Bloomberg Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and Azerbaijan’s State Oil Co. are competing to buy OMV AG’s fuel-retailing business in Turkey in a deal that may value the asset between $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said. Aramco, as the Saudi state company is known, and Socar have submitted binding bids for Istanbul-based OMV Petrol ...
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Trump’s China trade threat looms large over Taiwan
Bloomberg Call it collateral damage. If Donald Trump delivers on threats to put punishing tariffs on Chinese goods, plenty of pain would be felt in Taiwan, a de facto US ally that Beijing considers a breakaway province. The island would be among the most vulnerable to economic spillover from any US-China trade war. More than 40 percent of the ...
Read More »Australia sells $8.5bn of bonds in biggest-ever sale
Bloomberg Australia’s government sold A$11 billion ($8.5 billion) of 11-year debt notes in its biggest-ever bond transaction, as investors hungry for higher yields set aside concerns stubborn budget deficits will cost the nation its AAA credit rating. It’s the third time in less than six months the South Pacific country has set a new borrowing record. It exceeds the ...
Read More »VW to renew India push with Tata alliance talks
Bloomberg Volkswagen AG is in advanced talks to team up with Tata Motors Ltd. as the German automaker takes another stab at India’s fast-growing demand for cars, according to people familiar with the matter. A deal to jointly develop vehicles for emerging markets may be announced at the Geneva auto show in early March, said the people, who asked ...
Read More »India to unlock $9bn for roads, power investing
Bloomberg A decade-long wait by India’s cash-hungry real estate and infrastructure developers may finally be nearing an end. Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co. estimates that real estate and infrastructure trusts will raise as much as 600 billion rupees ($9 billion) this year as India rolls out the much-anticipated investment products mooted in 2007. Sterlite Power Transmission Ltd. and ...
Read More »China insurance watchdog vows to punish speculators
Bloomberg The chairman of China’s top insurance regulator vowed to impose “stringent†rules and “severely†punish short-term speculation by insurers, the latest sign of tightening controls on the nation’s industry. The watchdog will also curb “aggressive†pricing and the “unreasonably†high returns of some insurance products, Xiang Junbo, Chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, told reporters in Beijing. ...
Read More »Bristol-Myers looms as Pharma’s next megadeal as activists join
Bloomberg Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. was once one of the drug industry’s highest-flying companies. Now the pharmaceutical giant has gone from predator to prey, as its sagging stock price has invited in activist investors who are already forcing changes. It announced an agreement with Jana Partners LLC to add three board members, and later in the day activist investor Carl ...
Read More »UK net migration hits 2-year low in Brexit boost for May
Bloomberg Net migration to the UK fell to its lowest in more than two years, providing a boost for Prime Minister Theresa May as she seeks to reduce the number of foreigners coming to Britain. Those arriving to live or study for a minimum of one year outnumbered those leaving by 273,000 in the year through September, the Office ...
Read More »Britain gets trade boost as consumer outlook dims
Bloomberg The UK ended 2016 on a high, recording an unexpected acceleration in growth thanks to the biggest boost from net trade in almost six years. The question is whether this new economic mix can persist, with the weaker pound helping to deliver a continued export pickup, offsetting a smaller contribution from shoppers who are about to be squeezed ...
Read More »PSA Group chief lays out vision for ‘European Champion’ with Opel deal
Bloomberg PSA Group laid out its vision for integrating General Motors Co.’s struggling European operations, including slashing costs, combining development efforts and exploiting the appeal of German engineering. Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares vowed to revive GM’s Opel unit by carrying out a similar restructuring that brought the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars back from the brink over ...
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