THE DAILY BRIEFING
PENSIONERS BID A Dutch pension firm has joined a consortium looking to buy the chemicals division of London-listed paint-maker Akzo Nobel.
PGGM, which oversees around £177bn for Dutch healthcare workers, is part of a team led by US private equity firm Apollo.
TAKING OFF London’s Heathrow Airport reported a 1.1pc rise in passengers in January – the 15th consecutive month of increases.
CARTOON DEAL Disney has signed a deal with Alibaba to share its content with the Chinese tech giant’s online video service.
CAR CRUNCH Over-50s insurer Saga has signed up Munich Re and Hannover Re to take on responsibility for some of its motor policies. The reinsurers will be responsible for 80pc of the risk from Saga’s underwriting division AICL. Saga shares rose 3.7pc, or 4.1p, to 115.9p.
TECH HUB US bank Citigroup is setting up a tech hub in London. The firm will hire 60 experts for the centre, which will also house Citi’s European venture capital arm.
GETTING BIGGER Britain’s economy will grow at an annual rate of 2pc in the first quarter of 2018 after a pick-up in demand for services, according to accountant BDO.
CASH IN The UK’s 350 biggest public firms raked in a record £11.2bn in the final quarter of 2017, up 45pc on the previous year.
PAYING OUT Renters paid £51.6bn to landlords last year, according to estate agent Countrywide. This was up £1.8bn on the previous 12 months.
GAS GRID Oil titan BP has started producing gas from its Atoll Phase One project off Egypt’s coast, seven months ahead of schedule. The project is now producing 350m cubic feet of gas every day, sent to Egypt’s national grid. The field was discovered in March 2015.
SPARKLING SUCCESS The Lucapa Diamond Company has found the first diamonds at its Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho, southern Africa. The largest recovered was 6.6 carats. The mine
is 30pc owned by the Kingdom of Lesotho. TAX RETURN Power converter maker XP Power says it is expecting a £5.2m boost to its earnings due to the US corporation tax cuts. It is also getting a £1.3m corporation tax refund in Singapore.