Headlines

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co.’s labor union said on Tuesday its members have rejected the tentative wage deal its leadership had agreed with management last week, Reuters reported. The union in a statement said 50.2 percent of 45,008 voters rejected the deal as they deemed wage levels were inadequate compared with previous years’ agreements, whereas 48.2 percent accepted the terms. The remaining votes were invalid. The union said it will do its best to reach a new tentative wage deal within the year.

New Zealand has blocked HNA Group’s $460 million purchase of a vehicle finance firm owned by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group in the latest in a series of setbacks around the world for the acquisitive Chinese conglomerate, Reuters reported. The proposed sale of UDC, New Zealand’s largest non-bank lender, was agreed with ANZ nearly a year ago and the bank had counted on the proceeds to boost its capital.

The European Union raised the stakes against Poland over judicial overhauls Brussels calls undemocratic, laying the groundwork for an unprecedented punishment after months of acrimony, the Wall Street Journal reported. The EU’s executive body on Wednesday triggered a never-used sanctions procedure known as Article 7 and informally dubbed the “nuclear option,” taking an unprecedented step aimed at bringing Poland back into line. However, the move risks alienating Warsaw even further from its European counterparts while exposing the EU’s weakness in enforcing its political vision.

Dubai International Capital LLC reached an agreement with banks to roll over a loan of about $1 billion, Bloomberg News reported. The private-equity firm owned by the emirate’s ruler plans to extend the loan for three years and sign the agreement in the next few weeks. It’s the second time the firm is restructuring the loan. Banks are also asking DIC’s parent Dubai Holding LLC to pay $150 million under a payment guarantee as part of the first restructuring in 2012.

The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation Lufthansa's proposed acquisition of certain Air Berlin assets, through the entity Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter GmbH, according to a press release. The decision is conditional on Lufthansa's compliance with commitments to avoid competition distortions. The Commission decision only concerns Lufthansa's proposed acquisition of LGW. This is because Lufthansa decided to drop the rest of the initially proposed transaction, i.e. its acquisition of NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH, during the course of the Commission's merger review process.

Mining company Crystallex International Corp said on Thursday Venezuela failed to honor a settlement and urged a federal judge to allow it to seize control of U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp., which is owned by the country’s state oil company, Reuters reported. Canada-based Crystallex won a 2016 international arbitration award of $1.2 billion against Venezuela, which has refused to pay. The company had been trying to collect by seizing shares of Citgo’s U.S. parent company, which is owned by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

Creditors of Toys ‘R’ Us UK overwhelmingly approved the struggling retailer’s restructuring plan at a meeting yesterday, enabling it to stave off a collapse into administration, Reuters reported. Earlier this month the British arm of Toys ‘R’ Us Inc of the United States, which filed for bankruptcy protection in September, said it would seek creditor approval for a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). The plan will see the closure of at least 26 of its 105 British stores in 2018 and reduced rent on the stores that stay open.

Brazilian telecoms company Oi SA is up for sale after it emerged from Latin America’s largest-ever bankruptcy protection process, Chief Executive Eurico Teles said on Wednesday. Teles said the company was ready to receive international investors and had received an offer of support from China Development Bank, Reuters reported. Many international investors, such as China Telecom Corp Ltd and China Mobile Ltd, offered a capital injection as the company struggled for a year and a half to restructure some 65.4 billion reais ($20 billion) in debt.

Toys “R” Us Inc.’s U.K. unit, which is at risk of collapse, faces questions from lawmakers about a reported surge in payments to its former managing director, Bloomberg News reported. The loss-making British arm of the U.S. toy retailer boosted Roger McLaughlan’s pay to 1.3 million pounds ($1.7 million) in the year ended Jan. 30, 2016, from 1 million pounds and 356,000 pounds in the previous two years, Frank Field, the chairman of the House of Commons’ Works and Pensions Committee, said in a Dec. 18 letter to Toys “R” Us U.K.’s current head, Stephen Knights.

Offshore driller Ocean Rig UDW Inc is preparing to explore a sale amid pressure from some of its largest shareholders to review its strategic alternatives, according to three people familiar with the matter. The move will be a key test of Ocean Rig’s value after it emerged from Chapter 15 bankruptcy in September, Reuters reported. Its business has suffered as low oil prices have made offshore drilling less economically attractive and pushed more oil exploration onshore.