Headlines

German EV hopeful Next.e.GO Mobile SE is in talks to go public through a blank-check company or an initial public offering that could value the manufacturer of compact cars for shorter trips at as much as 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion), Bloomberg News reported. The company, saved from insolvency last year, may go through with the plan within the next 12 months, Chairman Ali Vezvaei said in an interview. “There are advantages to both and we’re examining our options,” Vezvaei said, while the company has plans to produce a total of 300,000 vehicles over the next five years.

The European Union has agreed to delay a corporate tax plan for the bloc following pressure from the U.S. administration and in a bid to facilitate a broader global tax deal, but EU member Ireland reiterated its criticisms of the wider reform, Reuters reported. The world's 20 largest economies endorsed on Saturday a plan for a global overhaul of corporate tax that would introduce a minimum tax rate and change the way large companies like Amazon and Google are taxed, based partly on where they sell their products and services rather than on the location of their headquarters.

All remaining lockdown restrictions in England will be lifted in a week despite a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Monday, the Associated Press reported. He said it was “the right moment to proceed” as schools close for summer vacation but urged people to “proceed with caution.” Johnson said that although risks of the pandemic remain, legal restrictions will be replaced by a recommendation that people wear masks in crowded places and on public transport.

Air France-KLM has begun negotiations with Boeing Co. and Airbus SE on what could be the group’s biggest-ever aircraft order as it seeks to expand low-cost operations and renew part of its main Dutch fleet, Bloomberg News reported. The 160 single-aisle planes would be destined for the Transavia discount division and European operations at KLM, a spokesman said on Monday. The brands currently operate only Boeing jets on short- and mid-range routes. The contest will pit Boeing’s resurgent 737 Max against Airbus’s A320neo-series narrow-bodies.

European Union antitrust regulators may revamp decades-old rules covering the market power of companies to take into account cases such as when tech giants offer products for free while harvesting users' data, or the impact of deals on innovation. Reuters reported. The comments from the European Commission on Monday followed feedback from national competition watchdogs, experts and other parties during a 16-month consultation of the Commission's rule known as the market definition notice.

Aeromexico said on Friday a group of Mexican shareholders and business people had informed the airline they aimed to participate in a major capital raising as part of the company's Chapter 11 restructuring process in the United States, Reuters reported. Aeromexico in a statement said it was unaware that any agreement had been reached so far, but would provide details as and when one was in place. It also noted it expected the investment to be "substantial, controlling and long-term." Delta Airlines, which owned a noncontrolling 51% stake in Aeromexico as of Dec. 31, declined to comment.

The number of corporate insolvencies seen across Scotland more than halved during the first six months of 2021, as the array of government Covid-19 support measures and a supportive lending community continued to help businesses trade their way through the pandemic, Insider.co.uk reported. Analysis of notices in The Gazette by Interpath Advisory - formerly KPMG Restructuring - reveals that a total of 18 Scottish companies fell into administration or receivership from January to June 2021 – down from 37 in the first half of 2020 and 39 in the first half of 2019.

EU competition regulators on Friday approved a 750-million-euro ($888 million) German scheme for a fund to reimburse travellers affected by insolvent package travel organisers due to COVID-19, Reuters reported. Germany wants to set up a Travel Insolvency Fund, financed by contributions from package travel organisers, which will be operational from Nov. 1.

Britain's post-lockdown economic rebound slowed sharply in May despite a relaxation of social-distancing rules, according to official data which also showed a hit to carmakers from the global shortage of microchips, Reuters reported. Gross domestic product expanded by a monthly 0.8%, much faster than its typical pre-pandemic pace but down from April's 2.0% surge. It was also a lot weaker than the median forecast of 1.5% in a Reuters poll of economists. "Of course, the pace of the recovery was always going to slow as the economy climbed back towards its pre-crisis level.