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Investing

Portugal’s PM soothes investors after resignation over corruption probe

Portugal's Prime Minister and Socialist Party (PS) Secretary General Antonio Costa looks on after winning the general election in Lisbon, Portugal, January 31, 2022. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLISBON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Portugal's premier Antonio Costa, who resigned this week, told foreign investors on Saturday the country was open for business and wanted to remain attractive despite an ongoing corruption probe into "green" energy projects.Costa stepped down on Tuesday over an investigation into alleged illegalities in his government's handling of lithium and hydrogen projects, as well as a...
Money

Europe’s mining quest faces a hurdle: angry locals

COVAS DO BARROSO, Portugal, Sept 13 (Reuters) - In Portugal's northern Barroso region, Maria Loureiro weeps at the prospect of losing her family's land to a mine that could become one of Europe's biggest producers of lithium, used in electric vehicle batteries and other clean technologies."I don't want them to take away what has been left to me by my parents and grandparents," 55-year-old Loureiro said. "I don't want the mine ... I will fight it to the death."She is among local activists in Portugal and elsewhere whose determination to...
Investing

European firms look for footing in China-U.S. spat, French execs say

Renault's chairperson Jean-Dominique Senard looks on during a visit by the French President to the site of the future factory of Japan-based battery maker Envision AESC group, where Renault SA develops an electric-vehicle manufacturing hub, in Douai, France June 28, 2021. Ludovic Marin/Pool via... Read moreAIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, July 9 (Reuters) - European firms are concerned they could get caught in the cross-fire of rising economic rivalry between the United States and China, with some officials at a French business conference also frustrated at Europe's slowness in crafting a response.Rising trade...
Pension

Bunge, Viterra will merge to form $34 billion agri-trading powerhouse

CHICAGO, June 13 (Reuters) - U.S. grains merchant Bunge (BG.N) and Glencore-backed (GLEN.L) Viterra are merging to create an agricultural trading giant worth about $34 billion including debt, the companies said on Tuesday, in a deal that will likely draw close regulatory scrutiny.The deal brings the combined company closer in global scale to leading rivals Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM.N) and Cargill (CARG.UL), valuing Bunge and Viterra at about $17 billion each. Bunge shareholders, however, will own about 70% of the company, because Bunge will pay for a significant chunk of the deal...