Retailer buys chain from administration for £3.8m adding to portfolio ranging from FatFace to Made.comNext has rescued the footwear retailer Russell & Bromley out of administration for £3.8m but about 400 jobs are likely to go at 33 shops not included in the deal.The British brand, founded in 1879 in Eastbourne, East Sussex, trades from 36 stores and nine concessions across the UK and Ireland. Next will take on only three stores – in Chelsea, Mayfair and the Bluewater shopping centre – and about 48 store staff, it is understood. Continue reading...

Streaming company says proposal speeds up completion and allows WBD investors to vote as soon as AprilNetflix has sweetened its $82.7bn (£61.5bn) offer for the studios and streaming businesses of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) by making it an all-cash deal, streamlining its potential completion in the face of a hostile bid from Paramount Skydance.The streaming company had originally secured the unanimous backing of the WBD board last month with a cash-and-shares proposal that valued the business at $27.75 a share. Continue reading...

Culture secretary ‘minded to’ intervene and ask Ofcom and CMA whether the £500m deal harms media pluralityThe culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, intends to ask the UK’s media and competition watchdogs to examine the proposed £500m takeover of the Telegraph titles by the owner of the Daily Mail.Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) agreed a deal in November to buy the titles, in a move that will create a right-leaning publishing powerhouse. Continue reading...

Aim is to speed up acquisition of WBD studio and streaming businesses and hold off rival Paramount bidNetflix is reportedly preparing to switch to an all-cash offer to seal its takeover of the studios and streaming businesses of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), as it tries to speed up the deal and fend off a rival hostile bid from Paramount Skydance.The changes to Netflix’s $83bn (£62bn) offer, first reported by Bloomberg, are designed to accelerate the acquisition, which is expected to take months to conclude, and make it more palatable for WBD shareholders. Continue reading...

Merger between Paris-based Banijay Group and RedBird IMI-owned All3Media would create a European TV production giant The world’s largest independent television production group, which is behind shows ranging from Peaky Blinders to Big Brother, is in talks to merge with the UK-based maker of hit TV shows including The Traitors.The Paris-headquartered Banijay Group, which last year considered making a takeover offer for ITV’s studio operation, is in advanced talks with All3Media, which is owned by RedBird IMI, the Abu Dhabi-backed company that is trying to off-load the Telegraph titles to the owner of the Daily Mail. Continue reading...

Paramount also files lawsuit seeking disclosure of financial information related to $82.7bn agreementParamount Skydance plans to nominate directors to Warner Bros Discovery’s (WBD) board to vote against the approval of its deal with Netflix, and filed a lawsuit seeking disclosure of financial information related to the $82.7bn (£61.4bn) agreement.In a letter sent to WBD investors on Monday, Paramount said it would nominate directors for election at the company’s annual meeting, which is usually held in June, to try to derail the deal with Netflix, which was agreed in December. Continue reading...

Many of the old challenges remain but there are a number of reasons why this time a deal of some kind could be possibleMining firms Rio Tinto and Glencore restart $260bn merger talksHere we go again. A combination of Rio Tinto and Glencore has been talked about for years and the duo held aborted negotiations at the end of 2024. With the global mining industry in deal-making mode – frenzies come along every 15 years or so – the idea of RioGlen or GlenTinto was due another whirl. On Friday, the two FTSE 100 companies said they were in “preliminary discussions” about a “possible combination of some or all of their businesses”. A full-blown tie-up would be worth about $260bn (£120bn), including debt.Many of the old challenges to a deal haven’t gone away. Glencore’s roots lie in trading commodities; Rio is a traditional pure miner, so the fit is culturally imperfect. Does Rio, which got out of coal as long ago as 2018 under investor pressure, really want to go back in by adding Glencore’s significant assets in that area? Reports suggested it is prepared to do so. But, if not, should coal be hived off beforehand? Should Glencore’s trading operation go with it? Continue reading...

Deal would create world’s largest mining company and come almost a year after previous discussions failedNils Pratley: Glencore and Rio Tinto are at it again – and the markets smell actionRio Tinto and Glencore have restarted talks over a merger that would create the world’s largest mining company.The talks come almost a year after previous discussions between the two mining companies collapsed. If a deal is agreed, it would create a global mining business with an enterprise value of more than $260bn (£193bn). Continue reading...

Move by UK competition regulator comes as Associated British Foods, which owns Primark, issues profit warningBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK competition watchdog has ramped up its investigation into a £75m takeover deal that will result in the owner of Kingsmill snapping up its sliced bread rival Hovis.Associated British Foods (ABF), which also owns the Primark clothing chain, confirmed plans to buy Hovis from its private equity owners Endless in August, combining the UK’s second and third largest bread brands. Continue reading...

Board unwilling to accept hostile takeover despite $40bn guarantee from billionaire Larry EllisonWarner Bros Discovery (WBD) has again told its shareholders to reject an “inadequate” $108.4bn (£80bn) hostile takeover bid by Paramount Skydance amid an extraordinary corporate battle to control the media conglomerate.Paramount, controlled by the billionaire Ellison family, had sought to combat WBD’s criticism of its offer and claims it had “consistently misled” investors by saying it had a “full backstop” – a safety net to ensure it has sufficient funds – from the Ellisons. Continue reading...

What we know about the deal with TAE Technologies so far – from why it is happening to what fusion energy isTrump Media & Technology Group, owner of Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, announced a merger on Wednesday with a company developing fusion energy technology.TAE Technologies, an energy company founded in 1998, will join with Trump Media via a $6bn merger that it promises will propel it to build “the world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant” next year. Continue reading...

Joint venture will take over part of app’s US operations, including data protection, algorithm security and content moderationBusiness live – latest updatesUS politics live – latest updatesTikTok has reached a deal to form a joint venture that will allow it to continue operating in the US, five years after Donald Trump threatened to ban the social media platform over privacy and national security concerns, a move that further strained relations with China.ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, has signed a deal with Larry Ellison’s Oracle, the private-equity group Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX that will allow it to retain control of its core US operations. Continue reading...