VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The banks in Potugal had a lot of issues to solve after failing to sell Novo Banco. This has made a lot adjustments that needs to be done by the banks.

Spain-based Caixabank is planning to buy the stake of Isabel Dos Santos in Portugal's Banco BPI SA. The negotiations over the acquisition are still going on and may be completed soon.

Specialists from Portugal are utilizing a neutron beam to ponder the molecular changes that happen when a bone burns. The examinations, under way at Isis Lab in Oxfordshire, are aimed at solving an issue for archaeologists and forensic scientist. When bones get hot, they start shrinking, making the age, sex and size of their real owner much more hard to build, as reported by BBC.

Once depicted as a "Blue Banana" stretching from Manchester to Milan, Europe's industrial heartland has moved eastwards just as its political center of gravity has shifted to Germany.

Greece's leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Spain and Portugal on Saturday of leading a conservative conspiracy to topple his anti-austerity government, saying they feared their own radical forces before elections this year.

Portugal Telecom SGPS (PTC.LS) shareholders on Monday postponed until Jan. 22 a vote on the sale of its former operations by its merger partner, Brazil's Oi (OIBR3.SA), complicating the 7.4 billion euro ($9 billion) deal and possibly casting doubts on the long-agreed deal.

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 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 Apollo Global Management LLC (APO.N) is considering making a bid for Portuguese lender Novo Banco SA, the bank carved out of Banco Espirito Santo SA (BES) (BES.LS), Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Telecoms group Altice SA (ATCE.AS) has agreed to buy the Portuguese operations of Brazil's Grupo Oi (OIBR3.SA) for about 7.4 billion euros ($9.2 billion), in what will be its third large acquisition this year.

After putting the euro zone's top 130 banks through their paces, the European Central Bank will face a test of its own on Sunday - will its landmark health check succeed in convincing investors the region's lenders are safe?

Portugal has begun sounding out Spanish banks on their interest in buying Novo Banco, the successor to the state-rescued Banco Espirito Santo (BES), several sources familiar with the talks said on Tuesday.

Dublin, Ireland-based pharmaceutical firm Actavis sold its stake in Chinese subsidiary Actavis (Foshan Pharmaceutical Co) for an undisclosed sum because of its limited presence in the country.

Hamburg, Germany-based publishing group Spiegel.net has partnered with accelerator XLHealth to acquire a 25% stake in Berlin-based brain-training startup NeuroNation for an unconfirmed seven-figure sum.

The insurance unit of Portugal's Caixa Geral de Depositos SA will be acquired by China's Fosun International Ltd in a deal worth €1 billion, Reuters reported.