Bengaluru — Britain’s competition watchdog said on Monday it will launch an in-depth investigation into the proposed merger between US-based Getty Images and rival Shutterstock after remedies offered by the companies failed to address its concerns over the deal.
Getty and Shutterstock offered a “complex package of remedies” late in the Phase 1 investigation, but the regulator said these did not fully address concerns the deal could lead to higher prices and lower quality editorial and stock imagery.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it had heard concerns from businesses, trade associations and industry stakeholders including the News Media Association over the merger of the world’s largest photo licensing platforms. Reuters
Honeywell names president, aerospace unit CEO
Bengaluru — Honeywell said on Monday it has appointed Jim Currier as president and CEO of its aerospace unit, which will become a publicly traded company following its planned spin-off. Reuters
Payroll start-up Deel appoints CEO and CFO
Bengaluru — Deel on Monday appointed former Intuit executive Joe Kauffman as president and CFO to support the payroll start-up’s possible plans to go public as soon as next year.
Kauffman succeeds founding CFO Philippe Bouaziz, who will take on the newly created role of executive chair and chief strategy officer, said the Andreessen Horowitz-backed start-up, which was valued at $17.3bn in a fundraise last month. Reuters
CompoSecure to acquire Husky Technologies
Bengaluru — Fintech firm CompoSecure, backed by former Honeywell CEO David Cote, is set to buy Husky Technologies from Platinum Equity for roughly $5bn including debt, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The Husky deal will be partly funded by a roughly $2bn private investment in public equity that is expected to be offered at $18.50 per share of CompoSecure common stock, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters
Microsoft gets nod for advanced chip exports to UAE
Abu Dhabi — Microsoft plans to invest more than $15bn in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the seven years to the end of 2029 and has secured export licences from the Trump administration to ship advanced chips to the Gulf country, it said on Monday.
“The biggest share of it (the investment), by far, both looking back and looking forward, is the expansion of AI data centres across the UAE. From our perspective it’s an investment that is critical to meet the demand here for the use of AI,” Microsoft vice-chair and president Brad Smith said in an interview on Monday.
Smith said that it had secured export licences for that work from the US government last year and had secured new licences for this year. Smith was speaking on the sidelines of the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi. Reuters
Global oil demand expected to rise, says minister
Abu Dhabi — More oil demand is expected going into 2026, the United Arab Emirates’ energy minister said on Monday at the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi, after Opec+ decided to pause output increases in the first quarter of next year.
When asked about the possibility of an oil glut in 2026, Suhail al-Mazrouei said: “I think all of what we are seeing is more demand.”
The UAE is one of eight Opec+ countries that agreed to increase December output targets, though it halted the increases in the first quarter as it moderates plans to regain market share on fears of a supply glut. Reuters
China sets up a debt management department
Beijing — China’s ministry of finance has set up a new debt management department, its website showed on Monday.
The department’s main responsibilities include formulating and implementing systems and policies for managing central and local government debt and drafting regulations and measures for related management, according to the website. Reuters
Westpac Banking beats annual profit forecast
Sydney — Australia’s Westpac Banking Corporation reported a slight fall in annual profit on Monday but beat analyst forecasts, sending its shares up nearly 3%, as the bank works to boost its market share in the intensely competitive home loan market.
The country’s third-largest lender by market capitalisation said it expected credit growth to moderate through 2025 before stabilising in 2026 as higher interest rates and slowing consumption cool the economy and housing demand.
It added that strong employment and accumulated savings were helping to limit arrears and defaults. Reuters
Police seize Campari shares in tax evasion probe
Milan — Shares in Campari fell 5% on Monday after Italian tax police seized €1.29bn worth of shares in the Italian drinks maker held by its controlling shareholder for alleged tax evasion.
On Friday, police said they were seizing Campari shares held by Lagfin after a probe found €5.3bn of undeclared capital gains on which the controlling company allegedly failed to pay an exit tax levied on firms that transfer their financial residence abroad.
Lagfin, which is owned by Italy’s Garavoglia family, has denied any wrongdoing. Reuters
Renault targets partnerships to sell and make cars
Paris/Shanghai — Renault is in talks with more automakers, including China’s Chery, to explore partnerships to jointly produce and sell cars, a top executive said.
Fabrice Cambolive, Renault Group’s chief growth officer, said on Friday about the talks while announcing the completion on Monday of a deal in Brazil with China’s Geely .
The move underscores how Renault has been increasingly partnering with other automakers, especially Chinese ones, in global markets to improve the efficiency of its factories worldwide and enhance product competitiveness. Reuters
BP to sell stakes in US onshore oil and gas business
Bengaluru — BP said on Monday it would sell its non-controlling stakes in the Permian and Eagle Ford midstream assets of its US onshore oil and gas business for $1.5bn. Reuters
M&C Saatchi rejects £50m bid for media division
Bengaluru — British advertising group M&C Saatchi on Monday rejected an unsolicited £50m bid for its media division from rival Brave Bison, saying the offer “fundamentally undervalues” the business.
M&C Saatchi shares were up 4.4% at 142p in morning trade while Brave Bison stock was down nearly 2%.
M&C Performance, M&C Saatchi’s digital media planning and buying division, is a top growth driver for the group as advertisers pivot to digital media, serving clients such as Amazon and Meta. Reuters
