Creating a European champion to better withstand the international advance of China’s state-owned CRRC, German industrial group Siemens and French rival Alstom agreed to merge their rail operations. While Alstom will supply Henri Poupart-Lafarge as chief executive, helping to counter criticism that France is giving up control of another national industrial icon, Siemens will own 50 percent plus a…
If the United States government can get tax reform “right,” the country will see its gross domestic product rise by 1 percent, according to the commerce secretary. Wilbur Ross said that because it could add nearly $3 trillion in federal government revenue in the next decade, getting U.S. tax reform right is important. Ross said that the…
Betting that the pop-culture-fueled appeal of the country’s beauty products will outweigh concerns over regional tensions and in order to gain a stronger foothold in the world’s fourth-largest skincare market, Unilever agreed to buy a South Korean cosmetics maker for 2.27 billion euros ($2.7 billion). The London- and Amsterdam-based company said in a statement Monday…
Provisional election results in Germany point to a worse-than-expected majority for the German chancellor even as Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc will be the largest party in the next German parliament. 33 percent of the vote was won by Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister-party the Christian Social Union (CSU). But lower…
After the major oil producers said at a meeting in Vienna the global market was well on its way toward rebalancing, the prices of oil rose on Monday to their highest in seven months. Reaching its highest since February 23, the November Brent crude futures contract was up 35 cents at $57.21 a barrel by…
In a bet it can improve the division’s lackluster margins over the next five years, Power grids maker ABB is buying General Electric’s Industrial Solutions business for $2.6 billion the Swiss engineering company said. Including an agreement for long-term use of GE’s brand and a strategic partnership, Zurich-based ABB sees potential for annual cost benefits…
In a desperate bid to retain its license od operating in London, Uber has pledged to make improvements in the way it reports serious incidents and called for holding talks with London’s transport regulator. Deeming Uber to be unfit to run a taxi service in the mega city, the British capital’s transport regulator decided not…
With Boeing giving signals that it intends to stand its ground, the trade dispute between Boeing and Canadian rival Bombardier is heating up. “This commercial trade dispute is very important to us. We’re not going to back down from it,” said Leanne Caret, CEO of Boeing’s defense, space and security business, in a television interview. “I hope…
Oil and gas players with interests in the disputed zone are put in a bad place as the world’s second-largest economy threatens military action in the South China Sea. For the Spanish energy firm Repsol, that was the case. After Beijing warned the Southeast Asian country that it would attack bases if operations continued, the subsidiary…
A new report published recently notes that with values soaring 25 percent over the past 12 months, fine wine is now the best-performing collectible of the world’s wealthy collectors. Wine has replaced classic cars as the top collectible, found the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index, which tracks the price growth in the major categories of…
