April 23, 2012
Vodafone agrees £1bn takeover of C&W Worldwide
UK mobile phone giant Vodafone has agreed to buy telecoms group Cable & Wireless Worldwide (C&WW) in a deal valuing the firm at just over £1bn. Vodafone was left as C&WW's only suitor after India's Tata Communications ended its interest in the firm…
April 23, 2012
European shares fall as anxiety returns
Stock markets have fallen after weak manufacturing data and political uncertainty in France and the Netherlands hit investor confidence. France's Cac 40 and Germany's Dax indexes were down about 2.5%, while the UK's FTSE 100 was about 1.5% lower. On…
April 23, 2012
Nestle to buy Pfizer Nutrition for $11.85bn
Food giant Nestle has announced a deal to buy children's food maker Pfizer Nutrition for $11.85bn (£7.35bn). The world's biggest food group, based in Switzerland, said its new acquisition was a "perfect complement" to its existing infant food…
April 23, 2012
Dutch PM Mark Rutte ‘to deliver resignation’
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will submit his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix today, reports say, paving the way for early elections. The government was plunged into crisis when Geert Wilders' Freedom Party pulled out of talks aimed at…
April 23, 2012
Eurozone deficits fall as austerity bites
Eurozone governments managed to cut sharply their budget deficits last year, but overall debt levels continued to rise, official figures have shown. The deficit to GDP ratio for the bloc as a whole fell to 4.1% from 6.2% in 2010, Eurostat said. The…
April 23, 2012
China manufacturing on the mend, HSBC survey shows
China's manufacturing activity slowed less quickly in April than the previous month, a preliminary HSBC survey has showed. The HSBC Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) rose to 49.1 from 48.3 in March easing concerns of a sharp slowdown in China's…
April 23, 2012
Hong Kong fines brokerage firm for inadequate diligence
Hong Kong's securities regulator has fined a brokerage firm and revoked its corporate finance licence as it seeks to implement tighter control over share sales. Mega Capital (Asia) has been fined HK$42m ($5.4m; £3.4m) for "inadequate and…
April 21, 2012
US charges British twins over $1.2m ‘stock robot’ fraud
Twin brothers from England face US civil charges for allegedly defrauding investors out of $1.2m (£745,000) through a bogus stock-picking robot. Alexander and Thomas Hunter, of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, were aged 16 when, in 2007, they devised…
April 20, 2012
UK offers £10bn loan to the IMF
The IMF says it has received firm commitments of more than $430bn. The money is to help economies in trouble and includes just under £10bn ($15bn) from the UK in loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is part of a global effort to…
April 20, 2012
Disney film boss Rich Ross resigns after John Carter flop
The head of Disney film-making studio, Rich Ross, has resigned as chairman a month after the film John Carter became one of the company's biggest flops. He revealed his move by email: "I no longer believe that the chairman role is the right…