Running an airline is normally a deadly serious business but this South African operator has made a name for itself by poking fun at just about everybody.

Comair in South Africa could just well be the most unusual airline in the world. Operations director Martin Louw doesn’t much care for the term Jekyll & Hyde but it’s hard to deny there is something of the schizophrenic about Comair.

Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s largest telecommunications company, has announced it is in talks to buy US wireless carrier MetroPCS.

The fifth largest carrier in the US, boasting more than nine million subscribers, MetroPCS is the country’s leading provider of non-annual-contract mobile phone services.

While it is keen to stress that the potential takeover is still in its early stages, Deutsche Telekom’s plans to merge MetroPCS with its T-Mobile USA unit sent the company’s up 17 percent.

In a deal worth $6 billion, Brazilian low-cost carrier Gol is to purchase 60 of its new 737 Max aircraft. With delivery due to begin in 2018, these new plans will be as much as 13 percent more fuel efficient than Gol’s existing fleet. The cost savings this will generate are vital to a company that is currently seeking to return to profitability.

Millicom International Cellular today announced it has now received all necessary documentation to complete the transaction to acquire 100 percent of Cablevision Paraguay.

Millicom will now assume management control of Cablevision Paraguay and will consolidate the operation’s results from 1 October 2012. The results for Cablevision Paraguay will be reported as part of the South America region.

Following the recommendation of Xstrata’s board of directors to its shareholders to back the merger terms offered by the commodities trader, a vote will now be held on whether to accept the offer of 3.05 Glencore shares for every Xstrata share.

Should said offer by accepted, the merger is expected to bring together the respective strengths of the two companies, thus creating a unique natural resources company boasting a virtually unparalleled level of experience, industry know-how and expertise.

In what looks to be the conclusion of a long-running saga, shareholders in Singapore-based conglomerate Fraser and Neave have voted to sell its beer business to the company.

The fastest growing market for beer in the world, it comes as little surprise that some of the lobes biggest brewers are increasing turning their attention to Asian nations and identifying them as core growth markets for the future.

New markets can spring spectacular surprises, but much can be learned from others who have been there before.

By George F. Brown, Jr.

A client in the medical equipment industry recently shared the following experience with me: 

Can China overcome its geology and infrastructure problems to become the dominant force in natural gas? And can other economies benefit from the opportunities this might create?

The world's biggest energy user is also one of the world’s worst polluters, due to its heavy reliance on coal and oil. Though China is now also the world's largest installer of wind turbines and the leading builder of nuclear reactors, it’s not enough to meet China’s unquenchable thirst for energy.

Since Hungary emerged from Soviet control, Magyar Telekom has been making rapid progress towards sustainability, recently earning an A+ rating from the Global Reporting Initiative. 

After more than four decades of Soviet control, the late 1980s saw a whole swathe of Eastern Bloc countries again become the masters of their own destiny. In Hungary, the transition occurred in 1989 and within just a few months, the country’s infrastructure was being modernised.