Headlines

Europe’s economy is nearing the end of a malaise that’s resulted in more than a year of near stagnation, according to European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Bloomberg News reported. Output in the 20-nation euro zone is “recovering and we are clearly seeing signs of recovery,” Lagarde told the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington on Wednesday. “We haven’t had a recession, but it’s been very, very slow and meager,” she said.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said that the U.K. and the rest of Europe are facing less of an inflation threat than the US, opening the prospect of a rate cut for Britain before the Federal Reserve moves, Bloomberg News reported. Inflation in the UK will fall near its 2% target next month and has declined roughly in step with the BOE’s forecast in February, Bailey said Wednesday at a meeting of the Institute of International Finance in Washington, D.C.

The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has disposed of two insolvency resolution applications filed by State Bank of India and IDBI Bank against Mumbai Metro One after lenders agreed to one-time settlement (OTS) of dues, the Times of India reported. Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd (MMOPL), a joint venture between Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), will be taken over etirely by MMRDA.

The administrators for Greensill Capital are still owed around $587.2m (£472m) from Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, it has been revealed, CityAM.com reported. Grant Thornton, the administrators for Greensill, published a report on Sunday, where it outlined how the firm is still in ongoing discussions with a number of debtors, including GFG Alliance, regarding outstanding balances owed.

Pole Bicycles Company has appeared on a Finnish insolvency registry today, PinkBike.com reported. The filing appeared on Finnish legal case database maksukyvyttomyysrekisteri.om.fi on April 17, 2024. As of yet, there is no notice of it on Pole's website or social media, but founder Leo Kokkonen confirmed the news in a message to Rob Ride's eMTB's YouTube channel. Just three weeks ago, Pole announced their Factory Racing team of Dan Slack and Onni Rainio. Based in Finland, Pole Bicycles was created in 2015 by Leo Kokkonen, an out-of-the-box designer and passionate rider.

Argentina corn farmers had high hopes for this season’s harvest after near-perfect weather conditions ended years of drought. A record crop would also bode well for President Javier Milei’s plan to turn around the nation’s embattled economy, Bloomberg News reported. Now a bug is getting in the way. Corn farmers are seeing their fields ravaged by a plague of leafhopper insects. The infestation is slashing production potential for the world’s third-largest exporter of corn just as harvesting gathers speed.

The owner of Britain’s Royal Mail said it rejected a £3.1 billion ($3.9 billion) bid from Czech entrepreneur Daniel Kretinsky because it “significantly undervalues” the company, Bloomberg News reported. International Distributions Services Plc said it turned down the cash offer, worth 320 pence a share, on April 11. The shares surged 28% on Wednesday, closing at 276 pence — still well below the offer price. “The board believes the timing of the proposal is opportunistic,” IDS said in a statement.

Altice France’s upcoming debt negotiations could see another export of the US restructuring market hitting Europe, Bloomberg News reported. A group of secured creditors to billionaire Patrick Drahi’s French telecommunications company is preparing to sign a six-month cooperation agreement that binds them to act together in debt negotiations, Bloomberg reported on Friday. Such deals have become a common tool designed to prevent US restructurings from turning contentious, but remain a relative rarity in Europe.

Light SA will receive fresh cash and convert debt to equity under a preliminary restructuring deal it reached with creditors, Bloomberg News reported. The troubled Rio de Janeiro utility said in a filing released Monday the agreement in principal includes a capital injection of as much as 1.5 billion reais, the issuance of new notes and converting as much as 2.2 billion reais of existing debt into equity.

Thames Water Utilities Ltd.’s board members are set for last-ditch talks to update their business plan this week after shareholders branded the previous one “uninvestible,” Bloomberg News reported. Directors of the heavily indebted utility are set to meet Thursday, with the plan expected to be released Friday, according to a person familiar with the plans who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Thames supplies a quarter of the water and sewage services to England, including London.