EuropaCorp SA, the French movie studio founded by director Luc Besson, will probably soon be controlled by New-York based Vine Alternative Investments Group, as the board of the struggling company and its creditors reached a broad debt-restructuring agreement, Bloomberg News reported Vine and funds managed by private equity firm Falcon Investment Advisors LLC will hold 60.2% and 6.3%, respectively, of EuropaCorp as they swap about $215 million of the studio’s debt for new shares, according to a statement released by EuropaCorp late Friday.

NMC Health has hired Moelis to advise on debt restructuring as the struggling healthcare group faces signs of a cash crunch with staff members complaining about late salary payments, the Financial Times reported. The mandate was welcomed by lenders, who have become increasingly concerned about their loan exposure to the scandal-hit FTSE 100 company. Trading of NMC’s shares was suspended last week as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority launched an investigation into its finances. “We just desperately need to see some stabilisation,” said one banker.

Shares in Norwegian Air plunged a quarter in value on Thursday, leading airline stocks lower as investors bet the debt-laden budget carrier would be the most vulnerable to a coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. The slump in Norwegian shares to an 11-year low of 16.80 crowns came despite the company trying to reassure investors by reiterating its financial guidance. The stock has now lost 52% since the start of this week as the coronavirus has spread around the world, threatening an extended period of disruption to international travel.

European debt markets are reeling from the perfect storm of risk aversion as the coronavirus crisis threatens to rapidly become a pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. Investors are dumping anything seen as risky and piling into top-rated government bonds -- especially those of Germany -- for safety, while boosting bets for emergency monetary easing by the European Central Bank. Yield premiums on peripheral euro-area bonds jumped this week as Italy reported the region’s biggest surge in infections, reigniting fears of a recession in the country.

Central banks are paying attention to climate-related financial risks. They are beginning to incorporate them into their financial stability and economic analysis, and in stress tests for banks, the Financial Times reported. It is also time for central banks to consider such risks when implementing monetary policy. This will be challenging. It requires more data relevant to the assessment of the climate change threat, a thorough methodology and, importantly, time.

Homebase plans to end its company voluntary arrangement 18 months early after the UK’s second-largest home improvement retailer renegotiated most of its leases and improved profitability, the Financial Times reported. The group used the controversial insolvency procedure in 2018 to cut rents and close stores after a brief but disastrous period of ownership by Australian group Wesfarmers. CVAs give struggling businesses a chance to renegotiate debts with creditors. For Homebase the process had been due to run until August 2021 but will instead terminate in March or April.

A European auto supplier has been forced to close its main Italian plant due to the country’s coronavirus quarantine, in the clearest evidence so far of the impact that the disease could have on Europe’s domestic industry and economy, the Financial Times reported. Electronics manufacturer MTA said that if its 600 employees in the northern Italian town of Codogno were not allowed to return to work within days, production lines at Fiat Chrysler (FCA) subsidiaries would be brought to a standstill.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is considering a move that could open an avenue for limited fiscal stimulus in Europe’s largest economy, Bloomberg News reported. Scholz wants to temporarily suspend the constitutional mechanism that restricts the country’s debt levels in order to provide relief for indebted regions, according to an official familiar with the plans. The initiative, which is likely to face strong political opposition, would shift borrowings from municipalities to the federal government, giving them more budget space to invest locally.

British shopping centre operator Hammerson almost halved its 2020 dividend on Tuesday after the collapse into administration of a number of UK retail chains and outlets cut its annual net rental income, Reuters reported. The company has been striving to reduce its net debt, which stood at 2.8 billion pounds at the end of last year, by offloading assets and refocusing on its city shopping centres and premium outlets division. The owner of London’s Brent Cross shopping centre said it expects to recommend a dividend of 14 pence for 2020, a 46% fall compared to last year.

Italy has warned that the EU should offer flexibility on its budget targets should the country’s sudden coronavirus outbreak in its industrialised northern regions have a prolonged impact on an economy already teetering on edge of a recession, the Financial Times reported. Ten Italians have died from the virus and the infection count has risen to 322. The majority of cases were clustered in the regions of Lombardy and Veneto, which together make up a third of output for the eurozone’s third-largest economy and about half of its exports.