Bloomberg How much pain can China’s leaders stomach? It’s becoming a key question for investors as the government’s clampdown on financial leverage ripples through markets. The tightening campaign has erased at least $453 billion from the value of Chinese stocks and bonds since mid-April, spurred $21 billion of canceled debt sales and compelled the People’s Bank of China to …

  Bloomberg KKR & Co. is in talks with Toshiba Corp. about a preemptive bid for the Japanese company’s memory chips business that would accelerate completion of a sale and end negotiations with other potential acquirers, according to people familiar with the matter. Toshiba is in favor of the proposal from KKR and Innovation Network Corp. of Japan because it …

  Bloomberg China’s overseas shipments held up in April amid recovering global demand and as the threat of a trade war with the US dissipated. Exports rose 8 percent in dollar terms from a year earlier, less than the 11.3 percent increase economists projected in Bloomberg survey Imports increased 11.9 percent, compared with an estimate for 18 percent growth. Trade …

  Bloomberg Akzo Nobel NV rejected PPG Industries Inc.’s third takeover bid in favor of its own breakup strategy, raising the prospect that the US rival will go hostile with its $29.5 billion offer for the Dutch coating and chemical company. After taking two weeks to evaluate the bid, Akzo Nobel repeated that the proposal is flawed and riddled with …

  Bloomberg Coach Inc. agreed to buy handbag maker Kate Spade & Co. for $2.4 billion following months of talks, helping the luxury brand cope with an industry racked by deep discounting and sluggish demand. The $18.50-a-share transaction represents a premium to Kate Spade’s price when deal speculation first surfaced in December, but it’s well below the amount investors were …

  Bloomberg FrontFour Capital Group is seeking board representation at Granite Real Estate Investment Trust arguing that the company is underperforming peers after failing to use its balance sheet efficiently to make acquisitions, a document obtained by Bloomberg shows. The Connecticut-based activist investor said Granite has the capacity to spend as much as C$1 billion on new purchases, according to …

  Bloomberg German factory orders expanded for a second month as Europe’s largest economy picked up speed. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, rose 1 percent in March, after expanding an upwardly revised 3.5 percent in February, data from the Economy Ministry in Berlin showed on Monday. The typically volatile reading compares with a median estimate for a 0.7 …

  Bloomberg Liberty Global Plc lowered its growth target for Europe this year as billionaire John Malone’s cable carrier reported a weaker-than-expected start in the UK. Liberty now forecasts operating cash flow growth of 5 percent for 2017, down from February’s outlook of 6 percent to 7 percent, the London-based company said. The operator lost more customers than expected in …

  DUBAI / Reuters Shares of builder Drake & Scull (DSI) rose in the final hour of trade on Monday as retail investors reacted to some potentially positive news from the company, while the region recovered some of the previous session’s losses. DSI, which fell by a little more than 5 percent earlier in the session, closed 0.8 percent higher …

  Bloomberg Europe’s common currency weakened and equities dropped following a convincing defeat of populism in France’s presidential election that investors had already priced in. Crude fluctuated even as Saudi Arabia and Russia signaled output cuts will be extended. The euro fell after climbing for five of the past six days in the buildup to the election of Emmanuel Macron …