News

Bloomberg CBS Corp’s seemingly inexorable march towards acquiring Viacom Inc. may take a detour. The broadcasting giant recently talked to Lions Gate Entertainment Corp about buying that company’s Starz cable network, according to people familiar with the matter, a deal that could happen alongside a potential purchase of Viacom. CBS made an informal bid of about $5 billion that was ...

Bloomberg Business Secretary Greg Clark pledged 28 million pounds ($36 million) to research electric car batteries as he pushes for the UK to establish an industry-leading factory. The cash for the Coventry, central England-based Battery Industrialisation Centre adds to an initial investment of 80 million pounds, Clark’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said in a statement. The government ...

Bloomberg California investigators have determined that PG&E Corp.’s power lines ignited the deadliest blaze in state history, opening the door for more liabilities that the company has already warned may exceed $30 billion. A transmission line owned by PG&E sparked the Camp Fire that killed 85 people and destroyed an entire town in November, the California Department of Forestry and ...

Bloomberg British workers are enjoying a resurgence of bargaining power as labour shortages leave employers struggling to fill jobs. Basic pay rose an annual 3.3% in the first quarter, close to the fastest pace since 2008, Office for National Statistics figures show. Pay including bonuses rose 3.2%. The increase came as the number of people in work rose by 99,000, ...

Bloomberg New York denied a key permit for a $1 billion Williams Cos. shale gas pipeline, dealing a critical blow to a project that would shuttle fuel to customers in New York City and Long Island. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said that the pipeline would result in water quality violations, including those caused by kicking up ...

Bloomberg Arkema SA agreed to buy a US-based supplier of mining-additives from Golden Gate Capital for $570 million as part of Chief Executive Officer Thierry Le Henaff’s drive to expand in higher-margin specialty chemicals. Purchasing ArrMaz Custom Chemicals Inc. will add a portfolio of defoamers and other so-called surfactants also used in road construction and agrochemicals generating annual sales of ...

Bloomberg From Colombia to the North Sea, the Middle East to Texas, the global market for crude cargoes is becoming tighter as supplies grow more constrained and risks to production spiral. Prices for actual barrels from the North Sea, Asia, and the Americas are now trading at the highest in half a decade. Key price spreads that show how urgently ...

VIENNA / WAM The Opec Fund for International Development (OFID) is contributing $50 million to support energy security and economic growth in Pakistan via a participation agreement with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC). The ITFC and other financial institutions will provide the remaining balance of the syndicated amount that will enable Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance, Revenue and Economic ...

DUBAI / WAM To promote ease of doing business and to support its customers Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), the GCC’s largest special economic zone, will become the first free zone in the country to return cash and bank guarantees to its clients through its new Workforce Protection Programme initiative that is set to roll out in September of this ...

DHALA / WAM The UAE, represented by its humanitarian arm, the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC), continued sending relief and shelter convoys to the Yemeni governorates. A humanitarian aid convoy arrived on Saturday in Dhala Governorate loaded with food, shelter, tents, blankets, water tanks and mobile toilets to support the needy people in these areas. Local beneficiaries thanked the UAE, and ...