THE DAILY BRIEFING

SOFTWARE SALE Investment firm Connection Capital has sold education software company

Impero to private equity group Investcorp Technology Partners for £27.5m.

Its software is used in more than 90 countries, including more than 1,400 secondary schools. DRUG DEAL Medical investor arix Bioscience has invested in San Diego’s Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, which is developing treatments for life-threatening fungal infections.

MARKETING LIFT Digital marketer Be Heard has posted a 155pc first-half profits boost from revenue of £8.4m, up from £3.3m last year.

CITY BASE Hong Kong investment bank Ion Pacific has opened its European headquarters in London.

TAX BILLS Lawyers and accountants paid £15.5bn of taxes in 2015-16, according to The City UK lobby group. There are 693,000 employees in the sector.

BANK LOSS Germany’s secondlargest bank plunged to a £601.8m loss in the second quarter of 2016.

Commerzbank’s figure was even worse than analysts had feared, and far below the £192.3m profit made in the same period last year.

STRIKE OUT Warehouse workers at retail giant argos are to stage a three-week strike in a dispute over redundancy arrangements.

Members of the Unite union will walk out on August 15 after a row flared over the transfer of workers from a distribution hub in Leicestershire to a site in Northamptonshire.

KNOCKED DOWN British builders have suffered their worst month for nearly a year amid reluctance among clients to commit to new projects, latest figures show. Research group Markit said its index of activity in the construction sector – where scores above 50 show growth – fell from 54.8 in June to 51.9 in July.

ENERGY FLOAT Oil and gas explorer Kosmos energy is due to float in London in September to try to find more European investors. The New York-listed firm has struck a major gas find just off Senegal. OIL FIELD Oil services firm amec

Foster Wheeler plans to flog off its North Sea oil and gas business to help its takeover by rival services firm Wood Group go through. Bosses at both firms hope the sale will satisfy competition officials worried that the £2bn tie-up will drive up prices.