Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido has announced it will buy San Francisco-based cosmetics company Bare Escentuals for $1.7 billion.

Car sales in Europe rose by 16 per cent in December, an indication that the sector is making a gradual recovery after a challenging year.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Microsoft have announced they will spend $250 million over three years to simplify servers and cloud computing for business customers.

KenyaÔÇÖs government has announced it will sell stakes in five sugar companies in order to boost competitiveness and meet free trade requirements.

Internet search giant Google has said it will review its operations in China following a series of assaults by hackers on its computer systems.  The move, if followed through, would be a highly unusual rebuke of China by one of the largest technology companies in the world. Google launched its operations in China in 2006, keen to amass market share in a country with 350 million web users.

The Italian chocolate maker Ferrero has decided to withdraw from discussions with the US confectionary company Hershey over a joint bid for Cadbury, it has been reported.

Seismic services company Norex Exploration Services has announced it will merge with Tesla Exploration, North AmericaÔÇÖs largest privately-held geophysical services provider.  The deal will leave Tesla shareholders with about 70 percent of the new company, which will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The Dutch brewer Heineken has bought the beer unit of Mexican drinks giant Femsa in a deal valued at Ôé¼5.3 billion.

Pittsburgh-based aluminum giant Alcoa is expected to post a profit in its fourth quarter earnings report today, signaling the continuation of the commodityÔÇÖs recovery.

Richard BransonÔÇÖs Virgin Money has approached the US private equity firm Blackstone to seek backing for its bid for the UK government-owned bank Northern Rock.