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.

The GBP875,000 loan extended by property and technology entrepreneur Andrew Ruhan to his brother Gabriel, who runs Strategic Natural Resources, was intended to pay off creditors.

Lloyds Banking Group is to divest its Irish home loans to an affiliated company of private equity firm Apollo Global Management in a deal worth GBP 257 million.

At a time when interest rates are low, investors are now seeking to invest in European infrastructure to get higher returns. However, the assets are scarce, according to a Reuters report.

Experts say there is a possibility that London-based hedge funds may be pushed away from the UK after the government said it would be conducting a clampdown on corporate partnerships.

Talal Shakerchi-backed hedge fund Meditor Capital Management is shutting down its equity fund, citing European rules that require hedge fund firms to disclose their bearish bets against companies.

Mike Lynch, who sold software firm Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion, is backing a start-up focused on augmented reality - the ability to overlay information on a real-world background which some see as the next big digital craze.

Moorfields Corporate Recovery, the administrator for Blockbuster UK, said the video rental company is doomed to close after efforts to find a buyer had failed, a Bloomberg report said.