Europe

U.K. Competition Watchdog Targets Faster M&A Reviews

The U.K.’s competition regulator plans to speed up its reviews of large deals in response to pressure to help boost the country’s economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. “We know speed of decision making is vital to reduce uncertainty and costs for businesses,” Sarah Cardell, the Competition and Markets Authority’s chief executive, said in a blog post Thursday. She noted the vast majority of deals reviewed by the CMA end up getting cleared. “We must move as quickly as possible to get to the right decisions,” she said.
United Kingdom
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Germany Faces Year of Industrial Strife as Companies Go into Battle with Workers

Germany faces major labour disputes in 2025, as an established bond between firms and workers -- long seen as a pillar of the country's economic success -- is starting to unravel in the wake of brutal competition, economic weakness and spiralling costs, Reuters reported. Labour bosses at industrial giants Bosch, Thyssenkrupp Friedrichshafen and Volkswagen - jointly representing more than half a million German workers - say that firms are showing a new level of determination to cut jobs, close factories and move staff abroad.
Germany
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Telecom Italia Taps UniCredit for Advice as Suitors Circle

Telecom Italia SpA has hired UniCredit SpA to help evaluate its options as suitors circle the former Italian phone monopoly, Bloomberg News reported. Advisers at Italy’s second-largest bank will work with Telecom Italia to review scenarios that could increase its value in an approach. Billionaire Xavier Niel and buyout firm CVC Capital Partners Plc are separately exploring deals for Telecom Italia that could pave the way for its eventual combination with the local unit of Niel’s Iliad SA, Bloomberg reported last week.
Italy
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Ontario Fund Writes Down $400 Million Investment in Northvolt

Investment Management Corp. of Ontario has written down its $400 million investment in Northvolt AB, the electric vehicle battery maker that filed for bankruptcy protection last year, Bloomberg News reported. The Canadian pension manager bought Northvolt convertible bonds in 2023, its largest transaction in Europe at the time. IMCO manages about C$77 billion ($53.8 billion) for public-sector groups in the province of Ontario. Northvolt filed for Chapter 11 protection in the US in November after a bid to secure rescue funding fell short, leaving it with little cash and $5.8 billion in debt.
Canada
Sweden
United States
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Bank of France Sees Sluggish Growth With Uncertainty High

France’s economy is heading for only slight growth at the start of the year and uncertainty remains high for business leaders, the country’s central bank said, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product will likely rise between 0.1% and 0.2% in the first quarter, with underlying momentum little changed from the end of 2024, according to the Bank of France’s monthly survey of 8,500 companies.
France
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India Is Building a Sanctions-Proof Supply Chain for Russian Oil

Oil refiners in India — eager to keep importing cheap crude from Russia — are working with merchants, shippers and other middlemen to rebuild supply chains as tougher US sanctions come into effect, Bloomberg News reported. Speaking on the sidelines of India’s flagship energy gathering in Delhi, executives said the existing networks were being reconfigured with selling entities, tankers and insurance providers that are not on Washington’s blacklist.
India
Russia
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