Europe

While the UK celebrates the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in the rain, enterprising registration plate specialist Regtransfers.co.uk is offering for sale the regal MAJ 357Y number plate.

As the Queen’s state cars are not required to display number plates, here is an opportunity for someone to have their very own piece of royal history.

The ‘majesty’ number plate is one of thousands of private number plates available for purchase in the UK, with hundreds of thousands of variations of many popular names.

EnQuest has signed an agreement to farm out a 35 per cent interest in its UK Alma and Galia oil field developments to the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company.

Under the terms of the deal, the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) will invest approximately US$500 million (around £300 million) in cash, comprised of up to $182 million in future contributions for past costs, a development carry for EnQuest, and KUFPEC’s direct share of the development costs.

Ukraine has opened a new terminal at Boryspil International Airport in Kiev that is capable of servicing up to 15 million visitors per year, ahead of next month’s Euro 2012 tournament.

The president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych said the completion of the venue was “another small victory” for Ukraine as the country continues to develop its infrastructure in preparation for the influx of visitors.

The total area of terminal D is 107,000 square metres, making it the largest airport terminal in Ukraine.

Drinks giant Diageo has agreed to acquire the Brazilian cachaça brand, Ypióca, for approximately £300 million in cash.

Diageo will purchase the brand from Brazil’s Ypióca Agroindustrial Limitada, along with certain production assets, including a distillery in Paraipaba, Ceará, a bottling plant in Fortaleza, Ceará, and a warehouse in Guarulhos, São Paulo.

African Iron Ore Group Limited and Société Guinéenne du Patrimoine Minier have announced the formation of a joint venture company to develop and finance infrastructure for the Simandou South iron ore mining project in Guinea.

Société Guinéenne du Patrimoine Minier (SOGUIPAMI), the government of the Republic of Guinea's investment vehicle, will work with African Iron Ore Group within the framework of the new company, Infrastructures Minières de Guinée Holdings(IMG). SOGUIPAMI will own 60 per cent of IMG and AIOG will own 40 per cent.

Ireland’s Dawn Meats has clinched a five-year, €300 million contract to process up to 18,000 tonnes of Irish beef annually for McDonald’s Ireland.

In order to fulfill the contract, Dawn Meats has invested €14.5 million in a new purpose-built, state-of-the-art beef processing facility in Carroll’s Cross, Co Waterford, creating 65 new jobs. In addition, over 100 construction jobs have been created during the construction phase of the facility, which commenced in December 2011.

European dairy co-operative Arla Foods has announced plans for two major mergers—with German dairy Milch-Union Hocheifel and the UK’s Milk Link.

Milch-Union Hocheifel (MUH) is Germany’s eighth largest dairy with owners in Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. Milk Link is the UK’s fourth largest dairy.

If the mergers are finalised and approved, Arla will be represented by owners in its four largest markets: the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, as well as Belgium and Luxembourg.

Google has released a major new study into the use of social tools in the workplace, which gathered opinions from 2,700 professionals across Europe.

The research revealed that 71 percent of senior executives are using social tools at work at least once a week compared to 49 percent of those in more junior roles – going against the stereotype that social media in business is most popular with younger generations.

German utility company E.ON has sold its gas transmission company in Germany, Open Grid Europe, to a consortium for €3.2 billion.  

The consortium consists of Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 4, Infinity Investments, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, and MEAG MUNICH ERGO Asset Management.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has today announced that it will fully acquire Cellzome, a developer of proteomics technologies, for £61 million.

GSK already owns 20 per cent of Cellzome, a privately owned company with laboratories in Cambridge, UK, and Heidelberg, Germany. The company will become part of GSK’s R&D organisation.