Headlines

The sale of financially-troubled East Coast-based vegetable processor Cedenco Foods to a Japanese company has been approved by the Overseas Investment Office (OIO), The National Business Review reported. Despite being one of New Zealand's biggest fruit and vegetable processors, Cedenco was put into receivership by ANZ National Bank last November, after it defaulted on $46 million owed to the bank and $4.7m to unsecured creditors.

Net mortgage lending by U.K. banks grew at a similar pace in July from a month earlier, while nonfinancial firms paid down debt at the fastest pace since March, data from the British Bankers Association showed Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The increased rate of debt repayment by nonfinancial companies was due to still sluggish demand for finance, the BBA said. However, it comes at a time when smaller and medium-sized firms are stepping up their criticism of bank-lending practices. U.K.

Ireland’s long-term sovereign credit rating was cut one step to AA- from AA by Standard & Poor’s, which cited the projected cost of supporting the nation’s financial sector, Bloomberg reported. “The negative outlook reflects our view that a further downgrade is possible if the fiscal cost of supporting the banking sector rises further, or if other adverse economic developments weaken the government’s ability to meet its medium- term fiscal objectives,” S&P said today in a statement.

A primary goal of Europe's recent "stress" tests of its banks was to illuminate their holdings of potentially risky government-issued debt. But that clarity has been fleeting, The Wall Street Journal reported. Regulators across the European Union conducted the stress tests of 91 banks last month, hoping to dispel investor anxiety about the health of the continent's banking system.

Canada agreed Tuesday to pay newsprint maker AbitibiBowater more than $100 million to settle the company's claim over what it said was an illegal seizure of its assets, the Associated Press reported. The forestry giant had sought $500 million under the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement after Canada's Atlantic-coast province of Newfoundland expropriated some of its assets.

LyondellBasell Industries NV, one of the world's biggest plastics and chemical producers, has decided to end all business operations in Iran, a move designed to shield itself against possible penalties the U.S. could soon impose on firms for violating sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The Dutch company's board approved the decision early this month after months of deliberation, according to a LyondellBasell spokesman.

Germany is at odds with the UK over plans to make banks meet part of the costs of solving any future financial crisis because of differing views about how to implement the charge, the Financial Times reported. The government of Angela Merkel, the chancellor, will on Tuesday press ahead with plans to implement an annual levy on all banks that have headquarters in Germany. Britain’s proposal is that the levy should apply to both domestic and overseas banks that do business in the UK.

Officials from Pakistan have held talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to discuss its $11bn loan package in the wake of the devastating floods, the BBC reported. The IMF's regional director, Masood Ahmed, told the BBC the organisation wanted to find a way to help Pakistan "through this difficult phase". This could include lowering some fiscal targets or allowing Pakistan to apply for emergency natural disaster funding.

A potential "white knight" offer has emerged for Tagish Lake Gold Corp., which has been fending off a takeover by New Pacific Metals Corp, The Canadian Press reported. Tagish Lake said Monday it has been approached by YS Mining Company Inc. and its two shareholders, Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. and Northwest Nonferrous International Investment Company Ltd. They are proposing the formation of a new company to own Tagish's Mt. Kukum property and YNG's Ketza River gold property.

Mahindra & Mahindra, India’s foremost producer of sports utility vehicles (SUV), took the first step to acquire Ssangyong Motor, Korea’s smallest automaker, after the two signed a memorandum of understanding Monday, The Korea Times reported. Early this month, Mahindra was picked as the preferred bidder of the flagging Korean carmaker. After completing due diligence, both sides are set to finalize a definite agreement later this year, possibly in November.