The National Retail Federation said the US retail sales would increase this holiday season by 3.9%. Retail sales in the US were expected to increase by 3.

FinGelit Chief Executive Officer Mattia Malgara said the Italy-based food maker would be going public next year.

Commonwealth Annuity and Life Insurance Co., a wholly subsidiary company of Global Atlantic Financial Group, announced the completion of its acquisition of Aviva USA's life insurance business.

UniCredit submitted a preliminary offer to purchase Poland's Bank BGZ, said a Reuters report. UniCredit is the biggest bank by assets in Italy. The financial lender had submitted a preliminary offer to acquire Poland's Bank BGZ, according to a Reuters report.

Oregon-based Cascade Microtech announced its acquisition of ATT Advanced Temperature Test Systems. Cascade Microtech bought Germany-based ATT Advanced Temperature Test Systems for EUR 8.

A Federal Court in Australia ordered Li Ka-shing's companies to pay a total of AUD 776 million to the Australian Tax Office.

British insurance firm Aviva sold its US business to Athene Holding for USD 2.6 billion. Aviva Plc sold its US unit to Athene Holding for USD 2. 6 billion, fetching USD 800 million more than the initial price tag.

Empire State Realty Trust debuted on the New York Stock Exchange at USD 13.10 per share. Empire State Building owner Empire State Realty Trust Inc debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

Accelerator program and investment firm 500 Startups announced that it was able to close USD 44.1 million for its second fund.

According to a new research, European private equity buyouts reached USD 19.7 billion for the third quarter.

LENSAR closed USD 27 million in private equity financing and USD 60 million through credit financing.

The new four-division format of the NHL would also impact the league's finances, according to a report.

US and South Korea discussed the possibility of delaying wartime control transfer to South Korea's troops amidst fears of North Korea's weapons of mass destruction capabilities.

Italian prosecutors said that JP Morgan should be indicted after manipulating markets and falsifying documents when it took over Banca Antonveneta last 2008.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down the illegal operations of Silk Road, an online black market for illegal goods and services.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation had shutdown Silk Road, an alleged online bitcoin marketplace used to perform illegal activities, said a Reuters report.

A memo obtained by Reuters revealed Paramount would be laying off 5% of its workers. A memo written to employees of Paramount Pictures revealed that the film studio would be eliminating 110 positions.

Russian payment transfer company QIWI announced floating an additional 8.2 million shares following 12.5 American depository shares it had floated earlier this year.

Redpoint Ventures announced on Tuesday that it had hired former Twitter Inc executive Ryan Sarver as a partner in the venture capital firm, according to a company press release.

Cargill Inc. and Archer Daniels Midland Co. were in final stages of discussion to close an acquisition deal that could be worth as much as USD2 billion, according to sources.

Wix.com filed for an initial public offering valued up to USD100 million, said a Reuters report. On Tuesday, Wix. com Ltd. had filed with the US regulators to raise USD100 million in an initial public offering of common stock.

According to a Reuters report, venture capitalists showed no signs of shying away from startup investments related to Bitcoin even as authorities increased scrutiny among numerous virtual currency firms.

On Tuesday, Barracuda Networks had filed for an initial public offering valued more than USD100 million, according to a regulatory filing.

Merck & Co. decided to cut its annual spending by USD2.5 billion and eliminate more than 10% of its global workers.

A shareholder at JC Penney sued the struggling retailer over a surprised decision to sell 84 million common stock after assuring its investors that there would be no need to raise capital in the company.

The US government shutdown had started its first day after 17 years after US President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans failed to settle the budget issue before the deadline on Tuesday, said a Reuters report.

Three of the top 20 investors in computer software company Microsoft had urged its board to push the firm's founding chairman Bill Gates to step down from office.

Burlington Stores announced today the price of its initial public offering of 13,333,333 shares of common stock valued USD17 per share piece.

Empire State Realty Trust Inc. announced today pricing its initial public offering valued at USD13 per share piece.

Today, American Tower Corporation announced completed acquisition of MIP Tower Holdings LLC, the parent firm of Global Tower Partners.