SAP makes biggest deal since 2014, CEO backs US tax plan

Bloomberg SAP SE Chief Executive Officer Bill McDermott has backed US President Donald Trump’s tax plan, and revealed a $2.4 billion deal for Callidus Software Inc., its biggest acquisition in more than three years. SAP said it will pay $36 a share for Dublin, California-based Callidus, known as CallidusCloud, to give Europe’s biggest software company access to new sales analytic ...

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Varian to buy Australia’s Sirtex for $1.3 billion

Bloomberg Varian Medical Systems Inc. agreed to buy Australia’s Sirtex Medical Ltd. for about $1.3 billion in a bid by the US company to add radiation medicine to its portfolio for cancer treatments. Sirtex investors will receive A$28 in cash for each share, Palo-Alto, California-based Varian said in a statement. That’s 49 percent higher than the stock’s latest closing price ...

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Wanda puts US project up for sale

Bloomberg Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group Co. has put its last two overseas property developments up for sale, according to people familiar with the matter, in the latest unwinding of a decade-long overseas buying spree that put it in the cross-hairs of Chinese regulators. Wanda is seeking buyers for a hotel, office and apartment complex in Chicago and ...

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UK homeowners ‘risk losing properties’

Bloomberg Some borrowers with interest-only mortgages may lose their homes as a result of shortfalls in repayment plans, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority warned. The FCA has identified three peaks in interest-only mortgage repayments, the first of which is currently underway. Defaults are less likely in the present wave of maturities because the homeowners are approaching retirement and have higher ...

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Once-hot Toronto housing hits deep freeze as lending rules bite

Bloomberg The only thing that might be colder than Toronto in January is the Canadian city’s housing market. While the bleak mid-winter is never the best time to sell a home in Canada, a string of open houses in the country’s largest city were chillingly empty on a recent afternoon. Tougher mortgage rules went into effect on January 1 just ...

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Putin stages Syria peace meet boycotted by Assad opponents

Bloomberg Russia is hosting a Syria peace summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, with its hopes for securing an internationally-backed plan dashed as the opposition boycotts the initiative. More than two years since Russia’s military intervention in the war-torn country, it’s succeeded in decisively shoring up ally Bashar al-Assad. But even as the Syrian leader closes in on ...

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US set to resume refugee admissions from 11 countries

WASHINGTON / Reuters The United States will resume admissions for refugees from 11 countries identified as presenting a high security risk, but with extra vetting for these mostly Middle Eastern and African nations, senior US officials said on Monday. The changes came after a 90-day review of refugee admissions from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, ...

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US names oligarchs, Kremlin elite but avoids new sanctions

Bloomberg The US identified 210 Russian billionaires and top officials in a sweeping list required under last summer’s sanctions law, but underlined that those named aren’t being targeted for new restrictions. The highly anticipated document, mandated by Congress over White House objections to punish Russia for alleged meddling in the 2016 election, had fuelled alarm in Moscow and threatened to ...

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Spain’s elite edges away from Rajoy

Bloomberg Mariano Rajoy is rallying his troops for a political fightback. But his troops aren’t so sure. The Spanish prime minister is encouraging some senior officials to run in regional elections next year as he looks to shore up his People’s Party’s power base, according to people familiar with his thinking who asked not to be named discussing party strategy. ...

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Kenyan crisis escalates as opp set to inaugurate leader

Bloomberg Kenya’s main opposition alliance defied warnings of a crackdown and prepared to inaugurate its leader as a so-called people’s president, threatening to deepen the East African nation’s political crisis. Thousands of National Super Alliance (Nasa) supporters thronged Uhuru Park on the edge of Nairobi’s city center by late Tuesday morning, awaiting the arrival of their leader Raila Odinga. The ...

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