Anglo-Swiss mining operator Xstrata has confirmed talks with the world’s largest commodities trader Glencore International plc about an “all share merger of equals.”

After much speculation about alleged talks, Xstrata issued a statement today confirming that it has received an approach from and is in discussions with Glencore, but stressed that “there can be no certainty that any offer will be made.”

Logistics company Lynden International has extended its reach with the opening of a new service centre in Belgium, Lynden International (BE).

The new facility will see the company entering the transport and logistics services market catering for Belgium-based medical, pharmaceutical and other growth industries.

The centre will serve the medical and pharmaceutical industries with temperature-controlled shipping and single-point entry departure in and out of Europe, the company said.

US carmaker Chrysler Group today reported its best January sales since 2008, with US sales of 101,149, a 44 percent increase over January 2011.

Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram Truck brands each posted sales increases in January compared with the same month a year ago, in the 22nd-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.

Chrysler brand sales increased the most, with 17,604 units sold, up 81 percent over the previous year, with Ram Truck sales up 42 percent, Jeep up 37 percent, and Dodge increasing by 29 percent.

Finnish stainless steel maker Outokumpu has agreed to acquire Inoxum, the stainless steel unit of Germany’s ThyssenKrupp.

The €2.7 billion deal is set to make Outokumpu a market leader in European stainless steel, with almost €12 billion in revenues, more than 19,000 employees and an approximate 50 per cent market share.

Outokumpu already employs around 8,000 people in more than 30 countries and is headquartered in Espoo, Finland.

Will 2012 be the year when brands deliver more value and less hype? Ayesha Mathews-Wadhwa looks at digital design trends through the consumer behavior lens.

How do leading companies sustain their leadership position? They get their standards right and they have the right standards, says George F. Brown, Jr.

Gamification is a rapidly growing hard trend that will accelerate learning for both business and education, says Daniel Burrus.

Anyone who has children or who has been around them for a while knows that kids and young adults are attracted to video games like flies are attracted to light. Rather than being lazy when they’re connected to their Wii or Xbox using a Kinect, in reality the kids are paving the way for business training and education.

When explicitly defined, core values have the ability to shape the culture and business strategies of a company. From a sales point of view, they also play a crucial role in achieving predictability and consistency in the actions that drive performance and bring about results, says John Treace.

UPS, the world’s largest package delivery company, released its results for Q4 2011 today, drawing attention to a 21 percent improvement in earnings per share.

UPS delivered 1.13 billion packages in Q4 2011, an increase of 3.6 percent over the same quarter of 2010. The company attributed the increase in average daily volume to “robust” internet shopping activity.

Total revenue increased 6 percent to $14.2 billion and adjusted operating profit climbed 17 percent to over $2 billion.

Pan African Resources and Wits Gold have joined forces to acquire the Evander Gold Mine from Harmony Gold for R1.7 billion.

The Evander operations are located in Mpumalanga, South Africa, and comprise the operating Evander 8 shaft and several significant development projects: Rolspruit, Poplar, Evander South, Libra and the Kinross metallurgical processing plant. Evander 8 currently has an expected life of mine of more than 10 years.