VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Merck KGaA (MRCG.DE) aims to keep hold of its consumer healthcare unit, it said on Friday, pledging to develop a business that is expected to generate 2014 sales of $1 billion for the German drugs and chemicals company.

ECB Executive Board member Sabine Lautenschlaeger said on Saturday she saw little room for further easing of monetary policy despite a further fall in euro zone inflation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Turkey on Monday will have trade and energy issues at its heart, but is not expected to bridge deep differences over Syria and Crimea.

Germany has approved Canadian smartphone maker Blackberry's (BB.TO) planned acquisition of Secusmart, the encryption technology of which is used to protect the mobile devices of top politicians including Chancellor Angela Merkel.

German utility E.ON (EONGn.DE) agreed to sell an 80 percent stake in two wind farms in the United States to Canada's Enbridge (ENB.TO), as the group continues to rake in much-needed cash by building and selling pricey renewable assets.

Failure to reform and shield weaker members threatens to divide the euro zone, the head of the European Central Bank warned on Thursday, amid fresh signs the currency bloc's economy is losing speed.

European privacy regulators want Internet search engines such as Google (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft's Bing (MSFT.O) to scrub results globally, not just in Europe, when people invoke their "right to be forgotten" as ruled by an EU court.

EE's German and French owners confirmed on Wednesday they were in talks to sell Britain's biggest mobile network operator to BT (BT.L) as part of a wider review of its options. Fixed-line operator BT said on Monday it was in talks with both Telefonica's (TEF.MC) O2 and a rival operator about buying a mobile business.

Gap Inc (GPS.N) has struck a deal with Europe's largest dedicated online fashion retailer Zalando (ZALG.DE) to sell its core brand from next May, hoping to reach more consumers, particularly in markets where it has no physical stores.

ThyssenKrupp would consider a sale of the group's military submarine business under certain conditions, the German steel maker's chief executive told daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi threw the door wide open on Friday for more drastic measures to prevent the euro zone from sliding into deflation, promising to use whatever means necessary as China also acted to boost its sagging economic growth.

Germany's top utility E.ON SE (EONGn.DE) has entered exclusive talks to sell its Spanish activities to Australian infrastructure investor Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG.AX), four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

The German medical group Fresenius (FMEG.DE) and the Permira investment fund PERM.UL have made an offer for the medical nutrition arm of Danone (DANO.PA), The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing sources close to the matter.

German business software maker SAP is doing an about-face on its acquisition strategy and plans no more big new deals in the next few years, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Germany is pressing the European Commission to allow individual EU countries to ban cultivation of crops with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) before the 2015 harvest.