Paris / AFP A bid by French household goods group Conforama, majority-owned by South Africa’s Steinhoff, for rival Darty has won the backing of Darty’s board, both companies said, derailing a planned Darty tie-up with retail giant Fnac. Conforama earlier this month launched a conditional all-cash offer for Darty at 125 pence ($1.75, 1.61 euros) per share, aiming to create ...

Bloomberg British supermarket group Sainsbury’s said it had made a formal offer worth £1.4 billion for Home Retail Group, owner of catalogue chain Argos. The cash-and-stock takeover is worth the equivalent of $2.0 billion or 1.8 billion euros. Argos sells household items, including televisions, furniture and gardening tools. With South African household goods group Steinhoff having walked away from the ...

HONG KONG / AFP Fashion designer Victoria Beckham launched her first shop outside Britain in Hong Kong as she seeks to tap the Asia market despite a downturn in luxury spending. Beckham’s store in Hong Kong’s Landmark building lies at the heart of the upmarket Central district, a cluster of high-end brands and five-star hotels. The British designer did a final ...