Paris — French utility EDF will need to invest more than €100bn in 2014-35 to extend the lifetime of its fleet of 57 nuclear reactors by up to 60 years, the French Court of Auditors said in a report on Monday.
EDF will have to balance these costs with the expenses of building an additional six next generation (EPR2) reactors, which are expected to have a final cost estimate by the end of the year with a final investment decision expected in the second half of 2026.
The renovations are expected to be positive for the French electricity system and should prove profitable for EDF if production forecasts are met, the court said. Reuters
TotalEnergies acquires stake in EPH’s power units
Paris — French oil major TotalEnergies said on Monday it has agreed to acquire 50% of Energetický a průmyslový holding’s (EPH) flexible power generation platform in Western Europe in a €5.1bn all-stock transaction.
Under the agreement, EPH will receive €5.1bn in TotalEnergies shares, making it one of the French energy major’s largest shareholders with about 4.1% of its capital.
The transaction will create a 50-50 joint venture managing gas-fired and biomass plants and battery systems across Italy, the UK and Ireland, the Netherlands and France. Reuters
GMI Cloud to build $500m AI data centre in Taiwan
Taipei — US-based cloud services provider GMI Cloud said on Monday it will build a $500m AI data centre in Taiwan with the support of US chipmaker Nvidia.
The data centre will come online by March 2026 and will run on Nvidia’s new Blackwell GB300 chips. The facility will house about 7,000 GPUs across 96 high-density racks, capable of processing nearly 2-million tokens per second. It will draw about 16MW of power. Reuters
ACS to sell Australian division’s transport unit
Madrid — Spanish construction company ACS has agreed to sell the transportation business of its Australian subsidiary UGL to Japan’s Sojitz Corporation for more than €560m, Spanish newspaper El Economista reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the talks.
ACS declined to comment while Sojitz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The deal is expected to close by the end of this year or early 2026, subject to regulatory approvals, the newspaper said. Reuters
Morgan Stanley lifts target for S&P 500 index
Bengaluru — In a series of global economic outlook notes published on Monday, Morgan Stanley said it favours US stocks over global peers and raised its 2026 year-end target for the S&P 500 index to 7,800, citing robust earnings growth, AI-driven efficiency gains and a supportive policy backdrop.
Morgan Stanley’s previous year-end target for the benchmark index was not immediately clear. Reuters
Ethiopian Airlines mulls Airbus and Boeing orders
Dubai — Ethiopian Airlines is actively evaluating new orders for wide-body aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing, CEO Mesfin Tasew said on Monday at the Dubai Airshow.
The airline confirmed an order for 11 new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which are options from previous deals.
In addition to these, Ethiopian Airlines has orders for 28 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft scheduled for delivery by 2030. Reuters
Stellantis’ Elkann pushes EU for flexibility on emissions targets
Stellantis chair John Elkann urged the European Commission on Monday to give carmakers more flexibility on emissions targets, saying interim goals fixed for 2030 should be averaged over several years.
Elkann said in an interview with Politico that the industry should be allowed to meet targets over five years from 2028 to 2032, reflecting a similar arrangement the commission made for a 2025 goal, which it agreed earlier this year to average across 2025-27.
The proposal would apply to passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, he said. The Stellantis chair also reiterated proposals including for a wide scrappage scheme to remove older, more polluting cars from European roads, helping cut emissions and boost growth, with incentives to make vehicles on sale in the region cheaper. Reuters
Bubble Wrap maker Sealed Air to go private in $10bn deal
US packaging company Sealed Air Corporation said on Monday it agreed to be bought by private equity firm CD&R for $10.3bn, including debt, in a deal that will take the company off the stock market.
Under the agreement, Sealed Air shareholders will receive $42.15 in cash per share, a nearly 13% premium to its closing price on November 11.
Sealed Air, which was founded in 1957 as an experiment in interior design, is best known for its protective packaging material, Bubble Wrap.
Last week, news outlet Semafor reported that activist investor Ancora, which holds more than 2% of Sealed Air as per data compiled by LSEG, had been pushing the company to pursue a sale. Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.