Search Results for: International business

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE PAYMENT of Euro 197 million (GBPounds 136 million) by the French government to state-owned printer Imprimerie Nationale (IN) has been approved by the European Commission. The money will restructure the business, in commercial trouble because of a general downturn in France’s printing sector since 2001 and losing a contract to produce France Télécom telephone directories; this, said the Commission had “contributed to the severe contraction in its cash flow”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PRACTICAL methods by which the European Union’s (EU) textile chemical sector can live with the planned EU REACH environmental controls regime have been suggested in a new joint private-public sector report. This has been written by the so-called SPORT group, uniting the European Commission, European Union (EU) national governments, EU chemical industry federation Cefic, downstream users group DUCC and business organisations UNICE and UEAPME.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has formally threatened the Italian government with legal action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over national regulations that prevent companies based in foreign European Union (EU) countries from registering vehicles in Italy. This rule applies even to companies permanently doing business in the country.…

From Alan Osborn
An acquisition by the 3I Group plc of joint control of the Italian toy retailer Giochi Preziosi has been approved by the European Commission which said it saw no violation of EU competition regulations. 3I Group, an international venture capital company, will share control with Fingiochi, the present controlling shareholder of Giochi Preziosi which besides the wholesale and retail of toys is also active in the retailing of Christmas decorations, shoes, stationery products, confectionery, baby products and promotional gadgets in Italy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of the food ingredient business of the Denmark’s Chr. Hansen, by French investment company PAI Partners.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank, is pumping US$35 million over 10 years into leading Mexico low-end retailer Coppel, to support expansion plans. Coppel wants to consolidate its position as a national Mexican chain, enhance its credit business, and strengthen corporate governance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is planning to lend Romania’s European Drinks Group Euro 195 million to fund a long-term investment and expansion programme. Its aim, said a bank memorandum, was to ensure the drinks and food producer changed from “a family run entrepreneurial company into a well organised large corporate”.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
IT’S coming up to 18 months since the French tobacco industry was hit by the last of a triple whammy of excise tax increases over a single year and it seems a reasonable moment to take stock. The three tax increases – 10% in January 2003, 20% in November 2003 and 10% in January 2004 – were part of a health drive by Jacques Chirac’s government, worried by the continued popularity of smoking among young people among other things.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
INTERNATIONAL guidelines for treating illicit drug users with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis have been developed jointly by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). This advice particularly covers patients whose life expectancy has been so prolonged by antiretroviral therapy that they also contract hepatitis B and C, which can cause cirrhosis and cancer of the liver.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
PROFITS for Canada’s Indigo Books & Music Inc. soared to CDN$11.7 million at its April 2 year-end, an increase of 129% or CDN$6.6 million over the previous year’s results. However, the company’s total revenues for the year were CDN$787.5 million, down 2.3% (CDN$18.2 million) from a year earlier.…