Global Business

21st Century Fox in Talks for Sale

21st Century Fox is holding talks to sell most of the company to Walt Disney Co. What will be left behind is a company focussed on news and sports, say media reports. The willingness to sell comes from a belief among its senior management that scale is of immediate importance.

GE may divest aircraft leasing unit

General Electric may sell all or part of the aircraft leasing business as CEO John Flannery searches for new divestitures, says Reuters. GE's move on GE Capital Aviation Services, the world's second-largest lessor, follows expressions of interest from some competitors. A spin-off is a possibility, sources said, cautioning that GE may also decide to keep the business.

Broadcom makes $105 bn bid for Qualcomm

Broadcom has made a bid to buy Qualcomm for $105 billion in what would be the world's biggest technology sector takeover. This shows howtech companies are gearing up for a world where chips will drive everything, right from phones to cars. Broadcom is the fourth-largest chipmaker in the world by value.

Saudi Targets Up to $800 Billion in Assets

The government of Saudi Arabia plans to confiscate assets worth $800 billion as part of its crackdown on corruption. Several businessmen, including Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, owner of Kingdom Holding Company that has investments in Twitter, Apple, News Corp and Citigroup among others, have been arrested along with 60 other princes, officials and prominent public personalities.

Robots to take over 6,000 jobs

Banking group Nordea plans to shed 6,000 jobs in the next four years. Nordea has around 32,000 employees and one reason for the layoffs is replacement by robots. CEO Casper von Koskull said "need to cut costs" and "improve efficiency" were key factors, Xinhua news agency reported.

Chinese firm to buy Lycra owner

China's Shandong Ruyi Group plans to pay more than $2 billion to buy the apparel and advanced textiles business of Invista, the owner of Lycra, the form-fitting material used in everything right from skinny jeans to yoga pants, according to media reports. Invista is part of Koch Industries.