Chancellor Angela Merkel, when asked about Commerzbank, said on Thursday that the German government has no fixed position on mergers.

The We Company, parent of workspace provider WeWork, said on Wednesday it has created a $2.9 billion real estate investment platform with funding from one of Canada's largest pension funds, building on ties with private equity firm the Rhone Group.

Britain's Non-Standard Finance dropped the level of acceptances needed to press ahead with a 1.3 billion pound ($1.7 billion) hostile bid for Provident Financial on Wednesday after winning over investors with 53.53% of its shares.

Non-Standard Finance Plc said on Monday it expected to reach an agreement to address concerns raised by Britain's competition watchdog during the first phase of the review process of its proposed hostile takeover of Provident Financial Plc.

Sub-prime lender Non-Standard Finance (NSF) and Provident Financial exchanged blows again on Friday, with NSF accusing its larger rival of "scaremongering" as it resists a $1.69 billion hostile takeover bid.

Provident Financial Plc's third-biggest shareholder British asset manager Schroders Plc said on Wednesday it would not accept Non-Standard Finance Plc's hostile takeover bid for the subprime lender.

Edizione, the holding company of Italy's Benetton family, has increased its stake in Assicurazioni Generali to 4 percent, the Italian insurer's Chairman Gabriele Galateri said on Tuesday.

Hotel owner Park Hotels & Resorts Inc on Monday agreed to buy smaller rival Chesapeake Lodging Trust in a cash and stock deal valued at $2.7 billion that would create the second biggest lodging real estate investment trust in the United States.

Louis Dreyfus Company, one of the world's biggest agricultural commodities houses, may consider selling a stake to a regional player to support its development although there are no specific plans to do so, the company said on Friday.

Louis Dreyfus Company could consider the possibility of opening its capital to regional players to support its development, the company said on Friday, citing the group's Chief Executive Ian McIntosh.