Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank Group is seeking a loan of up to 40 billion USD to finance its growing investment in artificial intelligence developer OpenAI, according to reports citing people familiar with the negotiations. The planned borrowing would represent the company’s largest dollar-denominated loan to date and reflects a broader strategy by founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son to deepen…
Spain’s finance ministry has approved BBVA’s €14 billion hostile takeover of Sabadell, but only on condition that the two banks remain completely separate for at least three years, possibly extending to five. The decree mandates distinct legal identities, management teams, balance sheets, payrolls, credit policies, and branch networks. Any branch closures or staff reductions are explicitly forbidden . While Spain cannot block…
Warburg Pincus, the U.S. private-equity heavyweight, is exploring the sale of its ~10% holding in SBI General Insurance, one of India’s fastest-growing non-life insurers. Bloomberg News reports that talks are under way with two potential buyers: Premji Invest, the family office of tech philanthropist Azim Premji, and State Bank of India (SBI), which already owns about 70% of the insurer.…
Rate Cut Marks Sixth Straight Easing Move The Swiss National Bank (SNB) lowered its policy rate by 25 basis points to 0% on Thursday, delivering its sixth consecutive reduction since March 2024. Chairman Martin Schlegel told reporters the decision had been widely anticipated after May consumer prices slipped 0.1% year-on-year, the first negative reading in four years. The move places…
The European Commission has handed Greece its largest agriculture-related sanction to date, ordering Athens to pay €392.2 million (about US$451.9 million) after auditors uncovered years of systemic mismanagement in the country’s farm-subsidy programme. The decision follows an in-depth probe of the Greek payment agency OPEKEPE, which distributes EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funds. Investigators concluded that supervisory controls between 2016…
Fast-fashion powerhouse Shein has pivoted its stock-market debut to Hong Kong after regulators in Beijing withheld approval for a planned London listing. The Singapore-headquartered retailer, valued privately at about US-$60 billion, hopes the move will unlock a broader pool of Asian capital while sidestepping the turbulence it encountered in Western venues. Before looking to London, Shein had flirted with Wall…
Morgan Stanley has begun sounding out investors on a US $5 billion financing package for Elon Musk’s artificial-intelligence start-up xAI. Two structures are on offer: a floating-rate term loan B sold at 97 cents on the dollar and priced at SOFR + 700 basis points, and an alternative mix of a smaller term loan plus senior secured notes paying a…
