Coverage of British and global enterprise — boardroom moves, M&A, earnings, regulation and the long-running stories shaping how companies are built and run.
Berlin‑based Integral raised €18 million in a Series A round led by Mosaic Ventures and Reid Hoffman, bringing total funding above €30 million and earmarking the cash for AI engineering and licensed staff expansion.
With just 100 days left before the end‑2026 deadline, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee is set to debate amendment proposals that could curtail corporate‑home flexibility, a unified European register and the pan‑EU employee stock‑option scheme – the three pillars of the EU Inc statute.
HOF Capital closed a €1 bn deal for Porsche’s interests in Bugatti Rimac and Rimac Group, securing a 23.5% holding that makes it the biggest shareholder and lands three board seats.
A consortium led by HOF Capital has bought Porsche’s share in the Bugatti Rimac joint venture for €1 billion, while Rimac Group retains its 55% controlling interest.
Europe’s top startup founders and investors have sent a warning letter urging lawmakers to keep the EU Inc proposal’s core freedom – the ability to incorporate in any Member State without a local operating requirement – intact as the 100‑day deadline approaches.
Italian app‑builder Bending Spoons agreed to acquire collaboration‑tool maker Miro for $1.36 bn in cash, a price that is roughly 92% lower than the $17.5 bn valuation the company enjoyed at the height of the pandemic‑driven SaaS boom.
Uplift Ventures has launched a €100 million venture‑capital fund to back up to 20 European deep‑tech startups at the late‑seed and Series A stage, with logistics giant Jungheinrich among the backers.
Decathlon has signed a letter of intent to buy half of SAS Sport 2000 France, a move that keeps Sport 2000 stores independent while pairing Decathlon’s scale with the cooperative’s territorial reach. The deal, subject to French competition‑authority approval, is slated for completion in 2027.
Swedish private‑equity firm EQT is set to become the majority owner of London‑based specialist insurance broker McGill & Partners in a transaction valuing the business at roughly $2 billion. The deal, which will see Warburg Pincus exit, is slated for completion in the first half of 2027 pending regulatory clearance.
Italian operator Lottomatica will absorb Spain’s Cirsa in an all‑share deal, rolling Blackstone’s existing stake into the combined group and giving the private‑equity firm roughly a 24% holding, the largest individual stake in the newly‑formed company.
Volkswagen’s supervisory board approved a second wave of 50,000 layoffs on 5 September 2026, doubling the announced cuts to roughly 100,000 and sending VW preferred shares up almost 10%. About 25,000 of the new cuts will fall in Germany, while the future of the Hannover, Emden, Zwickau and Neckarsulm sites remains undecided.
Moderna and Merck & Co. announced that their experimental mRNA‑4157 vaccine met primary endpoints in a registration‑size study, marking the first successful outcome for an mRNA‑based cancer therapy. Wall Street analysts now project a 2027 launch and billions of dollars in revenue.
ADHD Test’s latest breakdown shows 33% inattentive, 7% hyperactive‑impulsive and 60% combined adult cases, mirroring NHS and NIMH categories.
Allianz is in early talks to acquire the UK roadside‑assistance group AA for about £5 bn, a price 1.7 times the £3 bn paid in 2021. The bid raises questions about valuation, strategic fit and the owners’ alternative path to a London listing.
The sports-car maker offloads its consulting arm two years after taking full control, handing TCS a near-€1bn revenue backlog and launching an AI partnership that keeps the two companies tied together.
At employee meetings in Wolfsburg and Braunschweig on 25 August 2026, Oliver Blume could not give concrete answers on a 100,000‑job restructuring, prompting sharp criticism from works‑council chair Daniela Cavallo.
Billionaire logistics magnate Klaus‑Michael Kuehne died on 24 August at 89. His charitable foundation now controls a portfolio spanning Germany's flag carrier, its largest container line, a Bundesliga club and a planned Elbe waterfront opera house.
Lidl’s carbon‑fiber Padel rackets (€20‑€60) and Aldi’s Reformer‑Pilates board (~€200) are being sold at roughly 85‑95% below premium equivalents, a move aimed at the Gen Z market via TikTok and a newly created leisure‑and‑fitness aisle.
Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume faced sharp criticism from works council chair Daniela Cavallo at employee assemblies on 25 August, after refusing to confirm plant closures or give concrete details on 100,000 roles at risk. A supervisory board meeting on 4 September will decide the next cost-cutting package.
The supervisory board has greenlit the carve-out of the Transformation of Industry division, a €5.7bn revenue business with 17,000 employees, paving the way for a sale to private equity.
With UK input costs rising again in 2026, procurement teams need a disciplined way to challenge supplier price increases without damaging critical relationships.
Premier Foods was a punchline for most of the 2010s, mired in debt and pension deficits. Six years into Alex Whitehouse's tenure as chief executive, the FTSE 250 group has cleared its balance sheet, returned to dividends and grown like a category-defining brand owner. We profile the strategy.
A five-count federal indictment alleges Mayor Eric Adams accepted illicit benefits from Turkish officials and businesspeople in return for fast-tracking the approval of a controversial Manhattan consulate building. The case is the first federal indictment of a sitting New York City mayor in nearly half a century.
A Paris court handed Olivier Dussopt a one-year suspended sentence and a €15,000 fine over a sweetheart water-management contract awarded in 2009 when he led the southern French commune of Annonay. He plans to appeal.
