Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc. acquired online apparel seller ModCloth Inc. in an all-cash deal, part of an effort to expand its online operations and appeal to customers that may have avoided the retailer in the past. ModCloth will continue to operate as a stand-alone site, as well as work with Wal-Mart’s other operations, the retail giant said. ModCloth Chief …

  Bloomberg Vodafone Group Plc is nearing an initial agreement to merge its Indian operations with Idea Cellular Ltd. in a deal that would create the largest telecom company in one of the world’s most competitive markets, people with knowledge of the matter said. The two firms plan to announce a preliminary agreement as soon as this month, according to …

  Bloomberg Pakistan barred the first foreign national chief executive of the state-owned national airline from leaving the country as the government begins an investigation into a plane-lease contract. Bernd Hildenbrand, the German head of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Corp., has been put on a so-called exit control list and the nation’s anti-graft Federal Investigation Agency has been directed to …

  Bloomberg French authorities joined the UK in a corruption probe of Airbus Group SE centered on allegations of fraudulent practices related to selling planes and arranging aircraft financing. The probe by the Parquet National Financier follows steps by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office in August to look into possible bribery and corruption in Airbus’s civil aviation business related to …

  Dubai / Emirates Business As passenger volumes continue to grow and airlines worldwide expand their fleets, airport infrastructure is fast becoming a growth bottleneck. Privatisation has an important role to play in eliminating this barrier to growth, according to Oliver Wyman’s ‘Leveraging the Private Sector to Improve Airport Infrastructure’ report. The paper examines the issues and challenges of airport …

  Dubai / Emirates Business Better Life, one of UAE’s leading home appliance retailers and a division of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group LLC, introduced ‘Better Deals’ campaign to offer customers unprecedented value on purchases across their stores in the UAE. The incentives come in the form of bundled offers, instant-redeemable gift vouchers, free gifts and significant price offers, and …

  ISLAMABAD / AP Ahmad Waqas Goraya couldn’t see anything through the black hood, but he could hear the screams. A blogger with a penchant for criticizing Pakistan’s powerful military and taking the government to task, Goraya was kidnapped in January along with four other bloggers. “I could hear the screams of torture,” he said in a telephone interview with …

  Bloomberg More Asian LNG buyers are trying to avoid taking the US supplies they signed up for just a few years ago in order to cut shipping costs. GAIL India Ltd. and Indonesia’s PT Pertamina are both seeking to trade liquefied natural gas cargoes they are contracted to buy from the US in exchange for supplies shipped from projects …

  Bloomberg Argentina is planning at least four energy auctions this year that are expected to attract as much as $7 billion in investments as president Mauricio Macri seeks to boost generating capacity for both conventional and renewable power plants. The country will hold two auctions for new thermal capacity, one for renewable energy and one for new transmission lines, …

  Bloomberg OPEC and its allies improved their collective compliance with a supply-cuts agreement last month as deeper reductions from members of the group offset weaker implementation from other producers. The group of oil producers implemented 94 percent of their pledged 1.8 million barrels a day of supply cuts in February, up from 86 percent the previous month, according two …