Bloomberg Financing to back the potential buyout of UK grocery firm Asda Group Ltd by a private equity sponsor could total just under four billion pounds ($5 billion), according to people familiar with the information. Three bidders are still involved in the process after final bids were submitted on Monday, Apollo Global Management, Lone Star Global Acquisitions Ltd, and TDR ...

Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin is tightening his embrace of beleaguered ally Alexander Lukashenko as the Belarusian ruler intensifies a crackdown on month-long protests. Putin, who hosts Lukashenko for talks in Sochi on Monday, is determined opposition demonstrators won’t topple the Belarusian president, said five people close to the Kremlin, who asked not to be identified discussing internal policy. It’s ...

Bloomberg Ivory Coast opposition leader Henri Konan Bedie vowed to welcome back exiled citizens and free political prisoners should he be elected president of the world’s biggest cocoa producer in next month’s elections. “I pledge to take concrete and immediate measures for the unconditional return of all exiles,” he said to a packed rally of his Democratic Party of Ivory ...

Bloomberg Justice Secretary Robert Buckland warned he could quit over the UK government’s plan to break international law by overriding the Brexit divorce treaty, as EU leaders stepped up pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “If I see the rule of law being broken in a way I find unacceptable, then of course I will go,” Buckland said on BBC ...

Bloomberg Peru President Martin Vizcarra is pushing back on an impeachment attempt, asking the country’s top court to halt the process while accusing the head of congress of involving the military to oust him. Cabinet chief Walter Martos said the government will file a lawsuit on Monday at the Constitutional Court to halt the impeachment proceedings. In a televised address, ...

Bloomberg Tropical Storm Sally looks set to reach New Orleans and southeastern Louisiana stronger than earlier forecasts, bringing a dangerous storm surge, flooding rains and potentially causing up to $3 billion damage and losses. Louisiana’s governor declared a state of emergency as the state braces for its second large storm in a month. Sally has also sparked evacuations on some ...

Bloomberg Residents of Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta who tested positive for the coronavirus will be isolated in official facilities and can no longer be quarantined at home, the city’s governor said ahead of tighter restrictions that take effect on Monday. Isolation at home must be avoided to limit contagion, Anies Baswedan said at a press conference on Sunday. The city’s ...

Bloomberg British mortgage lenders are beginning to batten down the hatches for an oncoming spike in unemployment. HSBC Holdings Plc, Barclays Plc and Natwest Group Plc have tightened restrictions on home loans for risky borrowers as officials unwind pandemic-support efforts. Then there’s the renewed prospect of a no-deal Brexit, threatening to deepen what’s already worst recession in centuries. By moving ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Boerse AG submitted an offer for exchange operator Borsa Italiana SpA, pitting it against a joint bid from Italian state-backed lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA and France’s Euronext NV. The German exchange said in a statement that it was “offering a high value for the future growth and development of an autonomous Borsa Italiana Group, thereby strengthening ...

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. is looking to keep court proceedings on track in its attempt to recover more than $900 million the bank says it accidentally transferred to Revlon Inc. lenders last month. A lawyer for the bank asked US District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan to deny a request by some of the lenders to postpone trial in Citigroup’s suit ...