HONG KONG, Oct 16- Permira, a global private equity firm, has closed its latest fund at 11 billion euros of committed capital, the company said on Wednesday. Permira's recent investments include the acquisition of drug contract development and manufacturing company Cambrex Corp for $2.4 billion in August, and a majority stake purchase of French cyber security...
SYDNEY/ TOKYO, Oct 16- Asian shares inched higher while sterling came off five-month highs in volatile trade on Wednesday as investors looked to whether Britain can secure a deal to avoid a disorderly exit from the European Union. Still, the pound lost steam in Asia, falling 0.3% to $1.2752, as uncertainties remained on whether a deal will be sealed at a...
*MSCI ex- Japan, Nikkei jump on positive Brexit news. SYDNEY, Oct 16- Asian shares took off on Wednesday and sterling held near six-month highs as Britain and the EU made headway on a Brexit deal ahead of a leaders' summit though it remained unclear if London could avoid postponing its scheduled departure on Oct. 31. The positive sentiment extended on Wednesday with...
BRASILIA, Oct 15- Brazil may have backed out of hosting this year's U.N. climate summit, but the country will still take a leading role in negotiating the mechanisms needed to implement the Paris Agreement, its top climate negotiator said on Tuesday. Shortly after right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro won election last year, he canceled Brazil's plans to host the...
PARIS/ ZURICH, Oct 15- U.S. engine maker Pratt& Whitney faces new checks on engines for small jetliners after an engine failure forced a Geneva- bound Swiss jet to divert to Paris and prompted a brief grounding of the rest of the airline's Airbus A220 fleet. It came just hours after France's BEA agency launched an unusual appeal for 150 volunteers to scour an...
LUXEMBOURG/ DUBLIN, Oct 15- Britain and the EU made headway in eleventh-hour talks on Tuesday to reach a Brexit deal in time for a leaders' summit, but with hours left to clinch an agreement it was still unclear if London could avoid delaying its scheduled Oct. 31 departure. The European Union's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier made clear at a meeting of ministers in...
NEW YORK/ SAN FRANCISCO/ BERLIN, Oct 15- Alphabet Inc's Google unveiled new Pixel smartphones with higher quality cameras, a radar sensor to track hand gestures and faster virtual assistant on Tuesday, but the devices had no surprise features to set them apart from rivals and nix concerns about price. The Pixel 4 phones, in two sizes, headlined a New York press event...
*STOXX 600 jumps 1% on Bloomberg report on Brexit deal. Oct 15- European stocks rose to their highest in nearly three months on Tuesday, with Irish stocks soaring almost 3%, after a news report said negotiators were on the verge of a deal that would avoid Britain crashing out of the European Union. Two EU officials said a Bloomberg report of an imminent Brexit deal was "...
PARIS/ VIENNA, Oct 15- Pratt& Whitney recommended checks on engines on Airbus A220 aircraft and some Embraer jets after a Geneva- bound Swiss jet diverted to Paris with an engine problem, prompting the grounding of the rest of the airline's A220 fleet. French air accident investigators classified the problem that disrupted the Swiss flight shortly after...
BRUSSELS, Oct 15- EU national leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss some of the biggest issues facing the bloc, including the prospect of a member state leaving for the first time and two countries looking to join. While cliffhanger negotiations for Britain's Brexit deal should dominate the summit, the crisis in Turkey and Syria and the...
LONDON, Oct 15- Sterling surged on Tuesday to its highest level against the dollar and the euro since May while British stocks and government bond yields also rose after Bloomberg said British and EU negotiators were closing in on a draft Brexit deal. The British currency climbed 1.5% on the day to $1.28, a five-month high and also the first time it has gone above...
NEW YORK/ SAN FRANCISCO/ BERLIN, Oct 15- Alphabet Inc's Google unveiled new Pixel smartphones with higher quality cameras, a radar sensor and faster virtual assistant on Tuesday, but failed to provide enough to set the devices apart from rivals and nix concerns about price. The Pixel 4 phones, in two sizes, headlined a New York press event at which Google also...
PARIS, Oct 15- Experience in overhauling a company and a track record in industry will be more important than nationality when carmaker Renault chooses a new chief executive, France's junior economy minister said on Tuesday. "When we had to find the best profile for someone to lead Air France, we got someone who is not French- very well," said Pannier-Runacher,...
VIENNA, Oct 15- Swiss airline Swiss has grounded its fleet of 29 Airbus A220 jets to make engine checks after one encountered technical problems on a flight to Geneva from London on Tuesday, the Blick newspaper reported, citing the airline. "Swiss has decided to carry out an engine inspection of the A220 fleet. For this reason, all A220s must undergo a comprehensive...
LONDON/ BERLIN, Oct 15- Germany's Wirecard rejected allegations of impropriety on Tuesday after the Financial Times newspaper published documents on the company's accounting practices which it said appeared to indicate an effort to inflate sales and profits. At 1349 GMT, the company's shares were down 14.1% after hitting their lowest since April 24, making...
MADRID, Oct 15- Spain's acting government has lowered its growth forecasts due to domestic and external factors such as trade tensions and raised its deficit estimate, just as political gridlock narrows Madrid's room for manoeuvre on budgetary matters. In a document that is part of draft budget plans submitted to the European Commission on Tuesday, the...
LONDON, Oct 15- Climate change activists, including one of the founders of Extinction Rebellion, defied a police order to end protests on Tuesday after a week of disruption in London, targeting Britain's transport ministry and security agency MI5. The group, which uses civil disobedience to highlight the risks posed by climate change and the accelerating loss...
*Germany lags in promoting women in business. BERLIN, Oct 15- Zalando, Europe's biggest online-only fashion retailer, set a goal on Tuesday for women to hold at least 40% of top management jobs by the end of 2023 after facing criticism for its all-male management board and lack of diversity targets. Germany has long been a laggard in promoting women to senior...
WARSAW/ FRANKFURT, Oct 15- French insurer AXA is considering selling its Central European business as part of a restructuring to quit markets where it lacks scale, three sources familiar with the situation said. AXA is now focusing on expanding in Asia, after its $15 billion acquisition of Bermuda- based insurer XL last year and its listing of U.S. life insurance...
*Concerns over slowing demand in China weigh on U.S. soybeans. SINGAPORE/ PARIS, Oct 15- Chicago soybeans slid on Tuesday as the market fell from its highest in 16 months on concerns about dismal demand in top importer China, although the fall was checked by adverse U.S. weather. The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade was down 0.3% at $9.37-3/ 4 a...
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