Merck, the German pharmaceuticals and chemicals company, has agreed to buy the US laboratory supplies maker Millipore for $7.2 billion (Ôé¼5.2 billion) including net debt.

Wal-Mart has unveiled plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 million metric tons across its network of suppliers and stores by 2015.

The Spanish oil company Repsol has announced it will drill for oil in an area near to the Falkland Islands, around 200 miles off ArgentinaÔÇÖs coastline.

The Coca-Cola Company is in talks to buy the North American operations of its largest bottlerÔÇöwhich goes against its 14-year-old strategy of keeping its bottling operations separate from its main soft drinks business.  If the partial acquisition of Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) goes ahead, the rest of the bottler would remain independent and buy Coke bottling operations in Scandinavia and Germany, according to reports.

Fresh into ideas
The concept behind Fruit and Veg City has struck a chord with the public in South Africa. Graeme Liebenberg talks to Gay Sutton about a massive expansion that could see healthy fresh produce on sale at petrol station forecourts across the country.

British Gas has announced a jump in operating profits of 58 per cent to £595 million, up from £379 million in 2008.

A Californian company is claiming a breakthrough in the race to develop fuel cells that can produce affordable and relatively green electricity.  Silicon Valley start-up Bloom Energy will today unveil its solid oxide fuel cell, which is capable of powering a small office building.  The companyÔÇÖs technology gives users the ability to produce electricity as opposed to buying it from utilities. It also has the potential to extend electricity to parts of the world lacking traditional power systems and lines.

The Duabi-based explorer Dragon Oil has said it has put aside more than $1 billion (Ôé¼738 million) to work on acquisitions this year after falling energy prices caused a drop in its full-year profits.

The Energy Department has offered a $1.4 billion loan guarantee for a solar thermal power complex in the Mojave Desert that could produce as much as 392 megawatts of electricity.  The loan guarantee for Oakland, California-based BrightSource EnergyÔÇÖs project is the largest the department has given for a solar power project.  The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is the first utility-scale solar power plant to undergo licensing in California in almost 20 years.