Reuters UK Business

OSLO (Reuters) -The value of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, rose to a record 20 trillion crowns ($1.80 trillion) on Friday, doubling its value in just five years as oil and gas revenue flowed in and stock markets rose. Built since 1996 as rainy-day savings, the fund owns about 1.5% of all listed …

Norway wealth fund hits record 20 trillion crowns Read More »

MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) – The European Union and four South American countries on Friday finalized a free trade agreement that took over two decades to negotiate. Before implementation, however, the accord faces a key test in Europe amid stiff resistance from France and some other EU members. WHAT COMES NEXT? The Mercosur bloc’s four founding members …

Factbox-What are the next steps for the EU-Mercosur trade deal? Read More »

By Amy-Jo Crowley and Julie Zhu LONDON/HONG KONG (Reuters) -Shareholders of Ubisoft Entertainment SA are considering how to structure a possible buyout of the Assassin’s Creed video game maker without reducing the founding family’s control, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The Guillemot family, which is the largest and founding shareholder, has been …

Ubisoft shareholders in talks over possible buyout terms, sources say Read More »

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian bank UniCredit on Friday said a German probe over alleged tax evasion concerned a single former client, after its Munich offices were raided in an investigation into a possible 200 million euro ($212 million) fraud. UniCredit has owned Munich-based lender HVB since 2005. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) said that it …

UniCredit’s Munich offices searched in VAT fraud probe over ex client Read More »

By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s Guardian said on Friday it had agreed to sell The Observer to startup Tortoise Media, which sought to overcome staff opposition by pledging to revive the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper as a strong voice in liberal journalism. Tortoise, founded five years ago by ex-BBC News boss James Harding to …

Britain’s Guardian sells The Observer newspaper to Tortoise Media Read More »

By Yadarisa Shabong and Tommy Reggiori Wilkes LONDON (Reuters) -British insurer Aviva has agreed to buy smaller rival Direct Line in a sweetened 3.61 billion pound ($4.60 billion) cash-and-stock deal that will create the UK’s largest home and motor insurer. In a joint statement on Friday, the companies said a preliminary agreement had been reached …

Aviva set to buy Direct Line to create $21 billion British insurer Read More »

LISBON (Reuters) – The three owners of Portugal’s fourth-largest bank Novo Banco have agreed to lift a ban on dividend payouts, paving the way for its potential sale or an initial public offering in 2025, the finance minister was quoted as saying on Friday. Joaquim Miranda Sarmento told the Expresso newspaper the agreement, involving the …

Novo Banco shareholders agree to unblock dividends, pave way for sale Read More »

(This Dec. 5 story has been corrected to remove the word ‘president’ in paragraph 7) By Selena Li, Lawrence White and Sinead Cruise HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) – HSBC announced a raft of senior management departures and appointments on Thursday, as CEO Georges Elhedery completed the first phase of a sweeping overhaul aimed at streamlining costs …

More HSBC senior managers to go as CEO continues overhaul Read More »