THE DAILY BRIEFING

INDIA LINK State-owned Russian oil major Rosneft is buying Indian oil producer and refiner Essar Oil for £10bn. The deal helps Russia deepen economic ties with India that stretch back to the Soviet era.

PROPERTY MOVE Central London-focused property investment firm Shaftesbury has bought the lease for a property development in Berwick Street, Soho, for £38.5m. It is being redeveloped by property guru Peter Beckwith’s PMB Holdings.

REFINERY DEAL Oil services provider Wood Group has won a five-year, multi-million dollar contract to help look after Phillips 66s Sweeny Refinery in Texas. Wood Group has worked at the refinery for more than 20 years and 175 of its workers will be based there under the contract.

PENSIONS PLUG The pensions of nearly 200 luxury smartphone makers look set to be plugged after liquidators raised £2m. Vertu Corporation, which made phones for the super-rich, went into administration last month with more than £500,000 in unpaid pension contributions and more than £450,000 owed in wages.

CRYPTO BETS Trading company IG is taking bets on price movements in online currency Ether. The so- called cryptocurrency – similar to better-known rival bitcoin – is prone to wild swings in value, and has ranged between $0.10 and $400 a unit this year.

DRUGS DEPARTURE Jeff Poulton, the chief financial officer of Shire, has left the pharmaceutical giant to join a start-up company in the US. The 49-year- old – who earned nearly £1.8m last year – will join Indigo, based in Boston, which aims to use plant materials to improve productivity and sustainability in agriculture.

BOSTON BOUND British biotech firm Oxford Genetics will use £2m in cash from investment fund Mercia Technologies to open an office in Boston and extend its research and development facilities in Oxford.

LONDON LIST West Africa and Latin America focused oil and gas explorer Kosmos Energy has listed on the London Stock Exchange with a £1.9bn market cap.

AFRICAN SKIES Satellite firm Avanti Communications has agreed to launch its HYLAS 4 satellite, which will provide broadband access to Africa, in March next year, around three months earlier than planned.