U.S. jeweler Tiffany & Co’s shareholders on Wednesday approved a $15.8 billion deal with France’s LVMH, ending an acrimonious dispute between the two luxury retailers that had stretched for more than a year, Reuters reported. At a virtual special stockholder meeting, more than 99 percent of votes cast were in favor of the deal. Billionaire Bernard Arnault-led LVMH made the first offer late last year, but as the luxury industry slipped into a turmoil due to the COVID-19 pandemic the company backed out from its promise to close the deal.

In her last New Year’s address as chancellor, Angela Merkel called on Germans to remain disciplined in the fight against the coronavirus, Bloomberg News reported. The German leader -- who will step down after elections in September -- said that perseverance would be needed during a harsh winter as a vaccination campaign ramps up. Amid concerns about its safety, she said she would get the shot as soon as it’s her turn. Germany is struggling to contain the spread of Covid-19, like many of its neighbors.

European banks are doing something that got them into trouble years ago: loading up on government debt, a trade investors call the “doom loop,” the Wall Street Journal reported. Banks in the eurozone, stuffed with excess cash thanks to Covid-19 central bank relief efforts, bought close to €200 billion, the equivalent of $245 billion, in government debt of their home countries in the year to September. That has raised their holdings by 19% to €1.2 trillion, according to the European Central Bank.

Acadia Healthcare Co. agreed to sell Priory Group, a chain of U.K. mental-health facilities known for treating celebrities for drug and alcohol addiction, to Waterland Private Equity for 1.1 billion pounds ($1.5 billion), Bloomberg News reported. Priory operates about 450 sites across the U.K., specializing in treatment of mental health-care problems as well as conditions ranging from addiction to eating disorders. Acadia, which acquired the British operations in 2016, launched a sale process early this year but temporarily suspended it after the Covid-19 pandemic spread across the world.

Many bars, restaurants and other businesses in the hospitality sector are predicted to declare insolvency in the second and third quarters of 2021, the Independent reported. The warning came from debt analysis expert StubbsGazette, which believes the wave of insolvencies is inevitable once Government pandemic subsidies are withdrawn or scaled back. Its analysis indicates considerable pain is in store for such businesses in the hospitality industry – some of which have not been able to open since March.

Blažek, famous Czech brand for menswear, has filed for insolvency, PragueMorning.cz reported. The company registers more than 150 creditors for a total debt of almost 87 million CZK. As iHNED.cz reports, the company’s founder is considering the entry of a new investor. The company became insolvent from the forced closure of stores during the first and second waves of the epidemic. Like many retailers, Blažek was already struggling with the shift to online shopping even before the pandemic struck this spring.

Italy’s main banking and industry associations have urged European Union authorities to temporarily ease EU bank rules on loan defaults and credit provisioning to help businesses cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. In a letter to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and other senior officials, the groups called for less stringent definitions to be applied to credit defaults to stop temporary liquidity problems forcing firms into bankruptcy.

A European Central Bank push to make it easier for the region’s chronically unprofitable banks to merge is facing opposition from some national regulators, with one top official warning it could backfire and damage the integration of the financial system, Bloomberg News reported. Proposals by ECB supervisory board chair Andrea Enria to give banks more freedom to source funds in one country and lend them in another could generate costs for taxpayers if lenders run into trouble after the money moves, said Tom Dechaene, a director at Belgium’s central bank.