Verizon Communications Inc. in September said that it will acquire Vodafone Group's 45% stake in their wireless joint venture. The American telco has set a shareholder meeting on January 28 to get investor approval for the deal.
Europe
News of Covidien acquisition boosts Given Imaging
Shares of Israel-based Given Imaging got a boost after news broke that Dublin, Ireland-based Covidien would be buying the firm's outstanding shares at a premium.
ThyssenKrupp rejects speculation of sale of its Steel Europe business
A company spokesman of multinational conglomerate corporation ThyssenKrupp said it will be keeping its Steel Europe business, rejecting speculation on divesting the asset in the efforts to restructure the German company.
UK government to drop plans to acquire military equipment via private consortium
The Belfast Telegraph said in a report that Ministry of Defence Secretary Philip Hammond will be left working out other options after plans for purchasing military equipment via a private consortium had failed.
American Nobel Prize in Economics winner Fama predicts a global recession next year
2013 Nobel Prize winner and University of Chicago Professor Eugene Fama told Reuters that the world's economy is in danger of a potential global recession next year due to the high debts incurred by governments in the US and Europe.
Latest News
A study featured on Forbes revealed that the US still leads around the world in providing entrepreneurs with access to venture capital funding.
Oxford Instruments on Friday upsized its bid for Northern Ireland's Andor Technology to GBP525 per share. Andor Technology turned down Oxford's previous offer of 500 pence per share in cash.
Britain's Barclays PLC, Japan's Nomura and the Royal Bank of Canada are leading the loan financing for Hellman & Friedman LLC's buyout of Scout24. The classified advertising business will be bought for EUR700 million in debt funding.
Iceland-based global biosimilar company Alvotech announced plans to invest USD250 million to develop and manufacture biopharmaceutical products in partnership with its independent sister company Alvogen.
Sketchfab, the online platform that can publish interactive 3D models, was able to raise USD 2 million in a round led by venture capital firm Balderton Capital.
According to the UK-based "Global State of Enterprise Mobility for the Past, Present and Future" report, mobile apps could be the most invested-in startups in 2014.
UK asset manager Threadneedle Investments has increased its stake in AZ Electronic Materials to above 11% in a move that could block the GBP1.56 billion takeover bid from German drugmaker Merck.
Leveraged finance bankers are heading into 2014 with the same old nagging doubts about whether M&A will finally pick up, but this time round there is an even greater desire for a resurgence as refinancing opportunities fade.
Critics of the new rules requiring short-sellers to report their positions said the European Union's requirements had not made the hedge fund industry more competitive.
