VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Germany's largest utility E.ON AG has agreed to sell its Italian gas- and coal-fired power plants to Czech energy company EPH, ridding itself of unwanted assets from an acquisition spree in 2007.

Germany's unemployment rate dropped to a record low of 6.5 percent in December while Italy's pushed up to a new high of 13.4 percent, underscoring the vast differences within the struggling euro zone economy.

The euro zone economy ended 2014 with its worst quarter for over a year as further price cutting failed to significantly drive up business activity, adding pressure on the European Central Bank to act, surveys showed.

France's floundering economy pushed car sales 6.8 percent lower year-on-year in December, while Spanish sales jumped by 21.4 percent, helped by a subsidy scheme, and also rose in Italy, according to auto industry associations.

The euro took another downward lurch on Friday, sinking to a 4-1/2 year low against the dollar on clear indications that the European Central Bank will soon embark on outright money-printing.

Private equity firm BC Partners [BCPRT.UL] said on Wednesday it will sell a 40.25 percent stake in its supermarket chain Migros (MGROS.IS) to Turkish conglomerate Anadolu Endustri Holding AS.

Italy's government on Wednesday began drawing up the details of a reform that Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said will "revolutionize" the country's labor market when it takes effect some time next year.

The Philippines aims to buy two frigates, two helicopters and three gunboats for deployment in the South China Sea where a territorial dispute with China has lent urgency to the need to bolster forces, a Philippine navy officer said on Wednesday.

Greece's future in the euro zone may hang in the balance once more, but investors believe the market fallout from any current political turbulence can be insulated, unlike during the region's sovereign debt crisis of 2012.

Destined to form models of the Burj Khalifa and Tokyo Tower, 90 million toy bricks will be used in new Legoland Parks in Dubai, Japan and Korea by 2017, building blocks in British operator Merlin's (MERL.L) expanding empire.

Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi called on his ruling party on Sunday to unite behind measures he has pledged to breathe life into the euro zone's third-biggest economy after years in or near recession.

Italian police on Friday seized 556,000 euros ($692,000) in fake euro coins minted in China from a ship container in the port city of Naples, investigators said.

The Pentagon on Thursday said Italy and Turkey would provide initial heavy maintenance of Lockheed Martin Corp's new F-35 fighter jet and its engine in Europe from 2018, paving the way for billions of dollars in work by companies there.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) (FCHA.MI) (FCAU.N) has denied a media report saying it was considering a move in the tax residence of its Ferrari luxury sportscar unit outside Italy.

Germany praised French and Italian reform efforts on Monday and said it ought to do more itself, striking a conciliatory note after Chancellor Angel Merkel's critique of Paris and Rome over the weekend irritated both countries.