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Bloomberg Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said German Chancellor Angela Merkel was “brilliant” for the way she resolved a dispute over the European Union’s $2.2 trillion budget and stimulus package, in an interview in Welt am Sonntag. Germany brokered the compromise that led Hungary and Poland to drop a threat to veto the plan, which would make payments to EU ...

Bloomberg Rent-A-Center Inc. is acquiring online lease-to-own provider Acima Holdings LLC in a cash-and-stock deal valued at more than $1.6 billion. The transaction will include $1.27 billion in cash and about 10.8 million shares of Rent-A-Center common stock currently valued at $377 million, the Plano, Texas-based company said. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2021. ...

Bloomberg Nokia Oyj said it expects margins for its networking business to be zero next year as it focuses on “regaining 5G leadership.” The company will develop its products for so-called Open RAN, a type of architecture that allows operators to use equipment from multiple vendors, and virtual RAN, which can be run as software on generic hardware, Nokia said ...

Bloomberg Elon Musk inquired about converting “large transactions” of Tesla Inc.’s balance sheet into Bitcoin in a Twitter exchange with Michael Saylor, a prominent booster of digital currency. In a series of tweets, Saylor, chief executive officer of Microstrategy Inc., encouraged the billionaire to shift US dollars from the electric-car maker to Bitcoin and “do your shareholders a $100 billion ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE has welcomed the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement between the legitimate Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council. It further welcomed the formation of a government of political competencies in Yemen, and expressed its hope that this will be a step towards a political solution and an accelerated end to the Yemeni crisis. In ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, was joined by Carlos Pascual, Senior Vice President for Global Energy at IHS Markit, during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) Web Series, which was held in partnership with the Atlantic Council. Joining the episode from Jakarta, Indonesia, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar ...

DUBAI / WAM In his capacity as Ruler of Dubai, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum issued Decree No. (36) of 2020 forming the Board of Trustees of the UAE Food Bank. According to the Decree, HH Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum will chair the Board and ...

Bloomberg Dubai’s Damac Properties PJSC surged to a two-year high on Sunday after saying its board will consider an acquisition within days. The Dubai-based property developer didn’t provide further information in a regulatory filing, but said its board will meet on December 23. Its shares climbed as much as 14.3%, the most in two months, to their highest levels since ...

DUBAI / WAM Executive committee members of the initiative for Dubai Membership in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of design held a virtual meeting with the Singapore Design Council. The Dubai side was led by the Chairman of Executive Committee and the Acting Director of the Executive Planning Department in Dubai Municipality, Asim Al Qasim, in the ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Fitch Ratings (Fitch) has affirmed Adnoc Group a standalone credit rating of AA+. According to Fitch, the rating reflects Adnoc’s high upstream production and vast oil reserves, very low cost of production, integration into downstream operations, very conservative financial policies, high financial flexibility and low leverage, and its strong unit profitability. In line with its Government-Related ...