Auction house Sotheby's named Tom Ford International Chairman and former Gucci head Domenico De Sole as its lead independent director amid criticism from activist investor Daniel Loeb.

Citing a December 13 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg reported that Legg Mason Inc's Bill Miller will be starting a mutual fund under his own name together with his son.

Cyber security solutions provider Invincea Inc said it was able to close its Series C round with $16 million. The equity round was led by new investors Aeris Capital and Dell Ventures.

Greenwich, Connecticut-based Atlas Holdings raised $900 million for the first and final close of its second private equity fund known as Atlas Capital Resources II.

McRock Capital, an investment firm in Toronto, has initially closed its Industrial Internet venture capital fund with $50 million in a round led by BDC Venture Capital.

Massachusetts-based BackOffice Associates has bought Farnborough, UK-based SAP Data Services consultancy firm ENTOTA for an undisclosed amount. Goldman Sachs invested $30 million in BackOffice five years ago.

Crowdtilt, a San Francisco, California-based crowdfunding platform, secured $23 million for its Series B funding in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz and was participated by venture capitalists and angel investors.

PassportParking, a provider of cloud-based parking management solutions, raised $6 million for its Series A funding. The round was led by Grotech Ventures and Relevance Capital.

US insurer AIG said it will be selling International Lease Finance Corp to Netherlands-based AerCap Holdings for $5 billion, Bloomberg reported. The deal will be for cash and shares.

Osaka canceled the sale of Osaka Prefectural Urban Development Co after lawmakers from the local government rejected the winning bidder Lone Star Funds, a source told Bloomberg.

The Wall Street Journal reported more employers are offering loans to their workers from non-bank lenders. There are currently 100,000 employees who can avail of employer-based loan programs, but that number is set to increase in the coming years, said the Journal.

Aurizon Holdings Ltd intends to complete a joint venture agreement with GVK Group for the building of a railroad project by the middle of next year, Bloomberg reported.

After lackluster activity in the past years, pharmaceutical firms have gotten back to producing new drugs but they encounter challenges in selling them, according to a report on The Wall Street Journal.

A report by Bloomberg read that New York-based investment firm BlackRock said it complied with disclosure rules in its Telecom Italia stake after a watchdog said in a newspaper interview that the firm may have not followed rules when it did not report an increase in its stake in the telecommunications firm..

French retailer Carrefour agreed to acquire a total of 27 shopping malls in Europe worth €2 billion or $2.75 billion from Klepierre, a Bloomberg report said.

This year is set to be a banner year for ecommerce as online sales for Thanksgiving weekend increased 22% from last year. Meanwhile, retail sales fall.

The initial takeover proposal of AU$752 million from Senex Energy was rejected by oil and gas exploration and production firm AWE Ltd.

Royal Dutch Shell's exit of its stake in Australia-based Woodside Petroleum Ltd may enable Asian buyers, particularly China, to get a stake of or even acquire the whole company, Bloomberg reported.

The impending sale of Woori Investment & Securities Co may spur consolidation in South Korea's local securities industry. Final bids for the brokerage unit are due today.

With the reported bid for Time Warner Cable said to be readied by Charter Communications dominating the news, the New York Post reported that Cablevision may soon be approached by private equity players.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission or CSRC revealed new plans on public share sales as initial public offerings are set to resume in January next year, Reuters reported.

The merger of US Foods with Sysco has spoiled the plans for a $62 million US Foods expansion project in Seabrook, New Hampshire, a report said.

Gregory Lee will be leading the North America Headquarters of Samsung Electronics Co. This will be in addition to his role as the President of Samsung Telecommunications America, the company said in a statement.

The Louisiana Sheriffs' Pension and Relief Fund sued IBM for its cooperation with the National Security Agency over a spying program that allegedly hurt investors, Bloomberg reported.

Hospitality Staffing Solutions said it had obtained approval from the court to sell its assets to HS Solutions Corporation. Financial details about the deal were not disclosed.

A Wall Street Journal report about a possible bid from rival Sprint Corp spurred the rise of T-Mobile shares, the largest increase since October 2012, Bloomberg reported.

Judge Katherine Forrest dismissed the lawsuit filed by investors led by two pension funds against UBS, which accused the bank of fraud regarding the latter's risk management practices, Bloomberg said.

According to the South China Morning Post, the growing popularity of the Bitcoin has also led to a boom of sorts in bitcoin software for smartphones, the South China Morning Post reported.

A Nielsen study showed that Asian American households spend more than US households by an estimated 19%. They were also the top online shoppers. the South China Morning Post reported.

A report said merger and acquisition transactions fell in the Asia-Pacific region caused by a slowing in the energy and raw materials sectors.