The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

As if the health-care-merger frenzy weren’t wild enough already, it looks as if Walmart Inc. may soon dive into it. The mammoth discount retailer is reportedly in early-stage talks to acquire Humana Inc., a health insurer valued at $41. The potential merger comes on the heels of a December offer from drug-store chain and pharmacy-benefits manager CVS Health Corp. to ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is preparing to reshuffle its supervisory board as the future of Chief Executive Officer John Cryan and Chairman Paul Achleitner is called into question. John Thain, a former CEO of Merrill Lynch, is expected to join the troubled German bank in May, according to a person with knowledge of the lender’s plans. He is one of ...

Bloomberg Volatility may be here to stay — but there’s a lot investors can do to prepare for it. “Hedges against late cycle volatility bursts in credit, dispersion and cross-asset volatility as the equity/bond correlation itself becomes more volatile” are one key theme in Societe Generale SA’s second-quarter outlook from strategists led by Kokou Agbo-Bloua, the firm’s head of flow ...

Bloomberg Unity Bank Plc, a Nigerian lender, denied entering a binding agreement with private-equity firm Milost Global Inc. over a potential $1 billion investment, saying talks were only preliminary and didn’t come with any commitments. New York-based Milost this week said it terminated talks to provide debt and equity funding to Unity, saying it received threats that it will be ...

Bloomberg Bulgaria, which is seeking to cement its path to euro adoption this year, said it has no plans to join Europe’s banking union before switching to the common currency. The Balkan nation wants to join the exchange-rate mechanism — the waiting room for euro adoption — this summer. While becoming a member of the union before entering the euro ...

Bloomberg Bostjan Jazbec, a member of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, will step down as the head of Slovenia’s monetary authority April 30, opening the way for a new government to choose his replacement after elections this summer. Jazbec will become a member of the Single Resolution Board, the European Union body responsible for the orderly winding down of ...

Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is buying full control of the startup Ele.me as it steps up efforts to expand in China’s fast-growing market for local delivery of food and other services. The deal implies an enterprise valuation of $9.5 billion for Ele.me, Alibaba said in a statement, without saying how much it’s paying. Alibaba and affiliate Ant Small and ...

Bloomberg The US Air Force’s top general said the estimated cost to operate and maintain its version of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 jet is a serious issue that’s sparked a search for savings by the service and senior Pentagon acquisition and support officials. “Are O&S sustainment costs a major concern?” General David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, said, ...

Bloomberg Under Armour Inc., joining a growing list of corporate victims of hacker attacks, said about 150 million user accounts tied to its MyFitnessPal nutrition-tracking app were breached earlier this year. An unauthorised party stole data from the accounts in late February, Under Armour said. It became aware of the breach earlier this week and took steps to alert users ...

Bloomberg Different threats from major shifts in two industries are pushing Walmart Inc. and health insurer Humana Inc. towards the same solution. Amazon.com Inc. has taken direct aim at the giant retailer by siphoning customers out of its stores. Humana’s rivals are striking deals to make them one-stop health superstores with insurance, drug coverage, pharmacies, clinics and doctors. A deal ...