Europe

SABMiller has agreed to acquire Australia’s Foster's Group for approximately A$9.9 billion (£6.5 billion).

London, UK-based SABMiller said the acquisition is consistent with its strategic priorities and will provide it with exposure to Australia's strong economic growth prospects, as well as cementing its position in the Australian beer industry.

Melbourne-based Foster’s is Australia’s biggest brewer; and acquiring it will give SABMiller access to roughly half of the Australian beer market.

Ireland’s PetroNeft Resources has announced the discovery of an additional oil field within its licence at North Varyakhskaya, Russia.

The field is the seventh to be discovered in Licence 61, which is situated at Tomsk Oblast in south-western Siberia.

Tungolsky Licence 61, acquired by the company in May 2005, is located on the east side of the Ob River in the least explored oil-bearing region in the area. The licence covers 4,991 square kilometres.

Proven plus probable reserves within the licence area are estimated to be 83 million barrels.

Swiss power and technology group ABB has announced it is to construct two solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants for Eskom, South Africa’s national electricity provider.

The two one-hectare pilot plants will be located on greenfield sites adjacent to the coal-fired power stations at Lethabo in the Free State, and Kendal in Mpumalanga. They will be the first of their kind to be built in South Africa.

Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans to create 750 new jobs at a new engine plant in the West Midlands, UK.

With an investment of £355 million, the project is set to significantly boost the economy in the local area and support the development of manufacturing and skills in the UK. Further jobs are also expected to be created within the wider supply chain.

The plant will manufacture new four-cylinder, low-emission petrol and diesel engines.

Marriott International has identified enormous growth potential in the Middle East and Africa. Ed Fuller, president and managing director of International Lodging in the region, talks to Jayne Flannery about the rationale and strategy that underpins the expansion.

There’s been a harbour at Gibraltar for 2,000 years; but today it’s never handled so little freight. Instead, it has found its own unique mix of services, as Alan Swaby learns.

If ever an estate agent was called upon to sell the Port of Gibraltar, you know for a fact it wouldn’t take long for them to start banging the ‘location, location, location’ drum. At the crossroads to just about all north/south and east/west routes, it couldn’t be better placed. 

GeoSea, part of the DEME group of companies, has applied a pioneering approach to a host of underwater construction challenges. Business development manager Bart De Poorter talks to Jayne Alverca about the company’s flair for innovation.

New partners from Germany and France have been signed up to the South Stream gas pipeline project, it has been announced.

Germany’s Wintershall Holding and France’s EDF have each acquired a 15 per cent stake in the offshore section of the South Stream project through a 30 per cent reduction of Italian Eni's stake.

South Stream is a project conceived by Russia’s Gazprom to construct a gas pipeline across the Black Sea to South European and Central European countries, for the purpose of diversifying natural gas export routes.

Kingfisher, Europe's leading home improvement retailer, has announced it will create over 1,200 new jobs across the UK this year as it expands its B&Q and Screwfix stores.

The expansion plans will bring Kingfisher's total investment in the UK this year to £130 million, with a combined total of over 80 new Screwfix and B&Q stores being opened during 2011.

Rockhopper Exploration has announced further significant oil finds in the North Falkland Basin in the South Atlantic.

The company has encountered more oil during drilling of a fifth well to a total depth of 2,696 metres within its Sea Lion prospect.