Sao Paulo / AFP Brazilian police on Monday arrested Antonio Palocci, a former finance minister and senior figure in the last two governments, as part of the Petrobras corruption probe, news reports said. Police said only that a former minister was arrested. The state-run Agencia Brasil and other news outlets identified the person as Palocci, 55, who served as …

  Bloomberg Lanxess AG agreed to buy U.S. competitor Chemtura Corp. for about $2.1 billion in cash, more than doubling the size of its additives business and accelerating a shift towards specialty chemicals. Shareholders of the maker of lubricant additives and flame retardants will get $33.50 a share under the terms of deal, Cologne, Germany-based Lanxess said in a statement …

  Frankfurt / AFP German business confidence soared to its highest level in more than two years in September, the Ifo economic institute said on Monday, recovering from a post-Brexit slump and signalling a rosier outlook for Europe’s largest economy. The closely-watched index unexpectedly jumped to 109.5 points from 106.3 points in August to reach its highest reading since May …