Bankers expressed their doubts that Royal Dutch Shell's 23.1% stake in Woodside Petroleum could be snatched up by bigger oil companies as the latter are also eyeing to sell assets as well.
Europe
Germany's Hapag-Lloyd says rival Hamburg-Sued should join merger talks with Chilean shipper Vapores
Juergen Weber, the chairman of Hapag-Lloyd AG, said that Hamburg-Sued should participate in merger talks between his company and smaller Chilean shipper Compania Sud Americana de Vapores SA.
Steep discounts raise doubts on profitability of retailers
While shoppers in the UK and the US spent more for the holidays this year, the profit margin for retailers remains in doubt due to steep discounts, the Financial Times reported.
Insurers need to be watched - FT
The problems of Britian-based insurer RSA is a reminder that politicians, regulators and the general public should also put the spotlight on insurance companies and not just banks.
Impending state fire sale may sour Slovenian beer market- report
The Slovenian beer market may turn sour as the government plans a state fire sale of its assets in a bid to steady its finances and avoid a bailout, Reuters reported.
Latest News
Toshiba Corp is presently still in talks to buy a 50% stake in Britain-based NuGen nuclear consortium although the involved parties have yet to reach a deal, according to Toshiba Chief Executive Officer Hisao Tanaka.
The Irish Aviation Authority has spent €20 million to buy a 6% stake in Virginia, US-based air traffic surveillance firm Aireon LLC, as part of an agreement with Italy and Denmark to invest in the new service.
Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC was named as British Land's new partner in London's Broadgate office and retail complex on Tuesday, buying out U.S. private equity group Blackstone for around 1.7 billion pounds.
Italian spin-off AdEspresso raised $500,000 in seed funding from institutional and angel investors, for its Facebook ad optimization service for small and medium businesses (SMBs).
Italian insurer Unipol said it had received an offer to buy the insurance business with 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion) worth of premiums which it must sell to meet conditions set by the local competition watchdog to clear its merger with peer Fondiaria-SAI.
Lond-based private equity firm CapVest has bought Scandza, a Nordic consumer food and beverage firm for an undisclosed amount. Jan Bodd and Stig Sunde, who founded Scandza in 2007 will still lead the company.
Rhoen-Klinukum, which had put up for sale its 43 hospitals and 15 outpatient facilities, expects to get the green light from German antitrust regulators on the proposed sale of most of its assets to rival Fresenius SE & Co.
Sigma Alimentos and Shuanghui International Holdings on Monday agreed to share ownership of Spanish canned ham and hotdog processor Campofrio Food Group SA. The co-ownership deal is worth $957 million.
Carmat, a French medical technology firm, saw its stocks rise 43% after it implanted the first artificial heart in a patient last week, Bloomberg reported.
