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 UK home prices could slump as much as 5% next year as unemployment rises and government incentives end, according to mortgage lender Halifax. House prices surged the most since 2016 this year as demand for more space, state support for wages and a temporary reduction in a property transaction tax offset the economic damage from the Covid-19 pandemic. That ...