International News

Bloomberg Indians increase purchases of refrigerators and TV sets around election time as the government puts more money in the hands of voters, which stands to benefit some of the world’s most profitable consumer finance companies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is following his predecessor in boosting spending before polls due early 2019, a practice that has sparked surges in stocks ...

Bloomberg It’s the $85 billion question that could hold the key to how mega deals are made for years to come. When US District Judge Richard Leon hands down his decision on AT&T Inc.’s proposed takeover of Time Warner Inc. next week, the likes of Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., Cigna Corp. and CVS Health Corp. will be watching keenly. ...

Bloomberg Fortive Corp. will buy Johnson & Johnson’s medical sterilisation unit for $2.7 billion, adding a range of new products to the company that was spun off from medical and industrial parts giant Danaher Corp. in 2016. J&J’s Advanced Sterilisation Products business had sales of about $775 million last year, Fortive said in a statement announcing the transaction. For J&J, ...

Bloomberg Verizon Communications Inc. named Hans Vestberg as its next chief executive officer, picking a leader who plans to stay the course even as all three of the company’s major wireless rivals are pursuing megadeals. The move will take effect Aug. 1, ending months of speculation over who takes over at the largest US wireless carrier in the midst of ...

Bloomberg Euro-area exports fell for the first time in five years at the start of 2018, dragging on economic growth, which slowed sharply in the period. Updated first-quarter GDP data showed that government spending stagnated in the three months through March, while exports fell 0.4 percent and net trade proved a drag. The economy expanded 0.4 percent, down from 0.7 ...

Bloomberg Daimler AG could split its truck unit and passenger-car business into separate companies, but it’s not a necessity and won’t happen unless stockholders want it to. “It’s not so much an issue of management, it’s more of the shareholders, what they want to do,” Martin Daum, Chief Executive Officer of Daimler’s truck unit, said in an interview at the ...

Bloomberg The US and China continued to haggle over the shape of a deal to fend off an impending trade war, with China offering to boost purchases of American goods and the US finalising a deal to allow China’s ZTE Corp. to resume purchases from American suppliers. Ahead of a mid-June deadline for imposing tariffs on Chinese imports, China has ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s Minor International Pcl said it would bid to acquire all of NH Hotel Group SA after agreeing to buy HNA Group Co.’s stake in the Spanish hospitality chain. Minor’s shares climbed the most since 2016. The Bangkok-based company will make a tender offer worth as much as 1.64 billion euros ($1.92 billion) for the 65 percent of NH ...

Bloomberg China has detained 245 people after a nationwide raid of gangs suspected of illegally selling more than 2.4 million metric tons of steel scrap to buyers across Southeast Asia. Chinese authorities carried out multiple raids starting after an investigation into unusual activity unearthed a network that was shipping scrap without fully paying the 40 percent export duty, the General ...

Bloomberg China Fishery Group Ltd.’s bankruptcy case enters its second anniversary this month with no resolution in sight as a key auction of its fishing assets in Peru stalls. It may have better luck selling its corporate memberships in the famed 129-year old Hong Kong Golf Club. Membership No. 1024 and 1031 are being put up for sale to maintain ...