MADRID | The Inditex Group announced this week that it would completely absorb the increase in VAT from 18% to 21% that the Spanish government will carry out as one of its austerity measures to sustain the State's levels of income. But Inditex said it would not increase the prices of its products. In fact, this counter-price policy will extend to all of the Inditex Group’s chains, from Zara, to Pull&Bear, Massimo…
MADRID | Spain's Iberdrola today announced an agreement by which Iberdrola USA will sell to Direct Energy the 100% of its unregulated gas and electricity retail companies Energetix and NYSEG Solutions, both based in New York State for $110.2 million. The two companies in the process of being sold provide electricity, natural gas and energy related products and services to residential, small business, large commercial and industrial customers. As of the end…
MADRID | A total of seven world mobile operators, KPN, NTT DOCOMO, INC., Rogers, SingTel, Spain's Telefónica through its Telefónica Digital unit, Telstra and Vimpelcom have entered into an alliance to initiate collaboration with respect to their machine to machine or M2M businesses. According to their public announcement, “the important scale resulting from the cooperation of this group of operators will be of the utmost importance in addressing the complex and fragmented nature of M2M market.” More specifically, the alliance covers technological cooperation to enable…
how can i get my ex girlfriend back LONDON | Trafalgar Square's entrance towards Buckingham Palace has reportedly been sold to Spanish financier Rafael Serrano, whose plans for the London landmark involve a hotel. According to sources talking to The Times in London and Cinco Días in Madrid, Serrano bid £60 million (€75 million) for the listed building through his investment arm Prime Investors Capital. The British government aimed at…
MADRID | A total 63.64% of Repsol shareholders opted to be paid the final dividend from 2011 earnings in shares, the Spanish company reported Friday. This is the first time that Repsol has opted for a flexible dividend which allowed shareholders to choose between newly-issued shares or a cash dividend through the sale to the company of free allocation rights. These results reflect shareholder’s interest in the company’s
LONDON | Spain's giant Santander must be doing something right. Santander was named best global bank while Deutsche Bank was awarded the title of best global investment bank at Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence ceremony in London last night. The best global bank award was collected personally by Santander’s chairman, Emilio Botín, a gesture that probably intended to demonstrate his UK shareholders and clients that the British branch have a top place…
BBVA’s representative office in Taipei, set up in 2006, is now a full branch. The entity is now the first Spanish bank to open a branch in Taiwan and the first European bank to open one since the financial crisis began. BBVA began building its Asian franchise over 30 years ago and now has operations in the continent’s main financial centers. The Taipei branch will be added to the group’s…
MADRID | Spain's Zinkia Entertainment signed a strategic agreement with the Mexican company Tycoon, by which it becomes the licensee agent of the Pocoyo brand for Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru. The two companies have collaborated since 2008, when they set an accord on the distribution contract for the first season of the DVD series of Pocoyo in Central America. The latest deal also includes an extensive list of products based…
BEIJING | The launch of the new Ipad in China seems to be nearer now that Apple managed to get rid of the biggest barrier it was facing: the legal dispute with the Chinese company Proview. It seems Apple underestimated the fact that they were targeting a strategic market with a product named after a trademark that already existed in the country. For Proview, Ipad was just a name. But for…
European consortium Airbus said it will establish a manufacturing facility in the United States for assembly and delivery of A320 aircrafts. Located at the Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Alabama, it will be the company’s first US-based production facility. The Alabama complex will also assemble A319 and A321 aircrafts. According to Airbus' schedule, the site construction will begin in mid 2013 and it is planned to start production in 2015, with…