value of his company— by unveiling a plan to buy back shares worth less than a third of that amount. Based on his own stake, Son’s net worth rose by about $5 billion. His fortune ...

Bloomberg The Philippine Congress approved the 3.76 trillion-peso ($72 billion) budget for 2019, ending an impasse that put on hold funding for new government projects. Lawmakers ratified the spending plan in Manila, just before a three-month recess until May 20. The Philippines missed the year-end deadline to approve the 2019 budget — the first time in almost a decade — ...