news_business

By Mekhla Raina (Reuters) - Britain's largest private healthcare group, BMI Healthcare, is nearing a 2 billion pounds restructuring deal that could cut millions of pounds from its annual rent bill, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. An announcement under which BMI's rent bill will be cut by about 60 million pounds is likely to be made imminently, the source told Reuters. Funds including Centerbridge and Och-Ziff Capital Management will inject about 50 million pounds of equity into the business, and maturity of about 2 billion of debt on the balance sheet of BMI and its property arm General Healthcare Group will be extended by six years, the source said. Sky News had earlier reported about the deal on Tuesday. Last year, South African private healthcare operator Netcare <NTCJ.J> had made an all-share offer to buy out minority BMI Healthcare shareholders saying it was making the move because trading conditions "remained difficult" across the private healthcare … [Read more...] about BMI Healthcare close to £2 billion restructuring deal

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> has looked at a theoretical scenario of merging with UBS <UBSG.S>, the German business daily Handelsblatt reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The scenario, along with a potential merger with Commerzbank <CBKG.DE>, was discussed at the bank's strategy meeting with the supervisory board earlier this month, Handelsblatt said. On paper, a potential merger with UBS fares better than a deal with Commerzbank as Deutsche Bank and the Swiss lender would complement each other well in the areas of investment banking and wealth management, the report said. A merger with Commerzbank, in contrast, might lead to high restructuring costs due to large overlap, the paper said. Deutsche Bank was not immediately available for comment outside business hours. Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Christian Sewing on Monday dampened speculation of a possible merger, saying the bank must focus on its homework for the time being. Executives … [Read more...] about Deutsche Bank mulls merger scenario with UBS

By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) - Apple Inc shaved some parts from the display in its largest new iPhone, helping keep costs under control in what has become the priciest component of its phones in recent years, according to a new cost analysis of the device. TechInsights, an Ottawa, Ontario-based firm which rips open phones to analyse their contents and estimate the cost of the parts inside, said on Tuesday that the iPhone Xs Max with 256 gigabytes of storage capacity contains about $443 (336 pounds) in parts and assembly costs, compared with $395.44 for the 64-gigabyte version of last year's iPhone X. Apple released a trio of new phones earlier this month, including an update on last year's iPhone X, called the iPhone Xs, that starts at $999, and the budget-minded iPhone Xr that starts at $749. But it was the iPhone Xs Max - with a 6.5-inch display that uses so-called OLED technology for richer colours - that pushed new pricing boundaries, starting at $1,099. In its cost analysis … [Read more...] about Apple shaves cost from displays in newest iPhones

By Daniel Bases NEW YORK (Reuters) - The European Union's answer to stop a rise of populist politics within its borders must start with a budget to help bind its members closer together and address economic inequality that tears at its seams, one official said on Tuesday. "Having a euro zone budget is absolutely decisive if we want to address the populist challenge, the burning question of inequalities," European Union economic affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici said in an interview on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. "I am very concerned about (populism). I think that is a major threat for our democracies, for liberal democracies, for the rule of law and for European values. To address that we need to make progress in European integration," Moscovici said after a talk at the European American Chamber of Commerce New York. Establishing a euro zone budget would help support reforms and strengthen convergence between its economies to help address how financial … [Read more...] about Europe needs a budget to counter populism’s ascent

LONDON (Reuters) - Spain's Basque region is seizing on Brexit as it tries to persuade highly skilled workers to move back home from Britain and redress a brain drain caused by a 2008-2014 economic slump. The Basque autonomous region, a manufacturing heartland, said it wanted to attract some of the more than 125,000 Spanish-born professionals resident in Britain with perks such as income tax breaks and the chance to work with other professionals and academics in related fields. The organisers of a Basque recruitment conference, to be held in London in October, said they were focusing on Spaniards working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Britain's departure from the European Union provided "a wonderful opportunity to win back the talent the country lost during the Spanish recession," the organisers said. British Prime Minister Theresa May said last week that the rights of around 3 million EU citizens already living in the United Kingdom would be protected after … [Read more...] about Spain’s Basque region woos professional exiles as Brexit nears