Atos SE, the troubled French technology company that’s been fighting to avert bankruptcy, has agreed to sell its Worldgrid unit for €270 million ($294 million) including debt, Bloomberg News reported. French engineering and tech consultant Alten SA has received regulatory approvals to acquire Worldgrid, which provides consulting and engineering services to utility companies, and the deal is expected to close before the end of the year, Atos said in a statement on Tuesday.
Read more
The Bank of England is likely to lower its key interest rate on Thursday and at three further meetings next year before inflation settles at the central bank’s target, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a quarterly report on the outlook for the U.K. and global economies, Britain’s leading economic research body said the annual rate of inflation will likely rise above 3% at the start of next year, from 1.7% in September.
Read more
German manufacturing orders jumped more than expected in September, driven by large-scale orders, offering a glimpse of hope that the recent downturn in the beleaguered sector may be abating, the Wall Street Journal reported. Orders climbed 4.2% on month in September, according to data published Wednesday by Germany’s statistics agency Destatis. That was better than economists’ expectations for a 1.4% rise, according to a Wall Street Journal poll, and contrasts with the 5.4% fall in August orders.
Read more

On October 30, the Moscow Arbitration Court extended the bankruptcy procedure of Radio Liberty (RFE/RL, the media corporation is recognized in Russia as a foreign agent and an undesirable organization, LLC is its Russian legal entity) until June 30, 2025, Oreanda News reported. In the definition on the court's website, the specific date of the next report of the bankruptcy trustee of RCE/RS LLC, Yulia Aga-Kulieva, is not indicated.

Read more

One of the most popular electric bicycle manufacturing companies in the Netherlands, Stella, has requested protection from its creditors as the business is struggling financially, the Financeele Dagblad reported on Tuesday, according to the NL Times. The fate of the company’s 440 employees and 50 retail outlets is now up in the air. The move to defer payments can often lead to a Dutch company declaring bankruptcy. Stella’s parent, investment firm DMEP, has said that they think it would be irresponsible to invest more money into the company.

Read more

Rachel Reeves’ big fiscal feast risks giving the Bank of England indigestion, Reuters reported. The new Labour finance minister’s decision to hike spending, taxes and borrowing in the budget will provide a short-lived boost to growth next year. But it will also reduce BoE Governor Andrew Bailey’s ability to cut rates and keep pace with his European and U.S. counterparts. Reeves’ plan to reduce economic slack but may leave Bailey without any of his own. Her budget will raise spending by 70 billion pounds a year until 2030, according to the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.

Read more

French investigators raided offices of the French soccer league and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners on Tuesday as part of an investigation into possible corruption and embezzlement related to an investment deal, a judicial official said, the Associated Press reported. The searches took place amid an investigation that opened in July into charges of misappropriation of public funds, active and passive corruption of a public official and illegal taking of interest, the judicial official told the Associated Press.

Read more