April, 2018

• 4 April

  Bahrain says new discovery has 80bn barrels of tight oil

  

  MANAMA / Reuters A new discovery off the coast of Bahrain is estimated to contain at least 80 billion barrels of tight oil, the kingdom’s biggest ever find, Bahrain’s oil minister said. Bahrain said it had discovered extensive tight oil and deep gas resources off the west coast of the kingdom. Independent appraisals by US-based oil consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton ...

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• 4 April

  Italy’s Edison launches spin-off of oil & gas unit

  

  Reuters Italian energy group Edison, part of French utility EDF, is preparing the sale of its oil and gas unit, the latest power producer to abandon fossil fuels to focus on its retail business, four industry sources said. Edison has selected investment banks Rothschild and Perella Weinberg to organise an auction for the exploration and production division, which could be ...

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• 4 April

  1,300 Chinese products in eyes of Trump tariffs

  

  Bloomberg Chinese companies scrambled to assess the impact of proposed US tariffs on 1,300 products as President Donald Trump took a swipe at companies making televisions to dishwashers but spared levies on other goods that might hurt US consumers. The wide-ranging list of products that may be hit with 25 percent tariffs includes malaria diagnostic test kits, sewing machines and ...

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• 4 April

  SoftBank’s Swiss Re stake unlikely to exceed 10%

  Bloomberg Billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group Corp. is likely to take a stake of 10 percent or less in Swiss Re AG as it seeks to gain a foothold in the cash-rich reinsurance industry. A deal would see Japan’s third richest-man follow other business titans such as Warren Buffett in seeking to profit from the cash flows provided by reinsurance. ...

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• 4 April

  TPG-backed chip tester UTAC explores $1bn sale

  

  Bloomberg UTAC Holdings Ltd., the Singapore-based chip testing firm backed by Affinity Equity Partners and TPG, is exploring options for a sale of its business after completing a bond restructuring, people with knowledge of the matter said. The company met potential advisers in recent weeks to discuss options that could include an initial public offering or sale, according to the ...

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• 4 April

  Billionaires plan $6 billion warchest in India telecom fight

  

  Bloomberg Companies owned by billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal may raise as much as 365 billion rupees ($5.6 billion) selling bonds as the telecom titans build a war chest in what investors hope will be the home stretch in India’s bruising tariff war. Mittal-controlled Bharti Airtel Ltd., which sold its first-ever rupee bond of 30 billion rupees in ...

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• 4 April

  Putin trio of Syria winners seen accepting partition for now

  

  Bloomberg The triple alliance of Russia, Turkey and Iran, now the dominant actors in Syria’s war, is stepping up efforts to impose a peace. It may end up presiding over a partition. Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting his Turkish and Iranian counterparts in Ankara on Wednesday for their latest summit on Syria’s future. The three leaders have buried their ...

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• 4 April

  Russian proposal for joint Salisbury toxin inquiry ‘perverse’: UK

  THE HAGUE / Reuters Russia’s proposal for a joint inquiry into the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in England is “perverse”, Britain’s delegation at the global chemical weapons watchdog said on Wednesday during an emergency meeting requested by Moscow. Moscow convened the watchdog’s decision-making executive to counter accusations by Britain that it was behind the March 4 poisoning of Sergei ...

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• 4 April

  France hit by second day of rail chaos as strike bites

  

  PARIS / Reuters Millions of French commuters suffered a second consecutive day of travel chaos on Wednesday as striking rail workers locked horns with President Emmanuel Macron’s government in a dispute over reforming the state-owned SNCF railways. Commuters in and around Paris pushed their way onto the few trains running during the rush-hour while many platforms in the French capital’s ...

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• 4 April

  Italy’s 5-Star seeks governing contract with rivals

  

  ROME / Reuters Italy’s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement proposed a German-style governing contract with two of its rivals as formal talks aimed at seating a government began on Wednesday, a month after an election ended with a hung parliament. The inconclusive March 4 vote left soft-spoken President Sergio Mattarella to coax sworn adversaries towards a coalition deal. The process could take ...

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