Aer Lingus sale moves closer
The sale of Aer Lingus to IAG has taken a step forward today, with the decision expected to reach cabinet level discussions.
Transport Minister Paschal Donohue has received an expert group's report on the potential sale and may discuss it at this morning's cabinet meeting.
According to the The Irish Times, the report is "strongly supportive" of the sale and says the price €1.4bn for Ireland's offered is fair.
The European Commission has already given the deal its blessing, but trade unions and members of the Labour Party are still in favour of rejecting the offer.
__________________________________________________________________
Ulster Bank to sell Irish hotels portfolio
Ulster Bank has agreed the sale of its Coney portfolio, which contains 36 hotels and 66 pubs, to Sankaty Advisers, an affiliate of Bain Capital.
The portfolio also contains 23 commercial units, 49 residential units, 56 development and agricultural sites, and a nursing home.
Though the cost of the purchase is not known, the Irish Times reports there is an outstanding balance of €465 million on the loans, while the total value of the properties is estimated at €187m.
Notable properties within the portfolio include the Monart Hotel, Hotel Kilkenny, House nightclub and Toner's pub.
The sale is part of a significant asset-selling plan by Ulster Bank and its parent Royal Bank of Scotland in Ireland. In the last 18 months it has reduced its book of troubled Irish assets by over two-thirds to £1.5bn.
__________________________________________________________________
Amazon to stop routing taxes through Luxembourg
Amazon has announced it will cease to route its European taxes through Luxembourg, a low-tax haven for the American tech giant and many others.
The company says it now reports revenue in Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain. This will almost certainly increase Amzon's tax burden, though other byzantine loopholes and get-arounds may yet be available.
The announcement appears to show that recent European efforts to stop tax evasion by multinationals are working. Pressure from Europe has already resulted in the closure of the 'Double Irish,' while in Britain, Chancellor George Osborne recently introduced a so-called 'Google tax' of 25 per cent on local profits of firms which declare revenue overseas.
__________________________________________________________________
Brazils's economy set for dramatic contraction
Brazil's government has warned of hard times ahead, with GDP expected to drop by 1.2 per cent this year.
In dollar terms, this is 23 per cent - the country's biggest contraction in 25 years.
According to FOX News, analysts now believe the country will end the year with an inflation rate 8.37 per cent, up on a prediction of 3.1 per cent from last week.
President Dilma Rousseff remains embroiled in the Petrobras corruption scandal. A senior executive of the firm recently testified that kickbacks were sent to Rousseff's 2010 campaign, and a recent poll suggests 63 per cent of Brazilians would like to see impeachment charges brought by Congress.
__________________________________________________________________
Twitter is in talks to acquire Flipboard.
Tech giant Twitter is in talks to acquire Flipboard, a popular news reader app.
The all-stock deal would value the company at over $1bn, though the talks pushed by Twitter CFO appear to be momentarily stalled.
Flipboard is headed by Mike McCue, a significant player Silicon Valley, who was a member of Twitter's board until he felt competition between the firms made the position untenable.
Twitter's flagging performance during the past year has left CEO Dick Costolo in an increasingly tenuous position, and McCue may be lined up to be his successor.
