Commercial news round-up: Tesco, Novo Nordisk, Deutsche Bank, Shell, dodgy bankers, Facebook
updated on 02 February 2017
Things have come to a pretty pass when you look to commercial news for some light relief from the terrifying political news that keeps bursting onto our screens with ever-more alarming headlines. However, as that is the situation in which we find ourselves, soothe your anxiety with this selection of relatively-stress-free business stories:
- Tesco has announced that it is to buy cash-and-carry giant Booker, the owner of Budgens and Londis among others, in a £3.7 billion deal that will further increase Tesco’s stranglehold on the UK grocery market.
- One of Denmark’s largest pharmaceutical companies, Novo Nordisk, is to invest in an Oxford-based research facility to the tune of £115 million spread over 10 years.
- Deutsche Bank is expected to announce that it will have a net loss of €1 billion in 2016. Much of this is attributed to a £5.7 billion pay-out last year to the US Department of Justice for mis-selling mortgage-backed securities.
- Shell plans to sell nearly half of its “less valuable” North Sea oil assets to UK company Chrysaor for a cool £3 billion. This is part of Shell’s policy to divulge itself of assets and thus reduce its huge debt that followed its purchase of BG Group for £35 billion.
- A group of six UK bankers have been convicted for their roles in a scam involving £245 million worth of fraudulent loans. One defendant is a former HBOS manger, who is said to have been bribed with “foreign cruises and sex parties”.
- Facebook has been found guilty of unlawfully using another company’s virtual reality technology and been ordered to pay, along with the other defendants, $500 million to the rightful owner, Oculus.
Be sure to check the News section every Thursday for this weekly commercial news round-up. Follow @LawCareersNetUK on Twitter and like us on Facebook for instant business news updates.
