Headlines

What was once the No. 1 printer in the world will become a piece of what was once No. 3 as World Color Press — formerly Quebecor Word — merges with rival Quad/Graphics Inc., The Vancouver Sun reported. The combined company will become the second largest commercial printer, just behind current leader R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., employing 30,000 people and pulling in an estimated $5 billion in revenues.

Several Chinese banks have ordered some branches to suspend new lending for the rest of this month, people familiar with the situation said on Tuesday, as concerns rippled around markets in the region that China may take more aggressive action to rein in bank credit that is fuelling the country's rapid growth, The Wall Street Journal reported. The moves by some banks to temporarily choke off credit come amid reports of a fresh deluge of new lending in the first several weeks of this year after a year of blow-out lending in 2009.

Britain’s long-awaited exit from recession has moved from thwarted prediction to firm fact. But the welcome news came with a painful sting, The Economist reported. The economy barely crawled forward, expanding by just 0.1% between the third and the fourth quarters of 2009, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday January 26th. This was much feebler than the median forecast among City economists for an increase of 0.4%.

A leading credit rating agency threatened Tuesday to downgrade Japan’s rating unless the world’s second-largest economy took more steps to rein in its mounting public debt, The New York Times reported. The warning by Standard & Poor’s, which cut its outlook for Japan’s sovereign rating for the first time since 2002, reflected concerns that the government’s efforts to trim its mounting public debt were proceeding too slowly. The Japanese economy has emerged from its worst recession since World War II, but is still reeling.

The European Commission on Monday cleared a plan by British authorities to provide aid of over 1.5 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) to facilitate the restructuring of Dunfermline Building Society, Reuters reported. The restructuring saw the split-up of the building society, of which a part containing good assets and liabilities was sold in an auction to a competitor. "The Commission found that the orderly break-up of Dunfermline resulted in the return to viability of the good part that was sold," the Commission, the European Union's executive arm, said in a statement.

Investment company Genii Capital has withdrawn from the bidding for General Motors' unit Saab, leaving Spyker Cars as the sole remaining bidder to rescue the ailing Swedish auto brand. Genii Capital's bid had been backed by Formula One mogul Bernie Ecclestone and had said as recently on Sunday that although Spyker Cars was "well-positioned" to buy Saab, Genii was ready to pounce if the Spyker bid collapsed.

The chief executive of Dutch car maker Spyker said on Tuesday talks on its bid to purchase Swedish auto group Saab were proceeding well and negotiations could "go either way". Shares in Spyker have skyrocketed on speculation it was close to clinching a deal to buy loss-making Saab from U.S. automaker General Motors. "Negotiations are ongoing and the spirit is positive, but we are very, very tired," Spyker chief executive Victor Muller told Reuters while in Stockholm, where he is holding talks. Read more.

The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association did not fight for more than 200 members told to close by General Motors last year because its interests lay with surviving retailers in the firm's restructuring, a class-action lawsuit says. Although the lawsuit on behalf of affected dealers does not name the association as a defendant, the statement of claim says the umbrella group rejected all pleas for help about their futures, The Toronto Star reported. Trillium Motor World of Toronto sued General Motors of Canada Ltd.

Ericsson said it would cut 1,500 jobs as part of its broad restructuring plan. In addition, the vendor's profit plunged 92 percent in the fourth quarter, hit by higher restructuring costs and weaker sales, FierceWireless reported. The Swedish company reported net profit of $43.4 million in the quarter, down from $539.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Sales slumped 13 percent to $8.08 billion, down from $9.29 billion in the fourth quarter last year. Networks sales fell 16 percent in the quarter and professional services sales were flat year-over-year.

International efforts to regulate financial institutions gained renewed momentum Friday in the wake of the Obama administration's proposals to curb the size and spread of the biggest U.S. banks, leading regulators said Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The U.S. moves, announced Thursday, are likely to make financial regulation one of the top items on the agenda at next week's gathering of world political and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland. The news hit bank stocks around the world Friday as investors concluded banks would face tougher government actions.