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Bloomberg The European Union is prepared to hit 20 billion euros ($22.7 billion) of US goods with tariffs should President Donald Trump follow through on a threat to impose duties on EU cars and auto parts, said a senior trade official for the bloc. The assertion by Jean-Luc Demarty, director general for trade in the European Commission, the EU’s executive …

DUBAI / WAM DP World on Wednesday announced that it has acquired an additional stake in DP World Australia (DPWA) from Gateway Infrastructure Investments and other financial investors, valuing DP World Australia at an enterprise val-ue of approximately AU$1.4 billion ($997 million). The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in Q1 2019. Following the closure …

Bloomberg Kingdom Holding Co, one of Careem Networks FZ’s biggest backers, supports a potential merger between the Middle East ride-hailing firm and Uber Technologies Inc, according to the head of Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s investment firm. “We don’t interfere nor are we party to the discussions, and if it ever happens I think we are supportive of it yes,” Chief …

Bloomberg China risks being locked out of talks to establish new global rules to govern the $25 trillion e-commerce marketplace as the US and other nations resist an effort by Beijing to curb the plan’s ambition, according to people familiar with the talks. Negotiations, which are set to be launched on Friday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s …

Bloomberg Dubai’s Damac Properties PJSC plans to take advantage of the weak pound to invest as much as 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) in London’s real estate market. Chairman Hussain Sajwani said the Dubai-based property developer is looking at deals with values from 500 million pounds to 1 billion pounds in central London. Even if the UK left the European …

Bloomberg PetroChina Co brushed off a $1.5 billion writedown from the disposal of some assets as it estimated full-year net income more than doubled last year thanks to higher crude prices. China’s biggest oil and gas producer said net income could have jumped as much as 132 percent in 2018, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, …

Bloomberg The Brazilian unit of EDP — Energias de Portugal SA plans on boosting investments once Latin America’s largest economy starts to recover, aiming to double in size by 2020. The firm, which began operating in Brazil during the privatisation wave of the 1990s, is “completely optimistic” with the outlook for the country, Chief Executive Officer Miguel Setas said in …

Bloomberg MEG Energy Corp looks to be on its own again after Husky Energy Inc pulled its hostile bid for the Canadian oil-sands producer and no white knight emerged during the takeover battle. The data room that MEG had opened to entice other suitors during the Husky tussle is now closed, and its strategic review process has concluded, said Megan …

Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its forecast for the world economy, predicting it will grow at the weakest pace in three years in 2019 and warning fresh trade tensions would spell further trouble. In its second downgrade in three months, the lender blamed softening demand across Europe and recent palpitations in financial markets. It predicts global growth of …

DUBAI / WAM The UAE is ranked 1st regionally and 19th globally in the 2019 Global Talent Competitiveness Index report, published by Paris-based grad- uate business school Insead. For the fourth straight time, the UAE came ahead of Mena countries in the report — a comprehensive annual index that measures how countries and cities grow, attract and retain talent, providing …