Europe

French-owned energy group Total is offering $1.37 billion for a majority stake in California-based solar panel manufacturer SunPower, to create a partnership that could help the solar industry move to the next stage of its development.

The boards of both companies have approved the deal, and SunPower will continue to operate with its current management team after it is concluded. Total will also provide SunPower with up to $1 billion of credit support over the next five years.

As April draws to a close, the world’s major oil companies are coming out with their first quarter results for 2011, with ConocoPhillips, BP, EXXON and Shell all reporting this week.

Reporting yesterday, the third largest US oil company ConocoPhillips reported a 43 per cent year-on-year rise in quarterly earnings to $3 billion, but said it was disappointed not to have achieved its production and refining targets.

Synova Capital, a UK private equity fund focused on the lower mid-market, today announced the acquisition of Actimax PLC, a leading UK supplier of IT and telecoms infrastructure services.

Actimax services include the provision of VOIP, systems maintenance, data services, mobile and hosting services, mainly to the underserved SME market.

"We have been able grow Actimax throughout the economic downturn by combining best quality systems with best value pricing and market leading customer service standards,” said John Massey, CEO of Actimax. “

The car manufacturing industry in the UK is under threat from a lack of local component suppliers, according to Nick Reilly, chairman of GM Europe.

Reilly told the BBC this weekend that the lack of home-based parts manufacturers was the most critical issue facing the UK motor industry, which was obliged to import a high proportion of parts.

Even overseas manufacturers like Toyota and Nissan were finding it hard to compete in their UK operations, he said, because of shipping costs and an extended supply chain.

Bristol Cars, the British manufacturer of iconic hand-built luxury cars, has been bought out of administration by Kamkorp Autokraft, part of the Frazer-Nash group.

The company, which makes only a handful of specialist cars every week at its factory in Filton, Bristol, UK, went into administration on 4 March 2011. The acquisition re-establishes the connection with Frazer-Nash which was influential in the foundation of Bristol Cars 65 years ago.

The Turkish Government has chosen US manufacturer Sikorsky to supply 109 Turkish Utility Helicopters, derived from the BLACK HAWK helicopter, for multi-mission use.

The aircraft will be assembled in Turkey by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) as the prime contractor and will include components supplied by Sikorsky and other American and Turkish companies.  

The Defense Industry Executive Committee (DIEC) has estimated the total program value to TAI at $3.5 billion, inclusive of work to be performed by Sikorsky and other program partners.

UK housebuilder Persimmon has reported a rise in sales reservations taken in the year to date of 12 per cent.

The company, which made the comments in a trading update released today, said that sales rates had previously been affected by uncertainty due to the UK’s planned austerity measures and particularly bad weather during November and December.

At the beginning of 2011, Persimmon had a sales order book of £565 million, lower than its £638 million of orders in January 2010. 

Brewer SABMiller has revealed in its full year trading update that strong performances in Africa and Asia boosted overall results.

The London-based maker of Peroni and Grolsch said that revenues for the 12 months to 31 March 2011 grew by five per cent, with lager volumes rising by two per cent. Within this, lager volumes in Africa increased by 13 per cent and in Asia by eight per cent.

However Latin American volumes remained level with the previous year, and fell in Europe by three per cent.

Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom-Orange have signed an agreement to combine their procurement activities of customer equipment, network equipment, service platforms and IT infrastructure as part of a 50/50 joint venture.

The companies have estimated that after three years, potential global savings could be achieved of between €400 million and €900 million.