Another try MICROSOFT made another attempt to buy Call of Duty-maker Activision Blizzard after UK regulators blocked the original $69 billion (€63.5 billion) deal. Although Microsoft claimed the new offer was “substantially different”, the UK’S Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said agreeing to review the deal was not “a green light.”
Abu Dhabi deal BRUSSELS authorised the €600 million purchase by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund ADIA of 17 hotels owned by Equity Inmuebles that are run by the Mallorca-based Melia company and include the ME and Plaza de España hotels in Madrid. The deal went through in June but had to wait until now for the EU’s go-ahead.
Pain gain ITV is investing approximately £5 million (€5.85 million) in advertising for joint pain relief brand Flarin in return for a minority stake in the company. The Flarin deal is ITV’s first consumer healthcare investment and will introduce brand awareness to millions of UK viewers via ITV platforms, the company said.
Winter warmer TWO months before the Brussels deadline, Spain is the first EU country to completely fill its gas storage facilities, ready to cover possible supply problems this winter. Europe has achieved storage levels which would have been hard to imagine in March 2022, said Enagas chief executive Arturo Gonzalez.
Slowdown FACTORY output in the UK slumped to its lowest level since 2020 when the country was emerging from the first Covid lockdown, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) announced. This was the latest indication that the Bank of England’s interest rate hikes were slowing the economy, the CBI said.
Meta blow CCC BARCELONA DIGITAL SERVICES, whose employees scour social media for illegal content and fake news, is laying off 334 of 2,400 employees, owing to reduced demand from Facebook owner, Meta. The dismissals follow 680 temporary redundancies last March, which resulted in 100 job losses, with another 150 employees leaving amid claims of “worsening conditions.”
Making amends POST OFFICE chief executive Nick Read is returning part of his 2021-22 £455,000 (€532,199) bonus that was linked to findings of the Horizon enquiry. Read has apologised for “procedural and governance mistakes” that arose from the faulty Horizon IT system which resulted in erroneous accusations of false accounting and theft for 700 postal workers.
Up and down CASA TARADELLAS, known for ready-to-eat pizzas, ham and chorizo, reported 2022 sales of €1.16 billion, 8.5 per cent more than the previous year and the biggest increase since 2011. Despite a record year, the Catalan company announced that owing to increased overheads its profits had fallen for the first time although it did not reveal the amount involved.
Arm’s length CAMBRIDGE-BASED chip designer Arm intends to list on New York’s Nasdaq in September and is currently completing the formalities prior to selling shares in the US. Arm did not reveal the number of shares for sale or their price, but its proposed initial public offering (IPO) is believed to be in the region of $70 billion (€64.22 billion).
Stat of the week: €420 million in turnover last year – a 6 per cent increase – for the Jealsa fishery group’s subsidiary Escuris, the company which supplies Mercadonas’s Hacendado own-label tinned tuna and mussels.
Source: EURO WEEKLY NEWS
