VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Cocoon Networks, a Chinese-backed venture capital group is setting up a £500 ($700) million fund in London. The fund is aimed to invest in European tech startups.

Researchers from King's College in London have successfully developed an app to predict risk of premature birth. The app has been tested in two studies and is now available at Apple's App Store.

London has reached the fastest growth during, leaving the other regions behind. The growth is spotted to be the result of finance, real estate, and service sectors in the region. This positive development has shown more hopes for the country economy recovery that has struggled since its financial crisis years ago.

The London property market that's been a favorite global hotspot for years, is fast losing its sheen as British pound becomes stronger, while emerging economies currencies are turning out to be weaker.

HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L), Europe's biggest bank, said it has started a review of whether to move its headquarters out of Britain following regulatory and structural changes in the industry.

The deadly attacks in Paris earlier this month could have a lasting impact on tourism if anti-France protests that have swept the Muslim world lead wealthy Arabs to shun the city.

Britain's leading fashion brands are hoping to give menswear sales a lift by targeting younger, digitally savvy male shoppers with live streaming and social media to promote the twice-yearly mens fashion week that began on Friday.

New York City regained its top position among global commercial real estate buyers, unseating London and highlighting the appeal of U.S. properties in general, according to a survey of international investors released Tuesday.

Asking prices for homes on sale in Britain posted the largest monthly fall on record in December but are likely to rise by between 4 and 5 percent next year, property website Rightmove said on Monday.

New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of London's storied police force and one of the British capital's most famous landmarks, has been sold to an Abu Dhabi investor, paving the way for its macabre but private museum to open to the public elsewhere.

Songbird Estates (SBDE.L), the majority owner of London's Canary Wharf, said an upturn in property markets means it is now worth 2.82 billion pounds ($4.42 billion), more than the takeover offer from Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Brookfield Property Partners (BPY.N).

Global stock markets were heading for their best week of the year on Friday following reassuring company results, encouraging data from the world's biggest economies and signs the ECB is upping its efforts to lift Europe.

Luxury shoe company Jimmy Choo (IPO-JIM.L) is on course to join London's main stock market with a value of up to $1.1 billion, industry sources said on Monday, citing the initial price range quoted by banks arranging the sale.

Cereal maker Kellogg Co's (K.N) chief executive officer is planning to meet with cookies and snacks maker United Biscuits Ltd (IPO-UNI.L) to discuss a possible 2 billion pound ($3.23 billion) offer for the British company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Though speculation is rife of a new Pfizer bid, AstraZeneca's chief executive is not holed up with advisers in London or New York. Instead, he has spent the last three days immersed in heart science in Barcelona.