Bloomberg Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. is considering raising about $1 billion to help expand its iconic British sports and racing automotive business Lotus Cars into the electric vehicles market in China. Geely is working with advisers to sound out potential investor interest in a funding round that could value Lotus’s EV operations at about $5 billion, the people said. …

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. is buying speech-recognition pioneer Nuance Communications Inc. in an all-cash deal valued at $19.6 billion, gaining artificial-intelligence technology aimed at helping doctors predict patients’ needs and upgrading hospitals’ digital record-keeping. The software giant is offering to purchase Nuance at $56 a share, ccording to a statement, which confirmed an earlier Bloomberg report. The deal marks Microsoft’s largest …

Bloomberg Oil advanced for a third day after the International Energy Agency (IEA) lifted its forecasts for demand and an industry report pointed to another decline in US crude stockpiles. Futures rise 1.6% in New York and are heading for the longest run of gains in over a month. The International Energy Agency lifted its forecasts for oil consumption this …