Norsk Hydro became the sole owner of battery recycler Hydrovolt on Monday after the Norwegian aluminium maker agreed to buy the remaining shares from ailing Swedish battery maker Northvolt for 78 million Norwegian crowns ($6.79 million), Reuters reported. Northvolt, once hailed as Europe's best shot at a home-grown electric-vehicle battery champion, has been slimming down and racing to stay afloat after being hobbled by production problems, loss of a major customer contract and a funding crisis. The battery maker entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S.

Berlin has sounded out potential buyers for Uniper in a deal that could see the government selling its entire holding in the $18.8 billion energy utility, Reuters reported. Germany's government, which owns 99.12% of the company after nationalising it in 2022 during Europe's energy crisis, is pursuing a partial stake sale, or re-IPO, of around 25% as a preferred option, but is also weighing exiting its holding in one go. Parties that have been approached about a full sale include New York-headquartered Brookfield.

The European Central Bank will continue to lower its key interest rate, but must do so at a pace that ensures inflation continues to cool, Chief Economist Philip Lane said, the Wall Street Journal reported. The eurozone’s central bank lowered its key rate four times between June and the end of 2024, and by a percentage point in total. Investors expect it to continue to lower borrowing costs this year.

Britain will go its own way on artificial intelligence regulation, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday, Reuters reported. "I know there are different approaches (to AI regulation) around the world but we are now in control of our regulatory regime so we will go our own way on this," Starmer said. "We will test and understand AI before we regulate it to make sure that when we do it, it's proportionate and grounded." https://finance.yahoo.com/news/uks-starmer-says-britain-own-120425912.html

The administrator of Rene Benko’s bankrupt luxury property unit is asking former supervisory board members to acknowledge their role in causing at least €1 billion ($1.03 billion) of alleged damages by failing to practice proper oversight, Bloomberg News reported. Law firm Abel Rechtsanwälte GmbH claims board members of Signa Prime Selection AG, including former Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, had ignored that the group was materially insolvent by March 2022 — if not earlier, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg.

Some British pension funds are being told by asset managers to come up with more cash to support their hedging positions after a recent jump in borrowing costs, but pensions advisers told Reuters this week the market was behaving in an orderly way, Reuters reported. XPS and Gallagher said some funds had been instructed to post more cash to maintain derivatives positions they hold through so-called Liability Driven Investment (LDI) strategies.

French factory production recovered a little toward the end of last year in a glimpse of optimism for the beleaguered sector, the Wall Street Journal reported. Manufacturing output rose 0.2% on month in November, figures from French statistics agency Insee showed Friday. That came against expectations for a third-straight month of decline in production, according to economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal.

A U.K. council facing a £33.6m funding gap will effectively declare itself bankrupt unless the government allows it exceptional financial support, BBC.com reported. Worcestershire County Council is to ask the government for a "capitalisation direction" – described by the Institute for Government as a move that allows them to sell assets or borrow to fund day-to-day costs. Papers for a cabinet meeting on 16 January said the council needed £33.6m in 2025-26 and a further £43.6m in 2026-27.