Bain makes $816mn botox bet in deal for Hugel control

  Bloomberg Bain Capital agreed to invest about $816 million in Hugel Inc. to gain control of the South Korea-based maker of beauty products, including botox. Hugel shares rose by the most this year, pacing gains by a rival maker of the anti-wrinkle treatment. Bain will pay 354.7 billion won ($312 million) for 985,217 new shares in Hugel and 100 ...

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Brexit poses risks to chemicals industry

  Bloomberg Chemical companies are preparing for a potentially disruptive Brexit as the UK withdrawal from the European Union threatens an integrated market underpinning more than 40 billion euros ($42 billion) a year in two-way trade. Marco Mensink, director general of the European Chemical Industry Council representing manufacturers such as BASF SE, Akzo Nobel NV and Dupont Co., said the ...

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CEO halts ‘unrealistic’ merger dreams for Fiat

  Bloomberg Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne is putting his search for a merger on the back burner as he focuses on reaching the Italian-American carmaker’s goal of eliminating debt before he retires in 2019. “We need to be very careful that we don’t start unrealistic dreams about consolidation as we are on our way to achieve historically ...

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Canada among fastest growing economies

  Bloomberg Almost out of nowhere, Canada has become one of the fastest growing economies in the developed world. The oil-producing nation, which struggled mightily with falling crude prices the past two years, grew at an annualized pace of almost 4 percent in the first quarter, according to the Bank of Canada’s latest estimates. No other Group of Seven economy ...

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France’s Macron says German trade surplus harmful to EU’s economy

  Bloomberg France’s independent presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, tied with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in polls before the election, said Germany’s large trade surplus is harmful to the euro-zone economy and called for more balance. “Germany benefits from the imbalances within the euro zone and achieves very high trade surpluses,” centrist candidate Macron said in an interview published on ...

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For oil’s future, peer through the hedges

  In oil, like life, the secret to happiness is to lower your expectations. That isn’t just a piece of homespun, nihilist wisdom. It’s what’s happening beneath the surface of the oil market. Hedging is how exploration and production companies manage their market risk. Locking in a price for future output — by, for example, selling oil futures — provides ...

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Skewed steel prices betray traces of corrosion in China

  Something strange is happening in China’s steel market. Hot-rolled coil, a type of spooled sheet metal used to make everything from automobiles to trains and toasters, now costs less than the rebar used in reinforced concrete. That’s a rare event, and it’s still rarer for the divergence to be this wide. Flat products like hot-rolled coil are generally more ...

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Democrats will regret trying to block Gorsuch

  What did Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer achieve in attempting to deny a vote on Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court? Not keeping Gorsuch off the court; he was approved on Friday. Not preserving the filibuster for use against any future Trump nominee; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell abolished the tactic on Thursday. Not ...

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Vote on Erdogan’s power exposes deep schism

  Turkey voted in support of a historic referendum by 51.41 to 48.59 that will greatly expand the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office. Although Erdogan has won, there are question marks that are being raised. Opposition parties alleged fraud and the European Union branded it as unfair and said they would challenge the results. Top EU officials said ...

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The de-electrification of American economy

  For more than a century after the advent of commercial electrical power in the late 1800s, electricity use in the US rose and rose and rose. Sure, there were pauses during recessions, but the general trajectory was up. The initial drop in electricity use in 2008 and 2009 could be attributed partly to the economic downturn. But the economy ...

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