Europe

Libya’s sovereign wealth fund is eyeing a stake in the troubled oil giant BP, according to reports.

Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya's National Oil Company, said BP shares were "good value for bargain hunters".

His comments follow reports that BP is seeking investment from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. The company’s shares have roughly halved in value following the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, which began in April; but they climbed 3.5 per cent on Monday following Ghanem’s comments.

Builders' merchant Travis Perkins has agreed to purchase plumbing and heating company BSS Group for £557.6 million.

The cash and shares deal values BSS shares at 435.8 pence, a 4.7% premium on Friday's closing price of 416.2p. It is the largest acquisition by Travis Perkins since the £950 million takeover of the Wickes DIY chain in 2005.

Search giant Google has agreed to buy ITA Software Inc. for $700 million, giving it a foothold in the fast-growing online travel industry.

 Google’s offer beat that of rivals Microsoft and other travel and search related companies who were hoping to prevent Google from taking over ITA.

Last year, international exploration and development company Tullow Oil discovered significant oil resources in the environmentally sensitive remoteness of East Africa. General manager Dr Brian Glover talks to Gay Sutton about the importance of this discovery, and the challenges it presents.

Process technology company Escher is building firm and long-standing relationships with the major oil and gas companies. Managing director Yvo Jansen talks to Andrew Pelis about the company’s drive to innovate and expand into new markets.

Exploration firm EnCore Oil has announced that its Catcher prospect, off the east coast of Scotland, may hold up to 300 million barrels of oil—about 150 million of which is extractable.

EnCore is the operator of the Catcher joint venture and holds a 15 per cent stake. Premier Oil holds 35 per cent; Wintershall (UK North Sea) holds 20 per cent; Nautical Petroleum has 15 per cent; and Agora Oil & Gas holds a 15 per cent stake.

The proposed acquisition will expand URS’s infrastructure capabilities in the UK across a range of markets, including rail and transit, transportation infrastructure, and ports and harbors.

Peel Airports owns Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Robin Hood Airport near Doncaster and a 75 per cent stake in Durham Tees Valley Airport (local borough councils own the remaining 25 per cent).

 Liverpool's John Lennon Airport is one of the UK's 10 busiest airports, serving almost five million passengers last year, while Robin Hood Airport, which opened in 2005, is its newest airport, serving more than 850,000 passengers in 2009.

Sixty-five kilometres south of Örebro, in sparsely populated forest land, lies one of Sweden’s oldest mining operations. For 152 years, Zinkgruvan has extracted zinc, lead and silver from this central Swedish location. These days, the business is 100 per cent owned by the Canadian company Lundin Mining, which controls mining operations in a number of European countries as well as a partnership in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

When you look at the list of completed projects on its website, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Technip Iberia (TPI) has single-handedly built the entire industrial part of Barcelona. When I put it like that to Jerónimo Farnós he demurred; but there’s no denying that Technip has had a hand in a very large number of developments over its 38-year history.TPI’s headquarters is in Barcelona where it employs some 250 people; there is a production office in Tarragona employing a further 100 staff; and a small commercial office in Madrid.