PRESS DIGEST-British Business - March 15
March 15 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
The Times
- Britain's biggest pharmaceuticals company AstraZeneca has struck a deal worth more than $1 billion to acquire a French rare diseases company Amolyt Pharma as it seeks to bolster its drugs pipeline.
- Wael Sawan, chief executive of Shell said that the group would aim to cut the net "carbon intensity" of its products by between 15% and 20% by 2030 compared with its level in 2016 and that it had scrapped a 2035 target altogether.
The Guardian
- The EU is calling on eight major tech companies including Google , Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter to detail how they identify and tackle deepfake material amid concerns about the use of the technology to influence elections.
- The UK and Turkey have started talks about a post-Brexit free trade agreement targeting the service sector of the economy, the UK government said there were "huge opportunities" for British businesses in exporting to Turkey.
The Telegraph
- Cigarette maker Altria Group said that it would sell 35 mln shares in AB InBev. Altria currently owns around 10% stake of AB InBev valued at around $12.7 billion.
- Mark Harper, UK Transport Secretary said Britain will use "robust" trade sanctions to prevent China from flooding the car market with cheap electric vehicles (EVs).
Sky News
- Belgian insurer Ageas who is pursuing a takeover of its London-listed rival Direct Line Group, is facing opposition from one of its own leading shareholders to a potential deal.
- Air travel chaos caused by UK air traffic control (ATC) system fault in August last year, that led to delays for more than 700,000 passengers was fuelled by a "lack of planning" and engineers working from home, investigators have said.
The Independent
- Russia is believed to have jammed the satellite signal on an aircraft used by UK defence minister Grant Shapps to travel from Poland back to Britain.
(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)
