Wessex Exploration has received a surprise takeover offer from French oil major Total, sending the Bristol-based company’s shares rocketing by over 30 per cent.

Total said it is looking to buy Wessex, which has interests in the south of England and offshore Africa, for around £71 million.

Dutch logistics giant TNT Express is to be acquired by its US-based rival UPS for €5.16 billion, it has been announced.

The two companies said the combined entity will create a global leader in the logistics industry with annual revenues of more than €45 billion.

TNT Express delivers close to one million consignments, from documents and parcels to palletized freight, each day. The company operates road and air transport networks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas. In 2011, the company had revenues of €7.25 billion.

GlaxoSmithKline, Britain’s biggest drugs maker, has agreed to divest several of its over-the-counter (OTC) European brands to Omega Pharma for €470 million (£391 million).

The brands being divested include Lactacyd, Abtei, Solpadeine, Zantac, Nytol and Beconase, which together generated sales of approximately £185 million in 2011. The divestment is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2012, subject to regulatory approvals.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said it expected the net cash proceeds from the transaction to be approximately £310 million.

Atacama Pacific has entered into an option agreement with AMX de Chile to explore for and acquire water use rights near its Cerro Maricunga gold project.

"We are very pleased to have taken another significant step forward towards the potential development of the Cerro Maricunga project," said Carl Hansen, president and CEO of Atacama Pacific.

Providence Resources has announced that its Barryroe well has delivered the first commercial flow rate of oil offshore Ireland.

Barryroe is located at a depth of 100 metres in the North Celtic Sea Basin, approximately 50 kilometres offshore southern Ireland. Oil and gas is successfully flowing from the well at double the rate expected.

Providence holds an 80 per cent interest in Barryroe, with Lansdowne Oil & Gas holding the remaining 20 per cent.

Ewen Anderson at Centralis explains how organisations can manage IT consumerisation in an efficient and secure manner, boosting productivity and employee satisfaction while delivering on longer-term strategic objectives.

Western Power brings electricity to Australia’s fastest growing region. Fuelling that growth is costly; but the Perth Solar City programme is helping to solve the grid’s problems—and those of its customers too.

As the hub for Western Australia’s mining activity, lying close to the port of Fremantle, the city of Perth has been the recipient of a great deal of state and federal investment to ensure its infrastructure keeps pace with its strategic economic importance.

Taste Holdings manages franchises, developing efficient and customer-focused brands tailored towards South Africa’s discerning diners and consumers of jewellery.