As to be expected, European M&A activity in 2009 spiralled downward, with European deal flow making up just 26% of global activity by value and 37% by volume over the year, compared to 43% for both volume and value in 2008. However, tender green shoots appeared in the last quarter of 2009 giving M&A practitioners across Europe hope for the coming year.
Most companies today are hesitant to hire in big numbers for fear of prolonged economic weakness. Not Deloitte Consulting. The consulting arm of Big 4 audit giant Deloitte is currently extending 50 to 60 offers to experienced consultants each week. By June, the company will have hired a total of more than 700 of them. On top of that, over the past six months the firm has brought on board nearly 800 MBAs and undergrads. And Deloitte's HR staff expects to make another 1,000 offers to the class of 2010.
Microsoft and Yahoo have received clearance from regulators in Washington and Europe to proceed with a search partnership intended to challenge Google, The Associated Press reports.
The companies announced Thursday that the partnership had been approved without restrictions by the Justice Department and the European Commission.
Oxfam and other NGOs are right to raise humanitarian concerns and point to poverty as a driver of civil unrest in Sudan. However, Global Witness believes that increased transparency in the oil sector is also imperative to avoid a return to violence (World briefing, 7 January).
How does it feel to be Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman? Last year Forbes magazine listed him as the 701st-richest man in the world. But unlike other billionaires, Mr Guzman cannot enjoy his fortune by spending time on yachts or in fancy restaurants. As Mexico's leading drugs baron, he has the country's army on his tail - and so has to hide out in a mountainous region of 60,000 square kilometres.
Middle Eastern oil producers are scrambling to protect their market share in Asia amid rising competition from a new source of supply—an oil blend from Russia called ESPO.
Trader Mercuria said on Friday it had signed a 10-year deal to market uncommitted coal from South African miner Optimum Coal Holdings' Optimum and Koornfontein mines.
The initial tonnage is likely to be around 1.3 million tonnes a year from the Koornfontein mine, industry sources said.
Optimum Coal will pay Mercuria commission varying between 1.5-2.5 percent depending on agency or proprietary credit risk taken by Mercuria, the Swiss company said in a statement.
Corruption is hardly a victimless crime. A major contributor to the massive death toll from the Haiti earthquake was shoddily constructed buildings that couldn't have been erected under the oversight of professional and honest inspectors.
(Fortune Magazine) -- It has become an investing truism of late: If you want stocks with high-octane potential, you're wise to invest in the fast-growing economies of emerging markets. The result has been frenzied demand for such stocks and skyrocketing valuations.
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- The Greek crisis has thrown another detour into the euro's march to world currency domination.
The rise of the European common currency has been a market theme for years. At its peak early in the financial crisis, the euro had gained 59% against the dollar since its inception in 2000, thanks to the European Central Bank's inflation-fighting mandate and years of lax policy in the United States.