UK oil explorer Regal Petroleum has backed an improved takeover bid from Energees Investments, which came on the back of a rival bid from a Ukrainian billionaire.

The offer from Energees values its proposed 70 per cent stake in Ukraine-focused Regal at around £85 million.

Energees is the main holding company of Ukraine's Smart Holding Group.

The revised offer comes following a rival proposal from Cyprus-based Heamoor and oil explorer Geo-Alliance. Both Heamoor and Geo-Alliance are controlled by the Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk.

Pennsylvania furniture maker Knoll, Inc. today announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2010.

Swiss food giant Nestlé has opened a new state-of-the-art factory in Nigeria’s Ogun state.

The NGN12 billion (approx. €57 million) Flowergate factory will be primarily dedicated to the production of the company’s Maggi branded range.

The 12 hectare facility—Nestlé’s 27th in Africa—will offer jobs to 180 people and indirect jobs to hundreds more.

General contractor American Bridge Company, has awarded a $13 million contract for steel grid decking and galvanized drainage grating for the Walt Whitman Bridge Suspension Span & Anchorages Project to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based LB Foster Company.

Dutch oil giant Shell has reported profits of $18.6 billion (£11.5 billion) for 2010, on the back of increased production and rising oil prices.

Profits were nearly double that of last year, with earnings in the final quarter soaring by almost 400 per cent to $5.7 billion.

Commenting, Shell’s CEO Peter Voser said: “Our 2010 earnings increased substantially from 2009 levels, driven by improving industry fundamentals, and Shell’s production growth and cost performance.”

Aker Solutions has completed the sale of the principal operations of its Process and Construction business area to Jacobs Engineering Group, one of the world's largest and most diverse providers of technical, professional and construction services.

Aker Solutions, a global oil services company providing engineering and construction services, technologies, product solutions and field-life solutions for the upstream oil and gas industry, intends to concentrate its future strategic efforts on its core oil and gas business.

West Africa-focused Stellar Diamonds has reported “encouraging” initial diamond recoveries from drill core samples of the company's Droujba kimberlite pipe in south-east Guinea.

The company recovered 538 diamonds from 291.62kg of kimberlite, including five commercial-sized diamonds larger than 0.85mm.

The majority of the diamonds recovered are classified as white, colourless and transparent.

Two sets of figures released recently indicate that the US economy is continuing to recover from the recession.

A solid 3.2 percent annualized growth rate for GDP in Q4, up from 2.6 percent in Q3, rounded off the US economy's best year for five years in 2010, expanding 2.9 percent over the year as a whole.

Employment in the UK’s wind power industry has surged 91 per cent in just three years, according to a report commissioned by trade body RenewableUK.

Figures in today’s report show a 91 per cent increase in full-time employment in the sector between 2007/8 and 2009/10.

The study was jointly commissioned by RenewableUK and Energy & Utility Skills—the Sector Skills Council for the power sector—from Warwick University’s Institute for Employment Research (IER) and Cambridge Econometrics.

Nick Jones, managing director of Nexus Collections, discusses the importance of fair trade and suggests what you should look for in a fair trade supplier.